Background: Depressive symptoms compromise cognitive and self-regulating capacities. Overcoming associated deficits (e.g., attentional bias) demands cognitive effort and motivation. Previous studies on healthy individuals have found cognitive motivation to positively relate to self-regulation and negatively to depressive symptoms. A test of these associations in a clinical sample is lacking.Methods: We assessed cognitive motivation, self-regulation and depressive symptoms by means of well-validated questionnaires in N = 1,060 psychosomatic rehabilitation in-patients before and after treatment. Data were split and analyzed in two steps: We tested previously reported cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of all variables as well as their longitudinal changes in a first sample. Afterward, findings and derived hypotheses were replicated and tested in a second sample.Results: Analyses of both samples confirmed earlier reports on positive associations between cognitive motivation and self-regulation, and negative associations of both with depressive symptoms. While the change in all variables was predicted by their baseline scores, higher baseline cognitive motivation was found to predict stronger improvements in self-regulation, and lower baseline depression scores to predict smaller changes in cognitive motivation and self-regulation. In addition, the change in cognitive motivation partially mediated the association between the changes in depressive symptoms and self-regulation.Conclusion: Based on a large longitudinal data set, the present study expands previous findings and suggests a resource allocation model in which decreasing depressive symptoms lead to a release of capacities benefitting self-regulation directly, and indirectly via cognitive motivation.

Background. Previous research, especially in educational and clinical contexts, suggests cognitive motivation (COM) in combination with self-regulation (SR) to be associated with a broad range of positive mental health, coping, and well-being indicators. Surprisingly, the interplay of these variables has rarely been considered in the occupational context. We hypothesize COM and SR to be valuable resources for counteracting health-risking stressors, which can be explained conceptually by these traits’ link to hardiness. Method. To thoroughly investigate this assumption, we analyzed data from two cross-sectional studies in Germany: a sample of 1022 psychosomatic rehabilitation in-patients (67% female) and a healthy sample of 298 employees (57% female) from various occupational sectors. Bootstrapping was used in correlation analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results. In both samples, COM and SR were associated with stronger health-promoting coping with occupational demands, especially regarding an active, meaningful, and persistent coping style (.31 ≤ r ≤ .57). Analyses via SEM found COM cross-sectionally predicting occupational coping via SR in both samples. Employee’s job satisfaction was predicted via SR and stress reactions. SR predicted job performance. Exploratory analyses revealed specific aspects of job satisfaction (higher standards, problem-solving) to be especially relevant to COM and SR. Conclusion. In two independent samples, both COM and SR proofed to be personal resources closely linked to adaptive coping with everyday stressors and demands of working life. Ideas for promoting these variables in patients and employees to regain or maintain working and coping abilities will be discussed with respect to Conservation of Resources Theory.

Gruppenpsychotherapeutische Angebote spielen in der stationären Versorgung von psychiatrischen und psychosomatischen Patienten eine zentrale Rolle. Im Kontrast dazu bleibt im ambulanten Bereich die Einzeltherapie das am häufigsten angebotene Format 1. Dabei zahlreiche Studien zeigen, dass Gruppentherapie genauso wirksam sein kann wie Einzeltherapie 2.

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