Differences in trait mindfulness, pain rumination, and fear of progression for those with and without recurrent depression in people with rheumatoid arthritis

Depressive disorders are common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA; up to 42%) and are frequently recurrent. We examined differences in trait-mindfulness, pain rumination, and fear of progression (FoP) for people with RA with and without a history of recurrent depression. We recruited 271 people with RA who completed a structured interview for depressive disorders, which identified 152 people who had experienced two or more episodes of depression. We found that a history of recurrent depression was associated with significantly less trait-mindfulness (Cohen’s d = 0.43), more pain rumination (Cohen’s d = 0.42) and increased FoP (Cohen’s d = 0.56). However, when those with elevated depressive symptoms were excluded, differences remained between those with and without recurrent depression only for FoP (Cohen’s d = 0.42). However, both trait-mindfulness and FoP (but not pain rumination) were associated with unique variance in depressive symptoms controlling for a range of covariates.