| There is substantial evidence that rumination maintains or exacerbates depressed mood among adults, and several studies have replicated this finding among children and adolescents. In addition, intrusive thoughts have been associated with psychological distress, including anxiety and depressive symptoms. Despite substantial research in this area, there has been very little investigation regarding the underpinnings of rumination and intrusive thoughts. Consequently, very little is known about which, if any, cognitive and emotional processes may underlie such maladaptive responses to stress. The current investigation examined not only the relationship between maladaptive responses styles, and the development of depressive symptoms, but also the cognitive and emotional underpinnings of rumination and intrusive thoughts. Results indicate that maladaptive stress responses (and in particular, rumination) were associated with change in depression over time. Further, maladaptive stress responses were predicted by emotion beliefs and self-worth contingencies, but not behavioral emotion inhibition. Finally, gender differences emerged on mean level of many constructs. While comprehensive modeling among boys was not possible, path analyses indicate that rumination appears to be deleterious in terms of predicting depression for girls. The current study thus demonstrates how maladaptive emotion regulation strategies may be intertwined with views of the self and core assumptions about emotion, particularly among girls. |
