The relationships among loneliness, depression, anxiety, stress and the change in medical adherence in coronary heart disease patients

• Main Author: Teo, Joan Wei Ling
• Other Authors: Shen Biing-Jiun
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138186
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a principal cause of death in Singapore. Previous studies have looked at the psychological risk factors behind CHD and identified loneliness to be one of them. Loneliness refers to a discrepancy between a person’s desired and actual social relationships. Although there was extensive research regarding the association between loneliness and the worsening course of CHD, the underlying mechanism behind this relationship was unclear. The present study proposed that loneliness leads to decreased medical adherence among CHD patients, thereby explaining the worsening course of CHD. Additionally, the present study assesses the change in medical adherence, which was not emphasized in the existing literature. The present study also aims to study the mediating effects of depression, anxiety and stress between loneliness and the change in medical adherence. The results demonstrate that loneliness is a significant predictor of the decline in medical adherence among CHD patients. Additionally, the findings also supported that there are significant mediating effects of depression, anxiety and stress in the relationship between loneliness and the change in medical adherence.