Psychometric Validation of the Children's Response Styles Questionnaire in UK Adolescents

Rumination is thought to be a key mechanism contributing to onset and persistence of depression. We aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a measure of rumination, the Children’s Response Styles Questionnaire (CRSQ), in a sample of UK adolescents (11–16 years; N = 615) who also completed measures of anxiety and depression symptoms. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the two-factor solution: ‘rumination’ and ‘distraction and problem-solving’ (DPS), however the DPS subscale was weaker due to item removal. Full and partial measurement invariance was demonstrated for age and gender respectively. The rumination subscale showed good internal consistency, and it is moderately positively correlated with depression and anxiety symptom measures. Our study suggests that the rumination subscale is both reliable and valid and indicates that the measure could be used in research with UK adolescents, however caution is needed if using the DPS subscale. Future research in clinical populations is warranted.