Path Analysis of the Association Between Socio-economic Status, Anxiety, Perceived Stress, Social Support and Women's Depression

Given the importance and prevalence of depression among women, this study aimed to test the correlation model between socio-economic status, anxiety, perceived stress, social support and women’s depression in reproductive age using path analysis.
This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 1065 women of reproductive age selected randomly from clinics affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Data were collected using demographic and socio-economic status questionnaires, the perceived stress and the social support Scales, Spielberger’s Anxiety Inventory and Beck’s Depression Inventory. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 19.0 and LISREL version 8.8.
The final path model fitted well (GFI=1; RMSEA=0.09) and showed that socioeconomic status had direct (β=-0.22) and indirect effect (β=-0.0645), perceived stress had direct effect (β=0.22), social support had direct (β=-0.21) and indirect effect (β=-0.033), anxiety had direct effect (β=0.18) on depression, and overall, socioeconomic status had the greatest effects on depression (β=-0.2845).
According to the obtained results, screening for the examined variables is recommended to prevent and diagnose depression and promote health in women.