Państwo i Społeczeństwo / State and Society

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Journal: Państwo i Społeczeństwo / State and Society

Existential determinants of depression and anxiety in coronary artery disease

Tadeusz Marian Ostrowski

Language: PL | Published: 23-12-2025 | Abstract | 131-146

The aim of the research was to check whether mental resilience and mechanisms of existential motivation, i.e. the meaning in life, subjective freedom and sensitivity to values, have a salutogenetic significance in coronary artery disease, i.e. whether despite the presence of symptoms of the disease, they are conducive to reducing anxiety and depression.
The study included hospitalized patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD group, n = 32, M age = 72.09; SD = 8.35) and a comparison group without health problems (no-CAD group, n = 32, M age = 69.44; SD = 6.77).
Demographic and clinical data interview was used. Among the clinical data, the most important was the diagnosis of coronary artery disease, which is a criterion for distinguishing the groups: CAD and no-CAD. The following psychological questionnaires were used: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Resiliency Measurement Scale (SPP-25) and methods concerning existential motivation: Attitude to Life Questionnaire, Range of Personal Freedom Questionnaire and Sensibility to Values Questionnaire.
The CAD group scored significantly higher on anxiety and depression. In terms of mental resilience, the groups do not differ, but the sense of subjective freedom and the meaning in life are lower in people with CAD. Subjective freedom, and especially its component – the sense of the meaning of one’s own will, which can be described as internal control, is a predictor of fear. In the anxiety regression equation, coronary artery disease appears as a strong positive predictor, and internal control as a negative predictor.
In clinical practice, the result should be taken into account, according to which the sense of self-importance is reduced in people with coronary artery disease, which means that they are externally controlled, i.e. psychologically dependent on the environment. This dependence goes hand in hand with strong anxiety. A patient full of fear cannot be blamed for being a nuisance, but should be cared for and at the same time rewarded, praised for every manifestation of independence, if it takes place to the extent indicated for the patient.

2025-12-23