Impact of rumination and regret on depression among new employees in China

We examined the mediating effect of regret in the relationship between rumination and depression in new employees in China. Newly employed staff members of 2 Chinese firms (N = 376) completed a survey to measure their rumination, regret, and depression. We used structural equation modeling to test the mediating effect of regret in this relationship, and bootstrapping methods to assess the magnitude of the direct and indirect effects. The results indicated that the direct effect of rumination on depression was significant. We also found a significant indirect effect of rumination on depression through the mediator of regret. The findings extend those of prior studies and shed light on how rumination affects depression among new employees in China, in that regret can partially mediate the effect of rumination on depression.