The Mediator Role of Aggression in the Relationship between Marital Stress and Depression among Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Background: Depression is one of the most important consequences of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and to control and treat it, it is necessary to identify its direct and indirect triggers and underlying factors. Therefore, the current study aims to evaluate and investigate the mediator role of aggression in the relationship between marital stress and depression.

Methods: The sample of current cross-sectional study includes 212 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in Iran evaluated from Jan to Jun 2017. The required data were gathered using Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire, Buss and Perry's Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), and Hudson's Marital Satisfaction Index (HMSI). The data were analysed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling (SEM) using SPSS20 and AMOS software.

Results: The mean age of participants (68.4% male) was 58.5 ± 8.9. The results show that there is a significant positive relationship between all the variables (P < 0.05). The results of the model show that marital stress cannot directly predict depression (P = 0.586). However, through aggression, marital stress can significantly predict 18% of the variance of depression (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Not directly, but indirectly through aggression, marital stress can significantly predict increased depression among patients with CAD. The physiological and psychological pathways of the findings can be discussed.