Response styles and the duration of episodes of depressed mood.

TLDR

The study examined how ruminative versus distracting response styles affect the duration of depressed mood. The study tracked 79 participants’ daily mood and response diaries for 30 days. Most participants displayed consistent response styles, and greater rumination was linked to longer depressive episodes, especially among women.

Abstract

We examined the relationship between ruminative and distracting styles of responding to depressed mood and the duration of mood. Seventy-nine subjects kept accounts of their moods and responses to their moods for 30 consecutive days. The majority of subjects (83%) showed consistent styles of responding to depressed mood. Regression analyses suggested that the more ruminative responses subjects engaged in, the longer their periods of depressed mood, even after taking into account the initial severity of the mood. In addition, women were more likely than men to have a ruminative response style and on some measures to have more severe and long-lasting periods of depression.