Anxiety and Depression Predict the Paths Through Which Rumination Acts on Behavior: A Daily Diary Study

Abstract

Introduction: Rumination—thinking passively, negatively, and repetitively—is a common cognitive process that is associated with poor health behaviors. Rumination impacts health behaviors through two distinct behavioral pathways: acting too quickly (impulsivity) or not acting at all (amotivation), though no research to date has examined the conditions under which rumination may manifest in these two disparate behavioral paths. The presence of anxiety and depression may lead to the behavioral manifestations of rumination, which may then differentially impact health behavior patterns. In this study, we tested whether individuals reporting anxiety who ruminate will then act impulsively and individuals reporting depression who ruminate will then not act in the context of their daily health behaviors. Methods: We recruited 285 college students (mean age = 19.3; 76.8% female; 79.4% Caucasian) and had them complete a baseline survey and an 11-day online daily diary to assess associations among anxiety, depression, rumination, and health behaviors. Results: Rumination predicted health behaviors through both impulsivity and amotivation as expected. Moderation models revealed that rumination in the context of anxiety leads to impulsivity and rumination in the context of depression leads to amotivation. Limitations: The undergraduate sample limits the generalizability of this data. Discussion: These results show that those who report depression or anxiety are likely to experience more daily rumination and the deleterious behavioral manifestations of that rumination, which then affects health behavior engagement or avoidance. Future behavioral health interventions can perhaps specifically target impulsivity among individuals reporting anxiety and amotivation among individuals reporting depression in order to promote more healthy behaviors.

Psychometric properties of the mistakes rumination scale

“…Thus, because rumination over mistakes is a kind of self-criticism, those with greater degrees of perfectionism are less likely to show compassion and forgiveness, and rumination is more common among people who criticize themselves excessively (Abdollahi, Allen & Taheri, 2020). The results also show that the relationship between mistake rumination with depression, stress and anxiety is positive and significant, which is also consistent with conducted researches (Riley, Cruess, Park, Tigershtrom, & Laurenceau, 2019). To explain the findings, it can be stated that people's rumination of mistakes causes them to focus less about problemsolving solutions and more about difficulties and negative traits, which can lead to increased stress and anxiety.…”

Rumination, automatic thoughts, dysfunctional attitudes, and thought suppression as transdiagnostic factors in depression and anxiety

“…Rumination was a significant mediator between negative affect and depression but not anxiety symptoms in a sample of psychiatric patients (Iqbal and Dar 2015). Ruminative thinking was linked to impulsive behaviors in the context of anxiety, on the other hand, rumination contributed to amotivation in the context of depression in a non-clinical college sample (Riley et al 2019). However, significant relationships between childhood traumatic experiences and depression/anxiety were mediated by rumination, the effect of which was prominent in females (Kim et al 2017).…”

Validating a measure for eco-anxiety in Portuguese young adults and exploring its associations with environmental action

“…Furthermore, rumination is strongly associated with anxious symptomatology [ 49 ]. According to Riley and colleagues [ 50 ], rumination can promote action and thus may represent an “impetus” for healthy people to act on behalf of the environment. However, for those who generally experience greater psychological distress, rumination may hinder behaviour, as thinking repetitively about ecological problems may exacerbate preexisting distress.…”