1079 – Effects of psychological distress and social support on mental fitness among patients of mental health services

Abstract

Introduction Life events and accompanying psychological and behavioral reactions frequently have an impact upon people's daily lives and are believed to predispose them to disease. Psychological stressors impact many physiological and pathological disease outcomes, including mental illness. Positive social interactions have in turn been shown to exert powerful beneficial effects on health outcomes and longevity. Objectives The Objective of this study was to analyze the relationships of Psychological Distress, Social Support, and Mental Fitness among patients of mental health services. Aims This article aims to discuss the evidence supporting the mediating effect of social support between psychological stress and mental health. Methods This study was performed on patients who visited the mental health services in Daejeon from October to December 2011. In total, 395 patients were evaluated with Mental Fitness Scale, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale(KPDS), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support(MSPSS). Results Correlations among variables of psychological distress and social support on subordinate variable of mental fitness of patients were significant. The result of the regression analysis, psychological distress and social support have a positively significant influence on mental fitness of patients. social support showed mediating effects between psychological distress and mental fitness. Conclusion These results suggest that health care providers ought to seek social support for patients, in order to provide positive mental fitness of patients.