engleski

Some Aspects of Mental Health and Well-Being: Dyadic Approach

Quality of life is determined not only by objective conditions (e.g., health, incomes), but even more by the subjective perception and satisfaction with those conditions. Hence, subjective or personal wellbeing can be defined as a positive state of mind that involves the whole life experience. The Croatian War of Independence has certainly been a life-changing experience for many Croatian families, especially for those whose members were actively involved. Some sources show that up to 30% of Croatian war veterans are diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), often in comorbidity with depression and anxiety. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of depression and anxiety (as emotional states) on the personal and partner's well-being. Since a partner relationship is a product of two people who are constantly interacting and influencing each other, we decided to use a dyadic approach for the data analysis. This approach takes into account that the partners' results are not independent from each other. Using the Actor- Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), we have analyzed the results of 89 married couples aged between 41 and 64, controlling for PTSD of the war veterans in our sample. As we expected, the actor effects were significant – self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety have negative effect on both the husbands' and wives' personal well-being. However, we have also found a significant partner effect showing that the husbands' depression and anxiety have a decremental effect on the wives' subjective well-being. The overall results are discussed in the context of marriage dynamic and importance of the partner for personal well-being.

depression ; anxiety ; well-being ; dyads

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