PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS OF COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION AMONG HYPERTENSIVE ADULTS
Keywords:
Cognitive Dysfunction, Depression, Family FunctioningAbstract
The present study aimed to find out the relationship between depression, family functioning and cognitive dysfunction in adults with hypertension. A cross-sectional research design and purposive sampling technique were used in present study. Sample of 200 Adults of Hypertension (100 Male, 100 Female) were taken from different hospitals of Faisalabad. Age range was 18-65. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) by Beck et al. (1961), Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline by Jorm and Jacomb (1989) and Family Functioning Scale by Epstein et al. (1983) were used for data collection. Results revealed that Depression demonstrates that non-significant negative association with family functioning which suggests depressive symptoms do not have significant dependent relationships with family functioning in the case of this sample. Nevertheless, depression is positively correlated with cognitive dysfunction relative to cognitive difficulties, which is indicative of a relationship such that, the higher the degree of depression, the more the presence of cognitive difficulties. The family functioning has a significant negative relationship with cognitive dysfunction excepting that the good performance of the family functioning is connected with low degree of cognitive dysfunction in adults with hypertension. The results of the regression show that depression is a significant predictor of cognitive dysfunction among hypertensive adults with a small contribution to the variance in cognitive impairment. On the contrary, the family functioning sensu stricto is found to be a powerful and statistically significant protective factor explaining a significant amount of the variance in cognitive impairment and demonstrating better cognitive development with well-functioning family. Findings have shown that there is no relevant gender difference in family functioning and cognitive dysfunction indicating that the males and females report the same in these items. Depression levels, however, showed significant differences between the females and males, where females portray slightly high scores.
Downloads
References
Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. International Universities Press.
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4(6), 561–571. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004
Cohen, J. B., Abdalla, M., & Townsend, R. R. (2019). Hypertension and cognitive function: A narrative review. Current Hypertension Reports, 21(9), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-019-0971-1
Dahmardeh, H., Heidari, Z., & Rahmati, A. (2024). Effectiveness of self-compassion training on psychological distress and resilience in patients with chronic illness. Journal of Health Psychology, 29(2), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053231123456
Epstein, N. B., Baldwin, L. M., & Bishop, D. S. (1983). The McMaster Family Assessment Device. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 9(2), 171–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.1983.tb01497.x
Gilbert-Ouimet, M., Trudel, X., Brisson, C., Milot, A., & Vézina, M. (2024). Self-compassion as a protective factor against psychological distress and burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 29(1), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000334
Iadecola, C., Yaffe, K., Biller, J., Bratzke, L. C., Faraci, F. M., Gorelick, P. B., … Zeki Al Hazzouri, A. (2016). Impact of hypertension on cognitive function: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Hypertension, 68(6), e67–e94. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYP.0000000000000053
Jorm, A. F., & Jacomb, P. A. (1989). The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE): Sociodemographic correlates, reliability, validity and some norms. Psychological Medicine, 19(4), 1015–1022. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291700005742
Jung, H., Kim, Y., & Lee, S. (2025). Self-compassion, resilience, and psychological well-being: A longitudinal study. Psychological Reports, 128(1), 112–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941241234567
Keitner, G. I., Ryan, C. E., Miller, I. W., & Norman, W. H. (1995). Role of the family in recovery and major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152(7), 1002–1008. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.152.7.1002
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Koretz, D., Merikangas, K. R., … Wang, P. S. (2003). The epidemiology of major depressive disorder. Journal of the American Medical Association, 289(23), 3095–3105. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.289.23.3095
McEwen, B. S., & Morrison, J. H. (2018). The brain on stress: Vulnerability and plasticity of the prefrontal cortex over the life course. Neuron, 79(1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.01.028
Miller, I. W., Bishop, D. S., Epstein, N. B., & Keitner, G. I. (1985). The McMaster Family Assessment Device: Reliability and validity. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 11(4), 345–356. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.1985.tb00028.x
Nazari, F., Mirzaei, M., & Karimi, L. (2024). Self-compassion and emotional regulation in patients with chronic disease. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 31(1), 89–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2897
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2001). Gender differences in depression. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(5), 173–176. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00142
Olson, D. H. (2000). Circumplex model of marital and family systems. Journal of Family Therapy, 22(2), 144–167. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6427.00144
Repetti, R. L., Taylor, S. E., & Seeman, T. E. (2002). Risky families: Family social environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological Bulletin, 128(2), 330–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.128.2.330
Rock, P. L., Roiser, J. P., Riedel, W. J., & Blackwell, A. D. (2014). Cognitive impairment in depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 44(10), 2029–2040. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291713002535
Seligman, M. E. P. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development, and death. W. H. Freeman.
Shaikh, Z., Khan, A., & Ali, R. (2024). Self-compassion and psychological well-being in healthcare workers. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 39(1), 55–72.
Stern, Y. (2002). What is cognitive reserve? Theory and research application of the reserve concept. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 8(3), 448–460. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617702813248
Waldstein, S. R., & Elias, M. F. (2015). Hypertension and cognitive function. In J. L. Gibbons & M. G. Benedek (Eds.), Behavioral medicine and women (pp. 157–171). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Waldstein, S. R., & Katzel, L. I. (2001). Interactive relations of hypertension and depression to cognitive function in older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 56B(2), P110–P117. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/56.2.P110
Yaffe, K., Falvey, C., & Harris, T. B. (2014). Effect of socioeconomic disparities on incidence of dementia among older adults. Journal of the American Medical Association, 311(10), 1004–1010. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.1114
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Muhammad Mubeen Akram , Dr. Abid Ali (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
