Brooding as moderator of depressive symptoms after a work accident: A longitudinal study.

Abstract

This study analyzes the relationship between having experienced a work accident and developing depressive symptoms six months later, considering the subjectiveseverity of accidents, the use of both positive and negative religious coping strategies, and brooding as predictors variables. Fifty seven women and 187 men were evaluated during the month following their accident (T1) and six months later (T2). The results show that after controlling for initial depressive symptoms, all predictors showed a statistically significant relationship with depression at six months, including the interaction between brooding and subjective severity of accident. Forty nine percent of resilient participants exhibited low symptoms at T1 and T2, 22% of recovered individuals showed high symptoms at T1 and low symptoms afterwards, 20% of depressive individuals had high symptoms at T1 and T2, and 8% exhibited high symptoms only at T2. High severity, brooding and religious coping at T1 differentiated those who exhibited stable symptoms from those who were resilient. Resilience was specifically predicted with a negative coefficient by the interaction of brooding with subjective severity of accident. We conclude that brooding is a variable that moderates the relationship between subjective severity of accident and the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms. Subjective severity of accident, brooding and negative religious coping are risk factors, while positive religious coping is not a sufficient protection factor.