The Psychofortology of Female Psychiatric Out-Patients: Living with Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Abstract

Depression and anxiety are estimated to be two of the most important causes of disease burden in the world, and they appear to be more prevalent among women than men. The present study aimed to explore and describe the psychofortology of female psychiatric out-patients living with mood and anxiety disorders. An exploratory descriptive research design was used and the participants were selected by means of non-probability purposive sampling. The sample consisted of 60 female psychiatric out-patients who were selected from the Nelson Mandela Metropole in the Eastern Cape. The selection was based on predetermined inclusion criteria. Data were gathered through the administration of a biographical questionnaire, Hammer and Mailing's Coping-Resources Inventory, Antonovsky's Sense-of-Coherence Scale, Diener, Emmons, Larson and Griffin's Satisfaction-with-Life Scale, and Kamman and Flett's Affectometer-2. These data were then analysed according to the aims of the study by the use of descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and multivariate data analysis. The results of the study indicated that the female psychiatric out-patients with mood and anxiety disorders generally experienced lower levels of coping and subjective wellbeing when compared with normative data. The results also identified three clusters, which revealed that the psychiatric out-patients with mood disorders — although they experienced low levels of coping and subjective wellbeing — obtained higher scores than the patients with anxiety disorders. The findings of the research also address the management and care of female psychiatric out-patients living with mood and anxiety disorders.