The effects of self-focused rumination on global negative self-judgements in depression

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) self-focused 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 self-focus 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.     

The relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression in a non-clinical sample

Recent commentaries have proposed conceptualizations of rumination in terms of both cognitive and behavioral avoidance. This study examined the relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression using a newly developed self-report measure of avoidance in depression, the Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale (CBAS) [Ottenbreit, N.D., & Dobson, K.S. (2004). Avoidance and depression: The construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293-313]. A non-clinical sample (N=104) of undergraduate students completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety, rumination and avoidance. Rumination, avoidance and depression were all significantly correlated. Rumination and behavioral avoidance remained intercorrelated when anxiety was controlled, confirming an association that is independent of anxiety. By contrast, the relationship between cognitive avoidance and rumination disappeared when anxiety was partialled out. Notably, avoidance predicted unique variance in depression scores, over and above anxiety and rumination. Consistent with the proposal of Ottenbreit and Dobson [Avoidance and depression: The construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293-313], our findings support the value of clinicians and psychopathologists giving consideration to avoidance in their conceptualization of depression.     

The effects of analytical and experiential rumination on autobiographical memory specificity in individuals with a history of major depression

This study examined the relationship between analytical rumination and autobiographical memory specificity in participants with a history of depression. Participants completed the autobiographical memory test twice, once before and once after an 8 min manipulation designed to increase either an abstract/analytical or concrete/experiential mode of information processing. Results indicated a significant three-way time (pre, post)×manipulation (analytical, experiential)×depressive rumination (high, low) interaction. This interaction was the result of a significant decline in memory specificity from pre- to post-manipulation in individuals reporting high levels of rumination about symptoms when depressed who were allocated to the analytical condition. The findings of this study extend previous work, suggesting that low memory specificity in formerly depressed patients may be a function of state levels of analytical self-focus, with this cognitive style being more easily reinstated in the recovery phase in those who report a greater trait tendency to ruminate about symptoms when low in mood.     

Mood-as-input and depressive rumination

This article describes a test of mood-as-input theory predictions as applied to a rumination task in a nonclinical population. An experimenter-controlled interview was used to allow participants to reflect on a personal period of depression while in an experimentally-induced mood state (either negative or positive) or while deploying a specific stop rule for the task (either an “as many as can” or “feel like continuing” stop rule). As predicted by mood-as-input theory, persistence at the rumination task was greatest in the group experiencing negative mood while deploying an “as many as can” stop rule, and this suggests a mechanism that may contribute to perseverative depressive rumination. It is argued that the variables that contributed to perseveration in this study are already known to be characteristic of ruminative thinkers (e.g. negative mood and positive metacognitive beliefs about rumination that will command the deployment of “as many as can” stop rules for rumination). It is also argued that mood-as-input processes may provide a common mechanism for perseverative rumination and perseverative worry, and this common mechanism may account for many of the similarities between these two functionally-distinct activities.     

Competitive Memory Training for treating depression and rumination in depressed older adults: a randomized controlled trial

Although rumination is an important mediator of depressive symptoms, there is insufficient proof that an intervention that specifically targets rumination ameliorates the clinical condition of, depressed patients. This study investigates whether a time-limited cognitive behavioral intervention (Competitive Memory Training, or COMET for depressive rumination) is an effective treatment for depression and rumination. This intervention was tested in older adult depressed outpatients. A total of 93 patients (aged ≥65 years with major depression and suffering from rumination) were treated in small groups according to the COMET protocol in addition to their regular treatment. Patients were randomized to two treatment conditions: 7 weeks of COMET + treatment-as-usual (TAU) versus TAU only. COMET + TAU showed a significant improvement in depression and rumination compared with TAU alone. This study shows that the transdiagnostic COMET protocol for depressive rumination might also be successful in treating depression and rumination in older adults.     

On the links between self-discrepancies, rumination, metacognitions, and symptoms of depression in undergraduates

The present study aimed to test the central components of Papageorgiou and Wells' (2003) non-clinical metacognitive model of rumination and depression that is grounded on the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model of emotional disorders [Wells, A., & Matthews, G. (1994). Attention and emotion: A clinical perspective. Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum.]. A second aim of this study was to extend the non-clinical model with the concept of self-discrepancy in line with the S-REF model. Data of the current study were collected in a large sample of non-clinical Dutch undergraduates (N=196), who completed a battery of questionnaires including measures of rumination, positive and negative metacognitions, depressive symptoms, and self-discrepancy (i.e., actual-ideal, actual-ought, and actual-feared discrepancies). Hypothesized relationships among these variables were tested by means of structural equation modelling. Following some theoretically consistent modifications, the model was an adequate fit to the data. With respect to the second aim of the study, self-discrepancies were directly linked to symptoms of depression as well as indirectly via the cognitive processes involved in the metacognitive model of rumination and depression. Evidence was found for positive beliefs about rumination to partially mediate the relation between self-discrepancy and rumination. Clinical implications of the findings, including implementation of a metacognitive-focused cognitive therapy of depression, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Predicting anger in social anxiety: The mediating role of rumination

