Gratitude and depressive symptoms in Chinese nurses: A longitudinal cross-lagged study

Nurses have a relatively higher rate of depressive symptoms compared to other people. Previous studies have reported that gratitude is correlated with depressive symptoms among healthcare workers. The purpose of this study was to explore the causal relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms among Chinese nurses. We collected data over 4 months, with 393 nurses at Time 1 and 241 at Time 2. All participants completed online questionnaires. We employed the structural equation models to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that gratitude at Time 1 could predict depressive symptoms at Time 2, and depressive symptoms at Time 1 could predict gratitude at Time 2. These results remained significant after controlling for gender, age, education, marital status, professional title, general positive affect, and negative affect. The findings provide initial evidence about the causal relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms among Chinese nurses. Hospital administrators can intervene in depressive symptoms of nurses by developing gratitude interventions. Furthermore, nurses with lower levels of depressive symptoms feel more grateful.