Rumination interacts with life stress to predict depressive symptoms: An ecological momentary assessment study

Abstract

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.

The Brief State Rumination Inventory (BSRI): Validation and Psychometric Evaluation

“…In keeping with this point, previous studies showed that state rumination is similarly correlated with trait rumination and depressive symptoms (Connolly & Alloy, 2017;Marchetti et al, 2013).…”

Ruminative responses to interpersonal precipitants mediate borderline personality disorder features’ effects on distress reactivity and recovery in daily life

“…Given the evidence that retrospective bias is minimized when peak affect intensity is assessed (see Fredrickson, 2000), each EMA survey assessed both immediate affective states and those that occurred at peak times of distress during the prior hour. The overall response rate to EMA prompts was 78% (3,298 of 4,235), a level of compliance observed in other studies (Brans et al, 2013;Chaudhury et al, 2017;Connolly & Alloy, 2017). The overall response rate to EMA prompts was 78% (3,298 of 4,235), a level of compliance observed in other studies (Brans et al, 2013;Chaudhury et al, 2017;Connolly & Alloy, 2017).…”

“…Both methodological approaches provide important insights into the relationship between BPD and rumination; however, they are not without limitation, as tendencies to ruminate vacillate over time (Ruscio et al, 2015) and are contextually evoked (Connolly & Alloy, 2017 Both methodological approaches provide important insights into the relationship between BPD and rumination; however, they are not without limitation, as tendencies to ruminate vacillate over time (Ruscio et al, 2015) and are contextually evoked (Connolly & Alloy, 2017 …”

“…Relatively few studies examine the interplay between BPD, rumination, and NA reactivity and recovery outside of the laboratory setting (but see Selby, Ribeiro, & Joiner, 2013). However, findings from studies of healthy (Brans, Koval, Verduyn, Lim, & Kuppens, 2013;Heiy & Cheavens, 2014;Huffziger, Ebner-Priemer, Koudela, Reinhard, & Kuehner, 2012;Troy, Saquib, Thal, & Ciuk, 2018), analogue (Connolly & Alloy, 2017), and clinical samples (Ruscio et al, 2015) provide indirect evidence for rumination's role in both components of emotion dysregulation. For instance, when experimentally induced in daily life, rumination predicts an increase in concurrent NA levels (Huffziger et al, 2012).…”

“…Further, uninstructed ruminative response deployment has been linked to reduced positive affect and increased NA across EMA observations (Brans et al, 2013;Pavani, Le Vigouroux, Kop, Congard, & Dauvier, 2016), and a delayed return to baseline levels (Pavani et al, 2016). Others have also demonstrated that ruminative self-focus exacerbates depressive affect over time among symptomatic college students (Connolly & Alloy, 2017), and among adults with mood and anxiety disorders, for whom rumination after daily stressors increased NA and decreased positive affect (Ruscio et al, 2015).…”