Christmas cards: are senders full of joy and good cheer?
AbstractPeople with depression often struggle with Christmas. The festive period is often associated with parties, social engagement, putting up Christmas trees among other behaviours. Here, in a large UK population level dataset, we examine whether higher depressive symptomatology was associated wi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2022.2151727 |
| _version_ | 1797402932823457792 |
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| author | Stephen Gallagher Siobhan Howard Jennifer McMahon Carlo Palmieri |
| author_facet | Stephen Gallagher Siobhan Howard Jennifer McMahon Carlo Palmieri |
| author_sort | Stephen Gallagher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | AbstractPeople with depression often struggle with Christmas. The festive period is often associated with parties, social engagement, putting up Christmas trees among other behaviours. Here, in a large UK population level dataset, we examine whether higher depressive symptomatology was associated with frequency of sending Christmas cards, and if this varied by religious affiliation. Retrospective observational study. Participants were 2,416 individuals within the UK who completed data from 2013 to 2015 within Wave 5 of the longitudinal survey ‘Understanding Society’. Data on depressive symptoms 12-General Health Questionnaire, frequency of sending Christmas cards, and religious affiliation were extracted. A higher percentage (54.5%) of those without depressive symptoms reported ‘Always’ sending Christmas cards, compared to 46.0% of those with depressive symptoms χ2 (2) = 8.71, p < .001. After adjusting for religious affiliation, this remained significant only for Christians after holding, gender, relationship status and ethnicity constant. Christians with depression (20%) were more likely to ‘Never’ send Christmas cards, while those not depressed were 53% more likely to ‘Always’ send them, p < .01. In those identifying as Christians not sending a Christmas card was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. This might help provide a way to identify loved ones, friends or colleagues who may need help and support at Christmas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:31:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2c071c1616a8482c80f3169b83257926 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2331-1908 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:31:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cogent Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-2c071c1616a8482c80f3169b832579262023-12-06T12:25:01ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Psychology2331-19082023-12-0110110.1080/23311908.2022.2151727Christmas cards: are senders full of joy and good cheer?Stephen Gallagher0Siobhan Howard1Jennifer McMahon2Carlo Palmieri3Department of Psychology, Centre for Social Issues Research, University of Limerick, Limerick, IrelandDepartment of Psychology, Centre for Social Issues Research, University of Limerick, Limerick, IrelandDepartment of Psychology, Centre for Social Issues Research, University of Limerick, Limerick, IrelandDepartment of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UKAbstractPeople with depression often struggle with Christmas. The festive period is often associated with parties, social engagement, putting up Christmas trees among other behaviours. Here, in a large UK population level dataset, we examine whether higher depressive symptomatology was associated with frequency of sending Christmas cards, and if this varied by religious affiliation. Retrospective observational study. Participants were 2,416 individuals within the UK who completed data from 2013 to 2015 within Wave 5 of the longitudinal survey ‘Understanding Society’. Data on depressive symptoms 12-General Health Questionnaire, frequency of sending Christmas cards, and religious affiliation were extracted. A higher percentage (54.5%) of those without depressive symptoms reported ‘Always’ sending Christmas cards, compared to 46.0% of those with depressive symptoms χ2 (2) = 8.71, p < .001. After adjusting for religious affiliation, this remained significant only for Christians after holding, gender, relationship status and ethnicity constant. Christians with depression (20%) were more likely to ‘Never’ send Christmas cards, while those not depressed were 53% more likely to ‘Always’ send them, p < .01. In those identifying as Christians not sending a Christmas card was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. This might help provide a way to identify loved ones, friends or colleagues who may need help and support at Christmas.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2022.2151727ChristmasCardsChristiansDepressive SymptomsReligion |
| spellingShingle | Stephen Gallagher Siobhan Howard Jennifer McMahon Carlo Palmieri Christmas cards: are senders full of joy and good cheer? Cogent Psychology Christmas Cards Christians Depressive Symptoms Religion |
| title | Christmas cards: are senders full of joy and good cheer? |
| title_full | Christmas cards: are senders full of joy and good cheer? |
| title_fullStr | Christmas cards: are senders full of joy and good cheer? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Christmas cards: are senders full of joy and good cheer? |
| title_short | Christmas cards: are senders full of joy and good cheer? |
| title_sort | christmas cards are senders full of joy and good cheer |
| topic | Christmas Cards Christians Depressive Symptoms Religion |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2022.2151727 |
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