A Potential Moderating Role of Stress in the Association of Disease Activity and Psychological Status among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

This study investigated the role of perceived daily stress as a potential moderator in the relation between a set of predictors (disease activity, education, pain) and psychological status (anxiety, depression) of 31 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Psychological measures served as dependent variables in hierarchical regression analyses testing for potential interaction effects of daily stress upon relationships between predictors and dependent measures. No predictors predicted directly scores on depression and anxiety; however, daily stress directly predicted scores on depression and anxiety, even after having separately controlled for each of the predictors. Increased disease activity had significantly stronger associations with increased psychological morbidity only among patients reporting high scores on daily stress, suggesting a potential moderating role for stress.