Depression, postburn disability & quality of life: The moderating roles of burn specific coping strategies

Depression has been associated with poorer postburn functional outcomes. However, whether or not certain burn specific coping strategies moderate the relationships remains unknown. Burn survivors from 2015 Formosa Fun Coast Water Park explosion were recruited in a 3-year follow-up study. Using Wave 1 data collected 1 year after discharge, we conducted multivariate regression analysis to assess the associations between depression and postburn disability and quality of life. We also performed moderation analysis to determine moderating effects of burn specific coping strategies on the associations. Our results found depression was significantly associated with worsening postburn disability and poorer quality of life. When demographic and burn related variables were accounted for, we found avoidance coping moderated the depression-disability relationship. Depression was significantly and positively correlated with disability at low and medium levels of avoidance but not high. Optimism/problem solving moderated the depression-quality of life relationship. Depression was significantly and negatively correlated with quality of life at low and medium levels of optimism/problem solving but not high. Our study provided evidence supporting early identification and intervention of depression in burn survivors to optimize functional outcomes. Such knowledge may provide insights into potential targets in rehabilitation in depressed burn survivors.