Anger and the way that anger is expressed have been linked to attrition and poorer treatment outcomes in patients with Social Anxiety Disorder (e.g., Erwin, B. A., Heimberg, R. G., Schneier, F. R. & Liebowitz, M. R. (2003). Anger experience and expression in social anxiety disorder: Pretreatment profile and predictors of attrition and response to cognitive-behavioral treatment. Behavior Therapy, 34, 331–350). Understanding the connection between social anxiety and anger may be one way to improve outcomes in this population. A cross-sectional regression design was used in a sample of 363 undergraduates to examine the suggestion that ruminative thought is a critical factor linking social anxiety to anger. In support of this hypothesis, brooding fully mediated the relationship between social anxiety and trait anger and partially mediated the relationship between social anxiety and outward anger expression. The relationship between brooding and anger suppression became non-significant after depression was controlled. In contrast, reflective pondering partially mediated the relationship between social anxiety and anger suppression. These results suggest that addressing rumination may be useful in the treatment of socially anxious patients who struggle with anger. They also support the utility of considering multiple forms of rumination and multiple anger outcomes in a single study.     

Examining the relationship of perfectionism,depression, and optimism: Testing for mediation and moderation

The present study investigated the relationship between perfectionism and depression, and the mediation/moderation effects of optimism. Participants were126 adults (78% women, mean age = 27 years) who completed an online survey that included the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990), the Revised Life Orientation Test (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994), and the Hamilton Depression Inventory (Reynolds & Kobak, 1995). Maladaptive, adaptive and total perfectionism were examined in separate analyses. In most analyses, the data fit a mediation model. Optimism limited the effect (relationship) of total and maladaptive perfectionism on depression. Adaptive perfectionism was related to depression only through optimism. There was a small gender difference, with indirect effects greater for men. These results are consistent with past research and support the notion that correlations between perfectionism, as a trait, and affective variables must be examined using multivariate models that allow for the determination of complex relationships.     

Decision-making competence in everyday life: The roles of general cognitive styles,decision-making styles and personality

Research indicates that decision-making competence in everyday life is associated with certain decision-making styles. The aims of this article are to extend this research by examining (a) the extent to which general cognitive styles explain variance in decision-making competence over and above decision-making styles, and (b) the extent to which personality explains variance in decision-making competence over and above both types of style variable. Participants (N = 355) completed measures of everyday decision-making competence (Decision Outcomes Inventory), decision styles (Decision Style Questionnaire; Maximization Inventory), cognitive styles (the Cognitive Styles Inventory; Rational-Experience Inventory), and the Big Five personality variables (IPIP Big-Five factor scales). The results indicate that cognitive styles offer no incremental validity over decision-making styles in predicting decision-making competence, but that personality does offer substantial incremental validity over general cognitive styles and decision-making styles. Jointly decision-making styles and personality account for a substantial amount of variance in everyday decision-making competence.     

Worry and rumination: differential associations with anxious and depressive symptoms and coping behavior

Worry and rumination are closely allied cognitive processes that impact on the experience of anxious and depressive symptoms. Using a prospective design, this study examined overlapping and distinct features of worry and rumination in relation to symptoms and coping behavior in a nonclinical sample of Singaporean college students. Worry and rumination were highly correlated, but they retained distinct components that predicted anxious and depressive symptoms differentially within and across time. Specifically, worry was uniquely associated with anxious and depressive symptoms whereas rumination was uniquely related to depression. In comparison to rumination, worry emerged as the dominant cognitive vulnerability factor that predicted increments in symptoms over time. With regards to coping behavior, low perceived coping effectiveness partially mediated the relation between worry and increases in anxiety and depression. Conversely, rumination uniquely predicted higher disengagement from problems, which resulted in further exacerbation of depressive mood. These results demonstrated not only the distinct features of worry and rumination on coping behavior, but also the different coping pathways by which they differentially impact on subsequent symptoms.     

