Ruminative response to dysphoric mood : criterion-related and predictive validity of self-report
Year: 2004
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Nolen-Hoeksema's (1991) Response Styles Theory posits that an individual's tendency to respond to minor negative moods by ruminating about symptoms and about the causes and consequences of being depressed will lead to longer and more severe depressed moods.Though generally very supportive of Response Styles Theory, empirical research has been limited by its dependence upon the Response Styles Questionnaire (RSQ; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991), a self-report, endorsement-style measure of response to negative mood.Two studies evaluated the behavioural and predictive validity of the RSQ Rumination scale as well as selfand symptom-focused subfactors.In Study 1, university students demonstrated concordance between self-reporled ruminative style and ruminative thought content recorded during an induced sad mood.Self-reported tendency toward healthy self-reflection was found to modestly improve the degree of concordance.Both RSQ Rumination and the self-focus factor were predictive of the severity, but not the onset or duration, of the induced mood when baseline mood was statistically controlled.In Study 2, judges rated ruminative style as evídenced in interviews with clinically depressed patients.Self-reported ruminative styles were again predictive of corresponding thought content in the clinical interviews, but did not predict indicators of repetitive ruminative process.RSQ Rumination was predictive of the perceived ability to manage depressed moods, though questionnaire scores were not predictive of perceived controllability or benefit of ruminations.In both studies, occurrent ruminative thought content was predictive of the severity of mood episodes, Validation of Self-Reported Rumination vi providing partial support for the validity of Response Styles Theory.Measures of occurent ruminative process in Study 2 were not predictive of mood outcome.This research provides preliminary evidence of the behavioural and predictive validity of self-repoñed ruminative style and of the Response Styles Theory.Directions for future research include further investigation of the roles of rumination subtypes at both the clinical and subclinical levels, the development of new rumination measures that more adequately capture ruminative process, and measures that are specifically tailored for use in clinically-depressed populations.Any task as monumental and important as the completion of a doctoral degree, especially when it has taken '18 years to accomplish, requires the guidance, support and inspiration of many people.I would like to begin by thanking Dr. Ed Johnson for 9 years of patient, gentle and wise guidance through what has at times been a long, confusing, frustrating but ultimately rewarding process.I would also like to acknowledge the teaching and support of Dr. Brian Cox, who, though he was unable to be part of the final committee, played an important role in developing my thinking in the area of psychopathology research.Dr. Murray Enns was very supporlive and instrumental and making the clinical study happen, and for that I am very grateful.
Source: Mspace (University of Manitoba)
Author: Freeman, Paul
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7024395833