RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: In theory, depression is thought to be associated with deficits in adaptive and excesses in maladaptive coping strategies. This study aimed to investigate associations between coping strategies and depression treatment outcomes. METHOD: Participants (N = 126) completed measures of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies before and after accessing evidence-based psychotherapies for depression. The primary outcome was self-reported depression severity measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Hierarchical regression was used to investigate associations between coping strategies and post-treatment depression symptoms, controlling for therapeutic alliance and relevant demographics. RESULTS: Lower pre-treatment engagement coping and higher rumination predicted higher post-treatment depression, but both of these effects became non-significant after controlling for baseline depression severity. Similarly, correlations between change in rumination and change in depression were no longer significant after controlling for baseline severity. CONCLUSIONS: Deficits in adaptive (engagement) and excesses in maladaptive (rumination) coping strategies may simply be proxy indicators (epiphenomena) of depression severity. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Lower pre-treatment engagement coping predicted higher post-treatment depression Higher pre-treatment rumination predicted higher post-treatment depression Change in rumination during treatment correlated with change in depression symptoms However, none of the above associations remained statistically significant after controlling for baseline depression severity.