Going beyond the role of coping behaviors in predicting subsequent depression and suicidal ideation: Do the positive personality variables of amor fati, optimism/pessimism, and hope still matter?

Introduction: This prospective study sought to determine if positive personality variables, namely, amor fati, optimism/pessimism, and hope, were important and unique predictors of subsequent psychological ill-being, namely, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, even after accounting for coping behaviors. Methods: One hundred and forty-six adults completed measures of amor fati, optimism/pessimism, hope, and coping behaviors at Time 1, and completed measures of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation at Time 2 (6 weeks later). Results: Results from conducting hierarchical regression analyses indicated that coping behaviors consistently accounted for a significant amount of the variance in indices of subsequent ill-being. Moreover, the set of personality variables was found to account for additional unique variance in indices of ill-being, beyond coping behaviors. Within the personality set, the only variable found to predict subsequent ill-being consistently was amor fati. Discussion: Overall, these findings point to amor fati as a unique and sensitive predictor of subsequent psychological health in adults.