An unbalanced time-perspective profile in cardiac surgery patients as a risk factor for depression

INTRODUCTION: Depression is one of common comorbid states that accompany cardiovascular diseases. Risk of co-morbidity can rise when patients have to undergo heart surgery, which is an additional stress-factor. OBJECTIVES: To specify psychological correlations between depressive manifestations in cardiac surgery patients based on the analysis of their time perspective profile. METHODS: Using the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, we examined 60 cardiac surgery inpatients (80% male, mean age 58.25±10.55). We calculated the statistical estimation of the received data based on the comparison with the norm and the correlation analysis. RESULTS: The research revealed that cardiac surgery patients’ indices significantly exceeded the norm on three out of five scales – Negative-Past (t=4.405; p=.000), Positive-Past (t=3.536; p=.000), and Future (t=5.008; p=.000). We also identified essential correlations between the level of depression and the indices of Negative-Past (r=.390; p=.002) and Positive-Past (r=-.270; p=.037). We distinguished a positive correlation of the negative attitude to the past with cognitive-affective (r=.369; p=.004) and somatic (r=.338; p=.008) manifestations of depression, and a negative correlation with the level of education (r=-.292; p=.024). CONCLUSIONS: The personal time perspective profile in cardiac surgery patients is unbalanced due to a high level of their negative attitude to the past with an optimal level in other time perspectives. The degree of the Negative-Past attitude correlates in the patients with a low level of education and a high risk of depression in all its manifestations. The given correlations should be taken into account when conducting preventive psychological interventions. DISCLOSURE: No significant relationships.