WhatsApp Button
WhatsApp

Archives

Volume 11 Number 3 December 2025

The Interactive Effects of Chronic Health Conditions and Depression on Life Satisfaction


Authors: Chong Hwan Son
Pages: 48-62
DOI: doi.org/10.32861/jssr.113.48.62
Abstract
This study explores how the presence of a depressive disorder amplifies the negative impact of chronic physical illnesses on life satisfaction when the two co-occur, compared with the effects of each chronic condition alone. This study employs multivariate logistic regression to examine these associations using data from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a large-scale national health survey. The analysis revealed that individuals with both a physical and a mental health condition had significantly lower odds of reporting life satisfaction compared with those with only a single physical condition. In particular, arthritis, one of the most prevalent chronic health conditions among adults in the United States, emerged as especially significant. Respondents with arthritis were less likely to report life satisfaction than those without the condition or those with other chronic health conditions. This negative impact was further intensified when arthritis co-occurred with depressive disorder. The odds ratio for arthritis alone was 0.847, already relatively low among the chronic health conditions analyzed. However, when combined with depressive disorder, it dropped sharply to 0.449. This substantial decline highlighted how the coexistence of a mental health disorder can significantly amplify the adverse effects of arthritis on life satisfaction. A similar pattern was observed for asthma, where the odds ratio decreased from 0.877 (asthma alone) to 0.633 when combined with depressive disorder. These findings demonstrate the critical importance of integrating mental health care into the management of chronic physical illnesses, as the interaction between the two can substantially diminish individuals’ life satisfaction.