Association of Socio-Demographic Factors, Economic Level, Work Family Conflict and Marital Relations with Depression in Nurses

Abstract

Objective: To assess the socio-demographic, economic, work-family conflict and marital factors associated with depression in nurses. Methodology: This was a Descriptive cross sectional study conducted on nurses working in a Federal Government Tertiary Care Hospital in Islamabad over a period of three months. The data were collected from female nurses who were between 25 to 40 years of age. Sample size was 250. Pretested modified Agha Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to collect primary data on depressive symptoms, socio demographic variables, economic factors, work family conflict and marital relations. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Chi-square test was applied to see the association between different variables and depression. Results: This study indicated various factors associated with significantly higher rates of depression in the target population including younger age (p=0.001), having a graduate degree (p=0.020) and being married (p=0.002). Economic stresses like having average personal income (p=0.004), living in a rented house (p=0.001), getting no financial support from parents or in-laws (p=0.003) and facing difficulty in transportation (p=0.000) were also associated with depression. Work-Family conflict (p=0.001) and marital disharmony (p=0.000) were also significant associates of depression in nurses. Conclusion: Socio-demographic factors, economic level, work-family conflict and marital relations play an important role in causing depression in nurses. This may contribute to adverse health outcomes and burnout among this vital group of healthcare workers.