Introduction / Rationale: Individuals with depression often experience anxiety symptoms, low energy level, and reduced participation in interested activities, which negatively affect their OB.
Objectives: This study aims to examine the relationship among participation in interested activities, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and OB in individuals with depression.
Methods / Approach: A longitudinal study was conducted with 211 adult outpatients with depression (mean age=38.6± 14.2years, range= 20-73; 66.4% female) from psychiatric outpatient clinics in central Taiwan. Participants completed self-reported questionnaires, including Occupational Balance Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and Beck Anxiety Inventory. Qualitative interviews assessed their participation in interested activities. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis for baseline data was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 30.0 .
Results/Practice Implications: Correlation analyses revealed that OB was negatively correlated with depressive and anxiety symptoms, and positively correlated with participation in interested activities. Multiple regression analysis showed that depressive symptoms had negatively effect on OB (β = -0.516 , p <.001). However, the effects of participation in interested activities (β = 0.057, p = 0.062) and anxiety symptoms (β = -0.112, p = 0.126) were not statistically significant. One-way ANOVA test revealed that depression severity significantly influenced participation in interested activities (p = .015), with a post hoc test identifying a difference trend between mild with severe (p = .100) or moderate (p = .147) depression severity.
Conclusion/ Contribution to the occupational therapy profession: Depression severity has a substantial impact on OB, with higher levels of depression associated with reduced participation in interested activities. These findings suggest that occupational therapists should address depression severity to improve activity participation and OB in individuals with depression.