Self-compassion,a better alternative to rumination than distraction as a response to negative mood

Self-compassion – having a healthy, mindful and kind self-attitude – may be a better way to cope with negative experiences than distraction. This was tested in 152 undergraduates who underwent a negative mood induction and then completed either a self-compassionate writing task or a distraction task. Results showed that participants who wrote self-compassionately experienced increases in positive affect while participants who distracted experienced reductions in positive affect. Both groups significantly reduced in negative affect; however, there was no significant difference between them. An interaction was found between rumination and time, demonstrating that high ruminators experienced greater reduction of sadness than low ruminators. The current findings demonstrate greater short-term benefits of approaching a negative mood using self-compassion compared to distraction and results are discussed in the context of the broaden and build theory of positive emotions.     

Humor styles impact the relationship between symptoms of social anxiety and depression

Recent research suggests that examining humor styles may contribute to our understanding of clinical problems, such as risk and resiliency. The goal of the current study was to examine whether humor styles moderate the association between social anxiety and depressive symptoms in an unselected sample. Three-hundred and six participants (66% female) at a large Southern US university completed self-report measures of humor styles and symptoms of social anxiety and depression. Regression analyses suggested that affiliative and self-defeating humor styles individually moderated the relationship between social anxiety and depressive symptoms. Clinical implications regarding the monitoring of humor use as a means of understanding the maintenance of depressive symptoms among socially anxious individuals are discussed.     

Gaze-fixation and pupil dilation in the processing of emotional faces: The role of rumination

Sustained attentional processing of negative information plays a significant role in the development and maintenance of depression. The present study examines the relationships between rumination, a relevant factor in information processing in depression, and the attentional mechanisms activated in individuals with different levels of depression severity when attending to emotional information (i.e., sad, angry and happy faces). Behavioural and physiological indicators of sustained processing were assessed in 126 participants (39 dysphoric and 87 non-dysphoric) using eye-tracking technology. Pupil dilation and total time attending to negative faces were correlated with a global ruminative style in the total sample once depression severity was controlled. Furthermore, in dysphoric participants the brooding component of rumination was specifically associated with the total time attending to sad faces. Finally, bootstrapping analyses showed that the relationships between global rumination and pupil diameter to emotional faces were accounted by total time attending to emotional faces, specifically for participants reporting lower levels of depression severity. The results support the idea that sustained processing of negative information is associated with a higher ruminative style and indicate differential associations between these factors at different levels of depressive symptomatology.     

Revealing negative thinking in recovered major depression: a preliminary investigation

Previous research suggests that formerly dysphoric individuals engage in effortful strategies (e.g., thought suppression) that may mask underlying depressive thinking. The addition of a cognitive load, such as recalling a 6-digit number, which interferes with effortful mental control, reveals depressive thinking in formerly dysphoric individuals. This preliminary study tested whether this effect of cognitive load on revealing negative thinking generalizes to formerly clinically depressed patients. Currently depressed patients, recovered depressed patients and never-depressed patients unscrambled sentences that could form either positive or negative statements, after random allocation to either cognitive load or no cognitive load conditions. The number of negative statements unscrambled was used as an index of negative thinking. Without a load, recovered depressed patients did not differ from never-depressed controls: both groups completed fewer negative statements than currently depressed patients. However, the cognitive load increased negative statements in the recovered depressed group, making them resemble the currently depressed group more than the never-depressed group. These preliminary findings extend previous demonstrations of cognitive load unmasking negative thinking in dysphoric students to a clinical population, suggesting that formerly depressed patients utilize effortful strategies to minimize the report of negative thinking, which is undermined by the addition of a cognitive load.     

An investigation of extreme responding as a mediator of cognitive therapy for depression

Although the efficacy of Cognitive Therapy (CT) for depression is well documented, questions remain about the conditions under which CT is maximally effective, and the mechanisms by which CT is efficacious. This study examined the role of extreme responding (ER) as a mediator and predictor of relapse, as well as a predictor of acute treatment outcome. To test mediation, ER of participants in CT was compared to ER of participants receiving Behavioral Activation (BA). Results indicated that ER was not a mediator of relapse in either condition. Both CT and BA showed reductions in depression severity, however neither group showed significant changes in ER over the course of treatment. Finally, ER did not predict or moderate acute treatment outcome. The implications of these results, strengths and limitations of the current study, and future research directions are discussed.     

