The effects of rumination and negative cognitive styles on depression: A mediation analysis

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Abstract

Research on cognitive models of depression has identified negative cognitive styles and rumination as risk factors for depression. The present study examined the hypothesis that rumination mediates the effect of negative cognitive styles on depression. Specifically, we evaluated the differential effects of two aspects of rumination, characterized by brooding and reflection, on the relationship between negative cognitive styles and level of depressive symptoms. A total of 115 college students and 38 patients suffering from depressive disorders completed a battery of questionnaires measuring levels of depressive symptoms, brooding, reflection, and negative cognitive styles. The results support the notion that there exist two distinct dimensions of rumination and that, of the two, it is brooding and not reflection that mediates the relationship between negative cognitive styles and depression and contributes to its negative outcomes.

Section snippets

Participants

College sample: The college sample comprised 115 students recruited from The University of Hong Kong. They participated in the study to receive credits as part of the requirements of an introduction to psychology course. There were 92 female and 23 male participants in this group and their mean age was 19.82 (SD=1.67, range from 18 to 30). Their mean Beck Depression Inventory—Second Edition (BDI-II) score was 13.04 (SD=8.88, range from 0 to 49).

Patient sample: The second sample comprised 38

Preliminary analyses

Table 1 presents the mean scores and standard deviations for brooding, reflection, ASQ-CN, and BDI-II for the two samples. Independent t-tests were performed to compare the two samples on each measure. Significant differences between the samples were found for brooding, ASQ-CN, and BDI-II. As predicted, participants in the patient sample had a higher level of depressive symptoms, exhibited stronger negative cognitive styles, and engaged in more brooding. The patient sample also had a higher

Discussion

The primary objective of the present study is to evaluate the role of rumination in the relationship between negative cognitive styles and depression. Specifically, the mediation effects of brooding and reflection were examined separately in college and clinical samples. The present findings suggest that there exist two distinct dimensions of rumination and that, of the two, it is brooding and not reflection that mediates the effects of negative cognitive styles on depression. Although negative

Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge the help of Professor Susan Nolen-Hoeksema for allowing us to translate the Ruminative Responses Scale into Chinese.

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