Honors Thesis Archive

Author	Sarah M. Kennedy
Title	Psychosocial Predictors of Cardiopulmonary Mortality and Morbidity
Department	Psychology
Advisors	Jo Wilson, Cathy Pederson, and Jeff Brookings
Year	2008
Honors	University Honors
Full Text	View Thesis (161 KB)
Abstract	Cardiopulmonary health problems affect millions of Americans each year. There is evidence to believe that psychosocial variables influence health outcomes for these patients. It was hypothesized that cardiopulmonary patients with high levels of depression, anxiety, anger, emotional guardedness, and low levels of social support would be more likely to be deceased approximately two years following rehabilitation. Psychosocial variables were assessed in a sample of 51 patients participating in a cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program. Patients completed rehabilitation and were contacted approximately two years later to follow up on their cardiopulmonary health. Contrary to the hypothesis, statistical analyses revealed that the patients who were deceased had reported significantly lower levels of depression during rehabilitation than those patients who lived. Anxiety, anger, and social support were significantly related to reports of cardiovascular morbidity at follow-up. The results of this study suggest that further evaluation of psychosocial variables may help health care professionals better understand and treat patients with cardiopulmonary diseases.