Subclinical depression and performance at work.

Abstract

The relationship between subclinical depression and the fulfillment of important work roles is the focus of this study. The analysis controls for social processes (i.e., interpersonal stress) that may precede the development of depressive symptomatology and potential depressive distortion associated with self-report of symptoms and performance. Using interview data collected from 265 community-dwelling adults, multiple regression analyses indicated that depressive symptomatology was significantly related to externally rated performance at work. This relationship was independent of other important social influences of interpersonal stress attributed to coworkers, spouses and others, and job stress related to dissatisfying work. Subclinical depression thus appeared related to decrements in job performance. Further, this effect was not entirely due to other social influences not measured in previous studies or to the problem of depressive mood affecting the direction of self-report measures.