Depression, Social Function, and Employees' Difficulties in Returning to Work because of Depression

Abstract

The purposes of the present study were to develop a Difficulties in Returning to Work Inventory (DRW) and to examine characteristics of the inventory. The inventory was developed based on a sample of 34 patients with unipolar depressive disorder. A total of 60 employees who were on sick leave because of unipolar depressive disorder completed the inventory. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the DRW was constituted of 10 items, centering on 3 factors. Cronbach's α coefficient was sufficiently high (α=.87), and the validity of the inventory was confirmed by content as well as concurrent validity. The results of the present study suggest that the DRW has high reliability and validity. The inventory was used to classify the 60 employees into 4 categories. The results considered the employees' difficulties in returning to work and suggested treatments that could be provided to them.