Rumination in the laboratory: What happens when you go back to everyday life?

Abstract

Rumination has been suggested to mediate the physiological consequences of stress on health. We studied the effects of rumination evoked in the laboratory and subsequent changes over 24 h. Heart rate (HR) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) were monitored in 27 male and 33 female participants during baseline, reading, an anger recall interview, and recovery. Half of the sample was assigned to a distraction condition. The lab session was followed by a 24‐hour ambulatory (A)HR and BP recording and self‐reports of moods and rumination. Rumination was associated with higher SBP, DBP, and HR and increased negative mood compared to distraction. Rumination during the day was a strong predictor of AHR, ABP, and mood. BP reactivity in the laboratory and increases in ABP during rumination were related. The effects of negative cognition on health go far beyond the recovery periods usually measured in the laboratory, thus playing a pathogenic role.

Neurobiological substrates of cognitive rigidity and autonomic inflexibility in generalized anxiety disorder

“…We replicated the effects of a perseverative cognition induction (e.g., Ottaviani, Shapiro, & Fitzgerald, 2011; on target detection performance, showing decreased focus on the task and slower reaction times to target appearance indicative of difficulties in getting out of a state of heighted focus on ruminative and worrisome thoughts (Franklin, Smallwood, & Schooler, 2011;Ottaviani et al, 2013). Moreover, baseline HRV was associated with pre-to postinduction changes in perseverative cognition, confirming the previously reported association between cognitive inflexibility and autonomic rigidity (Ottaviani et al, 2013;2015a,b).…”

Between-person and within-person approaches to the prediction of ambulatory blood pressure: the role of affective valence and intensity

“…Although much is known at the between-person level, far fewer studies have examined inthe-moment effects of ABP (for exceptions see Brondolo et al, 2003;Edmondson et al, 2015;Jacob et al, 1999;Kamarck et al, 2002;Ottaviani et al, 2011;Smith et al, 2012). Thus, there is continued need to test momentary relationships with ABP.…”

“…In addition, by examining anger and ABP over time, one gains better access to the extent to which these variables dynamically co-vary indicating precise moments when a person may be vulnerable (e.g., when anger is high). Work in this area has found in-the-moment associations between more socially evaluative threats (Smith et al, 2012), higher anxiety (Edmondson et al, 2015), rumination (Ottaviani et al, 2011), negative social interactions (Brondolo et al, 2003), and negative affect, arousal, task demand, and social conflict (Kamarck et al, 2002) with higher levels of momentary ABP, thus suggesting the viability of such an approach. Moreover, recent work has advocated for the use of within-person assessments and analyses to examine psychosomatic questions, such as how affect and BP relate (Blackwell et al, 2006;Myers et al, 2012).…”

Meta-analyses of cardiovascular responses to rumination : exploring mechanisms linking depression and hostility to cardiovascular disease.

“…Evidence reveals that distraction following angry rumination or an angering situation can accelerate return to baseline cardiovascular levels Ottaviani, Shapiro, & Fitzgerald, 2011). This effect was not found in the limited experimental studies involving cardiovascular implications of rumination following other types of emotion induction, such as sadness or anxiety (Cui & Huang, 2007;Key, 2011;Vaughn, 2008).…”

“…The other type of design are "recall" studies that examine the later (e.g., weeks to months) mental recreation of prior emotional events (e.g., Gruber et al, 2011). While the examination of cardiovascular responses is not 10 typical in both types of rumination studies, some anger-focused recall studies employ a re-experiencing technique, known as the anger recall interview (Ironson et al, 1992) that is effective at evoking ruminative thoughts (Ottaviani, Shapiro, & Fitzgerald, 2011).…”