Ruminative self-focus, negative life events, and negative affect (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ruminative self-focus and negative affect: An experience sampling study
Journal of abnormal psychology, 2008
The authors conducted an experience sampling study to investigate the relationship between momentary ruminative self-focus and negative affect. Ninety-three adults recorded these variables at quasi-random intervals 8 times daily for 1 week. Scores on questionnaire measures of dispositional rumination were associated with mean levels of momentary ruminative self-focus over the experience sampling week. Concurrently, momentary ruminative self-focus was positively associated with negative affect. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that whereas ruminative self-focus predicted negative affect at a subsequent occasion, negative affect also predicted ruminative self-focus at a subsequent occasion. Decomposition of the dispositional rumination measure suggested that brooding, but not reflective pondering, was associated with higher mean levels of negative affect. Though broadly consistent with Nolen-Hoeksema's (1991) response styles theory, these results suggest that a reciprocal relationship exists between ruminative self-focus and negative affect.
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2017
Rumination is a well-established vulnerability factor for depression that may exert deleterious effects both independently and in interaction with stress. The current study examined momentary ruminative self-focus (MRS) and stress-reactive rumination (SRR) as predictors of depressive symptoms utilizing a smartphone ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design. 121 undergraduates responded to four text message alerts per day for one week in which they indicated the occurrence of life stress, rumination, and depressed mood. SRR, but not MRS, independently predicted increases in depressive symptoms. MRS interacted with depressive symptoms to predict increases in symptoms at the subsequent timepoint, supporting the deleterious effects of depressive rumination on future mood state. Interactions emerged between stress and both MRS and SRR, such that experiencing higher levels of stressors and rumination at an observation predicted greater increases in depressive symptoms. To our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate that state rumination moderates the effect of stress in predicting depressive symptoms using EMA methodology. Results suggest that rumination levels in response to stress vary within individuals and can have an important effect on depressed mood. Findings may have important clinical implications, as lessening individuals' tendency to engage in rumination following stress may help to alleviate depressive symptoms.
Rumination and Prospective Changes in Depressive Symptoms
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2008
according to the response styles theory , rumination contributes to both the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms. in this study, we examined the vulnerability and maintenance hypotheses in a multi-wave prospective study of young adults with levels of negative events and depressive symptoms assessed every week for 7 weeks. We found no support for the vulnerability hypothesis. Specifically, levels of rumination (brooding or reflective rumination) did not moderate the link between weekly negative events and weekly changes in depressive symptoms. in contrast, we did find support for the maintenance hypothesis. Specifically, levels of brooding and reflective rumination were related to elevated depressive symptom levels across the follow-up. Consistent with previous research, the magnitude of the effect for brooding was stronger than that for reflective rumination.
Negative affect and ruminative self-focus during everyday goal pursuit
Cognition & emotion, 2010
Models of self-regulation propose that negative affect is generated when progress towards goals is perceived to be inadequate. Similarly, ruminative thinking is hypothesised to be triggered by unattained goals (Martin & Tesser, 1996). We conducted an experience-sampling study in which participants recorded their negative affect, ruminative self-focus, and goal appraisals eight times daily for one week. Negative affect and ruminative self-focus were each associated with low levels of goal success and (with the exception of sadness) high levels of goal importance. As predicted, the combination of low goal success and high goal importance was associated with the highest levels of negative affect, and this interaction was marginally significant for ruminative self-focus. Decomposition of the ruminative self-focus measure revealed that the success by importance interaction was significantly associated with focus on problems but not focus on feelings. Findings did not differ for individuals reporting high versus low levels of depressive symptoms or trait rumination. These results suggest that self-regulatory models of goal pursuit provide a useful explanatory framework for the study of affect and ruminative thinking in everyday life.
