| Abstract: | Objective: To assess the influence of mental distancing and venting emotions on depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Participants: Seventy-six individuals hospitalized with acute burn injuries. Design: Prospective longitudinal study. Measures: Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck, E. Ward, M. Mendelson, J. Mock, & J. Erbaugh, 1961), COPE (C. S. Carver, M. F. Scheier, & J. K. Weintraub, 1989), and Short Form--36 Health Survey (J. E. Ware, K. K. Snow, M. Kosinski, & B. Gandek, 1993). Results: Ambivalent coping at baseline (i.e., using both mental distancing and venting emotions, relative to using only 1 or neither) led to more symptoms of depression at follow-up, even when baseline symptoms were controlled. Ambivalent coping was related to postburn psychosocial HRQOL, and baseline symptoms of depression only slightly attenuated this relationship. Conclusions: Ambivalent coping appears to result from vacillation between motives. Decreasing inconsistent coping or reducing antithetical motivation may reduce depression and improve adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