Self-rumination, self-reflection, and depression: Self-rumination counteracts the adaptive effect of self-reflection

Self-focused attention has adaptive and maladaptive aspects: self-reflection and self-rumination [Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the Five-Factor Model of personality: distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 284-304]. Although reflection is thought to be associated with problem solving and the promotion of mental health, previous researches have shown that reflection does not always have an adaptive effect on depression. Authors have examined the causes behind this inconsistency by modeling the relationships among self-reflection, self-rumination, and depression. One hundred and eleven undergraduates (91 men and 20 women) participated in a two-time point assessment with a 3-week interval. Statistical analysis with structural equation modeling showed that self-reflection significantly predicted self-rumination, whereas self-rumination did not predict self-reflection. With regard to depression, self-reflection was associated with a lower level of depression; self-rumination, with a higher level of depression. The total effect of self-reflection on depression was almost zero. This result indicates that self-reflection per se has an adaptive effect, which is canceled out by the maladaptive effect of self-rumination, because reflectors are likely to ruminate and reflect simultaneously.     

Moderators of continuation phase cognitive therapy's effects on relapse, recurrence, remission, and recovery from depression

About half of patients who respond to acute-phase cognitive therapy (CT) for major depressive disorder (MDD) will relapse/recur within 2 years; continuation-phase CT lowers this risk. We analyzed demographic, clinical, cognitive, social-interpersonal, and personality variables to clarify which patients continuation-phase CT helps to avoid relapse and recurrence and achieve remission and recovery. Participants had recurrent MDD, responded to acute-phase CT, were randomized to 8 months of continuation-phase CT (n = 41) or assessment control (n = 43), and were assessed 16 additional months (Jarrett et al., 2001). Consistent with an underlying risk-reduction model, continuation-phase CT was helpful for responders to acute-phase CT with greater risk and/or dysfunction as follows: Younger patients with earlier MDD onset who displayed greater dysfunctional attitudes and lower self-efficacy; personality traits suggesting low positive activation (e.g., reduced energy, enthusiasm, gregariousness); and transiently elevated depressive symptoms late in acute-phase CT and residual symptoms after acute-phase CT response. We emphasize the need for replication of these results before clinical application.     

Attachment and trait forgivingness: The mediating role of angry rumination

Integrating theories of attachment and forgiveness, we predicted that secure attachment reduces angry rumination and promotes forgiveness. To examine this prediction, in Study 1 (n = 213), participants completed the Experience in Close Relationships Scale (ECR; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998) and the Trait Forgiveness Scale (TFS; Berry, Worthington, O’Connor, Parrott, & Wade, 2005). Individuals who were classified as securely attached displayed greater dispositional forgivingness than did insecurely attached individuals. In Study 2 (n = 218) we included the Dissipation-Rumination Scale (DRS; Caprara, 1986). Results from Study 2 replicated the association between attachment security and greater dispositional forgivingness and confirmed the mediating role of angry rumination in the attachment–forgivingness relation.     

Rumination as a transdiagnostic factor in depression and anxiety

The high rate of comorbidity among mental disorders has driven a search for factors associated with the development of multiple types of psychopathology, referred to as transdiagnostic factors. Rumination is involved in the etiology and maintenance of major depression, and recent evidence implicates rumination in the development of anxiety. The extent to which rumination is a transdiagnostic factor that accounts for the co-occurrence of symptoms of depression and anxiety, however, has not previously been examined. We investigated whether rumination explained the concurrent and prospective associations between symptoms of depression and anxiety in two longitudinal studies: one of adolescents (N = 1065) and one of adults (N = 1317). Rumination was a full mediator of the concurrent association between symptoms of depression and anxiety in adolescents (z = 6.7, p < .001) and was a partial mediator of this association in adults (z = 5.6, p < .001). In prospective analyses in the adolescent sample, baseline depressive symptoms predicted increases in anxiety, and rumination fully mediated this association (z = 5.26, p < .001). In adults, baseline depression predicted increases in anxiety and baseline anxiety predicted increases in depression; rumination fully mediated both of these associations (z = 2.35, p = .019 and z = 5.10, p < .001, respectively). These findings highlight the importance of targeting rumination in transdiagnostic treatment approaches for emotional disorders.     

Personality and cognitive processes: self-criticism and different types of rumination as predictors of suicidal ideation

Self-criticism and rumination have been related to suicidality. In the present study, we investigated the extent to which different types of rumination (brooding and reflection) mediate the relationship between self-criticism and suicidal ideation. Two hundred and thirty-two healthy adults completed a range of psychological inventories at Time 1 and were followed up approximately 3 months later (Time 2). Brooding was more strongly associated with suicidal ideation than reflection. Hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that among those who completed measures at both time points, brooding rumination fully mediated the self-criticism-Time 2 suicidal ideation relationship. Reflection did not mediate the self-criticism-suicidal ideation link. The findings support a growing corpus of research which highlights the utility of personality and cognitive factors in advancing our understanding of the suicidal process. The theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.