Rethinking Rumination

TLDR

Let's parse content. Background: one sentence: "The response styles theory (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991) was proposed to explain the insidious relationship between rumination and depression." Purpose: multiple sentences: lines with Purpose label: - [Purpose, Mechanism] first: "We review the aspects of the response styles theory that have been well-supported, including evidence that rumination exacerbates depression, enhances negative thinking, impairs problem solving, interferes with instrumental behavior, and erodes social support." - [Purpose] "Next, we address contradictory and new findings." - [Purpose, Mechanism] "We discuss the relationships between rumination and worry and between rumination and other coping or emotion-regulation strategies." - [Purpose, Findings] "Finally, we highlight recent research on the distinction between rumination and more adaptive forms of self-reflection, on basic cognitive deficits or biases in rumination, on its neural and genetic correlates, and on possible interventions to combat rumination." So Purpose summary: They review supported aspects of response styles theory, address contradictory/new findings, discuss relationships with worry and other coping strategies, and highlight recent research on distinctions, deficits, neural/genetic correlates, and interventions. Mechanism: same lines as Purpose but with Mechanism label: - [Purpose, Mechanism] first: same as above. - [Purpose, Mechanism] second: "We discuss the relationships between rumination and worry and between rumination and other coping or emotion-regulation strategies." So Mechanism: They review supported aspects of theory and discuss relationships between rumination and worry and other coping strategies.

Abstract

The response styles theory (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991) was proposed to explain the insidious relationship between rumination and depression. We review the aspects of the response styles theory that have been well-supported, including evidence that rumination exacerbates depression, enhances negative thinking, impairs problem solving, interferes with instrumental behavior, and erodes social support. Next, we address contradictory and new findings. Specifically, rumination appears to more consistently predict the onset of depression rather than the duration, but rumination interacts with negative cognitive styles to predict the duration of depressive symptoms. Contrary to original predictions, the use of positive distractions has not consistently been correlated with lower levels of depressive symptoms in correlational studies, although dozens of experimental studies show positive distractions relieve depressed mood. Further, evidence now suggests that rumination is associated with psychopathologies in addition to depression, including anxiety, binge eating, binge drinking, and self-harm. We discuss the relationships between rumination and worry and between rumination and other coping or emotion-regulation strategies. Finally, we highlight recent research on the distinction between rumination and more adaptive forms of self-reflection, on basic cognitive deficits or biases in rumination, on its neural and genetic correlates, and on possible interventions to combat rumination.