The relationship between anger and depression: the mediating role of doubting and ruminating tendency

Introduction: As regards to the relationship between anger, depression and Obsessive-Compulsive symptoms (OC), no sure conclusion can be drawn. On one hand, many studies have demonstrated the existence of an intimate connection between anger and depression in both normal and clinical populations (see review by Robbins & Tanck, 1997). On the other, relatively few studies have examined the influence of O-C symptomotology on anger expression (Whiteside & Abramowitz, 2004, 2005). Objective: This contribution intends to clarify the relationship existing between trait anger, depression and O-C symptoms. Our hypothesis is that depression represents an antecedent of O-C symptoms, in particular of the doubting and ruminating component, in its relationship with anger, namely that O-C symptomatology is a mediator between depression and anger. Methods: 353 nonclinical Italian subjects were administered the Italian version of: the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (Spielberger, 1999), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck, Steer & Brown, 1996), and the Padua Inventory (Sanavio, 1988). Results: Zero order and partial correlation coefficients were calculated. Also, a path analysis was performed to test for tendency to doubt and to ruminate, a particular O-C symptom, mediation between depression and anger trait. In order to prove mediation, according to Baron and Kenny (1986), beta coefficients of 3 multiple regression equations must be estimated and compared. Thus, depression affected both the tendency to doubt and to ruminate (beta=.54,t=12.03,p<.001), and anger trait (beta=.41,t=8.32,p<.001). In the last equation, when controlling for the doubting and ruminating component, the relationship between depression and anger trait dropped dramatically to not significant (beta=.12, t=2.46, n.s.), while the influence of the tendency to doubt and to ruminate remained significant. Therefore, tendency to doubt and to ruminate seems to mediate the relationship between depression and anger trait. Conclusion: Results show that both depression and O-C symptoms are associated with anger trait. specifically, a particular O-C symptom, tendency to doubt and to ruminate, seems to mediate the influence of depression on anger trait. The results will be discussed in terms of their implications for increasing theoretical understanding of the relationship between depression, obsessions and anger.