2015
Rumination-repetitively thinking about one's emotional state, its causes and consequencesexacerbates negative mood and plays an important role in the aetiology and maintenance of depression. Yet, it is unclear whether increased vulnerability to depression is associated with simply how much a person ruminates, or the short-term impact rumination has on a person's negative mood. In the current study, we distinguish between the level versus the impact of rumination, and we examine how each uniquely predicts changes in depressive symptoms over time in an undergraduate sample. Using experience sampling, we assessed students' (N = 101) subjective experiences of positive and negative affect and their use of rumination and distraction in daily life for seven days. Participants also reported their depressive symptoms before and after the experience sampling. Increases in depressive symptoms over the week were predicted by how much people ruminated, but not by its impact on negative mood.
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Background and objectives: Rumination has been shown to prospectively predict the onset of depression. However, it is unclear how rumination and affect in daily life influence the development of depressive symptoms. The present study examined whether the structure of dynamics in rumination and affect could prospectively predict depressive symptoms and trait rumination in an undergraduate sample (n = 63). Methods: The main index used was entropy, which reflects the instability of a system's structure. Momentary rumination and affect were assessed eight times per day for a period of seven days. Additionally, depressive symptoms and trait rumination were measured at the beginning of the experiment and at six weeks follow-up. Results: The results showed that entropy significantly predicted trait rumination at follow-up (and depressive symptoms at trend level) while taking into account baseline depressive symptoms and trait rumination. Limitations: The follow-up measurements conducted six weeks after the baseline were relatively short. Further research may test the predictive effect of the structure over a longer period and confirm its effect by using different indices that describe the structure. Conclusions: These findings indicate that examining the structure of the dynamics in momentary rumination and affect holds promise for understanding the risk for depression.
The effects of self-focused rumination on global negative self-judgements in depression
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2005
Previous research in dysphoric participants has found that compared with distraction, rumination inductions are associated with increased levels of cognitive distortions and overgeneral autobiographical memories. Watkins and Teasdale ((2001) Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 353-357) investigated which component of rumination was responsible for this effect in overgeneral memory, and found two distinct modes of ruminative self-focus, with analytical, evaluative self-focus maintaining overgeneral memory, whereas self-focus low in analytical thinking reduced overgeneral memory. The present study compared the effects of these two distinct forms of self-focused rumination with another measure of overgeneral thinking-global negative self-judgements. Thirty depressed participants and thirty never-depressed participants were randomly allocated to 'analytic' (high analysis) or 'experiential' (low analysis) selffocused manipulations. As predicted, in depressed participants, the analytical self-focus condition increased ratings of the self as worthless and incompetent pre-to post-manipulation, whereas the experiential selffocus condition resulted in no significant change in such judgements. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that an analytical mode of self-focused rumination may be particularly maladaptive in depression. r
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between positive affect, negative affect, rumination and depression, and to explore the mediating role of rumination between positive and negative affect and depression. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 249 students, selected by convenience sampling method. All the participants completed positive and negative affect schedule, The Ruminative Response Scale and Beck depression inventory. Statistical analysis was done using the R 3.4.2 software. Results: Positive affect exhibited a significant negative relationship with rumination and depression. Also, there was a significant positive relationship between negative affect and rumination and depression. In addition, results showed that rumination partially mediated the relationship of positive and negative affect with depression. Conclusion: Considering the results, it can be concluded that rumination, directly and indirectly, mediates between positive and negative affect and depression, and can predict depression. Based on the increasing positive affect and reducing negative affect, therapeutic interventions can be provided that would decrease rumination, and thereby prevent or control depression.
Nature, functions, and beliefs about depressive rumination
2004
Consider the following questions: What is rumination? How does rumination overlap with, and differ from, other cognitive processes and products? What is the role of rumination in depression? What factors are responsible for initiating and maintaining rumination, and how is rumination linked to depression? In this chapter, we address each of these questions by exploring the phenomenology of depressive rumination. The chapter begins by examining definitions of rumination. The second section reviews studies comparing depressive rumination with other forms of repetitive negative thinking. The next section considers the functions of rumination in depression. The final section explores the relationships between rumination, depression, and metacognitive beliefs.