Key result
Momentary fluctuations in negative affect were prospectively associated with greater rumination at the next sampling occasion in formerly depressed participants, but not in nonclinical controls.
Why the study?
Does negative affect trigger mood-reactive rumination in people with a history of depression compared to nonclinical controls?
Observational
Does negative affect trigger mood-reactive rumination in people with a history of depression compared to nonclinical controls?
In individuals with a history of depression, negative affect triggers rumination with a high degree of automaticity, which may be exacerbated by early life stress.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Mood-reactive rumination may sustain vulnerability in remitted depression; leaves open whether targeting it prevents recurrence.
affect and rumination 10 times daily over 6 days, after completing baseline measures of trait ruminative brooding, early life stress, and habitual characteristics of negative thinking (e.g., automaticity, lack of conscious awareness, intent, and control). Momentary fluctuations in negative affect were prospectively associated with greater rumination at the next sampling occasion in formerly depressed participants whereas this pattern of mood-reactive rumination was not observed in nonclinical controls. In formerly depressed participants, habitual characteristics of negative thinking was associated with greater mood-reactivity of rumination, particularly among those with a history of early life stress. Mood-reactive rumination was not, however, associated with depression course nor with the frequency of trait ruminative brooding. Rumination may be triggered in response to negative affect with a high degree of automaticity, making it difficult to control. Greater mood-reactivity of rumination might be associated with increased depression risk, independent of the depressive course and may be exacerbated by early life stress. Future studies may need to go beyond frequency and focus on the role of mood-reactivity and automaticity of ruminative thinking in depression vulnerability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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Hjartarson et al. (2022) conducted an observational in Depression. History of depression vs. Nonclinical controls was evaluated on Mood-reactive rumination. Momentary fluctuations in negative affect were prospectively associated with greater rumination at the next sampling occasion in formerly depressed participants, but not in nonclinical controls.
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