Predicting depressive symptoms and self-care in patients with heart failure.

OBJECTIVE: To examine relationships among heart failure (HF) physical symptoms, social support, social problem-solving, depressive symptoms, and self-care behaviors in outpatients with HF. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were collected from 201 outpatients. Structural equation modeling was used in this preliminary analysis to examine the relationships among the study variables. RESULTS: HF physical symptoms and social support were predictors of depressive symptoms and self-care behaviors. Social problem-solving also predicted self-care behaviors. Social support mediated the relationship between HF physical symptoms and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Social support may influence depressive symptoms and self-care behaviors, whereas social problem-solving may impact self-care behaviors. Future research should examine causality and sub-components of social problem-solving on these outcome variables.