Der Einfluss von Erholung nach beruflicher Beanspruchung auf Depressivität. Eine prospektive Untersuchung zum "Health Action Process Approach-Recreation" im Lehrerberuf

Current studies about occupational stress reveal relations between work strain, insufficient recovery and health effects. Effective recreational activities can be defined as healthy behavior. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA; Schwarzer, 2008a) is a theoretical model on the explanation of health behavior change. A recoveryspecific adaption, the HAPA-Recreation (Baum, 2008; Gnau, 2009; Hoederath, 2009; Krüger, 2010; Rabenhorst, in press), has been developed focusing recovery behavior and its health consequences. The present study aimed to investigate the HAPA-R- specific relationship between recovery activities, recovery experience und depression in a prospective design for the first time. A sample of N = 108 working teachers has been analyzed over a period of three weeks, including one questionnaire per week. The varification of the predictions has been realised by regression analyses and mediation analyses. As predicted, both recovery activities and recovery experience were negatively correlated with depression in the following week. These effects remained stable towards confounders. Recovery experience totally mediated the effect of recovery activities on depression in the following week. Furthermore explorative analyses showed that a more of intake of medication is associated with a more of depression. The results of this prospective study support the assumption of the HAPA-R that effective recovery processes influence the psychical health in a positive way. It is discussed, in which way recovery processes may be more effective so that the relationship between recovery activities and recovery experiences gets stronger. In addition, the results indicate that the intake of medicaments is important to pay closer attention to. This aspect influencing depression has not yet been considered in recent studies on recovery after work strain. Interventions preventing mental disorders in the context of occupational stress should focus on effective recovery.