Adolescents' co-rumination and stress predict affective changes in a daily-diary paradigm

Co-rumination between friends: Considering the roles of outcome expectations, relationship provisions, and perceptions of problems

Despite its implications for adjustment, little is known about factors that support co-rumination in friendships. The current multi-method, longitudinal study addressed this question with 554 adolescents (Mage = 14.50; 52% girls; 62% White; 31% Black; 7% Asian American) from the Midwestern United States in 2007-2010. Adolescents were observed talking about problems with a friend and reported on their outcome expectations for problem disclosures, relationship provisions during problem talk, and problem perceptions after problem talk. Participants reported on outcome expectations again 9 months later. Results indicate that the positive relationship provisions associated with co-rumination may outweigh negative problem perceptions in predicting adolescents' outcome expectations for problem disclosures over time. Implications for the potentially reinforcing nature of co-rumination are discussed.

The trade-offs of co-ruminating with friends: A profile analysis

Adolescents' co-ruminating with friends has been tied to trade-offs: having higher quality friendships but experiencing more depressive symptoms. To determine if individual youth experience these trade-offs, we applied a person-centered approach to Swedish adolescents' self-reports of co-rumination with friends, depressive symptoms, and friend support (n = 2767, aged 12-16, 52% girls; 88% Swedish). We found four latent profiles: Two high in co-rumination and two low. One high co-rumination profile exhibited the proposed trade-offs; the other reported high friendship support and fewer depressive symptoms. Comparisons indicated that the trade-offs profile were primarily girls and exhibited comparatively more difficulties with stress regulation, conceptions of their parents and themselves, and relations with peers. Focusing on the complexity of co-rumination could reveal further nuances.

Decomposing variance in co-rumination using dyadic daily diary data

It is unknown how co-rumination, or perseverating on problems or feelings with another person, unfolds in the daily lives of romantic couples. Using a variance decomposition procedure on data from a 14-day dyadic diary, we assessed how much variance in co-rumination was attributable to temporally stable and varying factors, as well as whether co-rumination is better measured as a couple-level or individual-level process. Within-person, within-couple fluctuations in co-rumination contributed most (~33%) to the total variance and summary scores based on these fluctuations were reliable. Stable between-couple differences accounted for ~14% of the total variance and could also be reliably assessed. However, within-couple agreement in co-rumination was low, such that the reliability at the level of within-couple change was inadequate. Research is needed to understand these divergent perceptions of co-rumination and potential downstream consequences. We conclude by considering how these results inform theory and can be applied to similar dyadic constructs.

Co-rumination and conversational self-focus: Adjustment implications of problem talk in adolescents' friendships

Friendships are central relationships during adolescence. Given the increased experience of stress during adolescence, friends are especially critical sources of support at this time. Although experiencing social support is related to well-being, adolescents' experiences sharing problems with friends is not always positive. In this chapter, we consider two forms of problematic talk, co-rumination and conversational self-focus. Co-rumination refers to conversations about problems that is excessive, repetitive, speculative, and focused on negative affect. Conversational self-focus refers to adolescents re-directing conversations about friends' problems to oneself. Both co-rumination and conversational self-focus are associated with depressive symptoms. However, whereas co-rumination draws friends together and is associated with positive friendship quality, adolescents who engage in conversational self-focus are increasingly rejected by friends. Directions for future research and applied implications of studying social support processes between friends are discussed.

Contagious Depression: Automatic Mimicry and the Mirror Neuron System - A Review

Contagious depression is a theory proposing that depression can be induced or triggered by our social environment. This theory is based on emotional contagion, the idea that affective states can be transferred during social interaction, since humans can use emotional contagion to communicate feelings and emotions in conscious and unconscious ways. This review presents behavioral, physiological, and neuroanatomical aspects of two essential contagious depression mechanisms, automatic mimicry and the mirror neuron system.

Because you had a bad day: General and daily relations between reactive temperament, emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms in youth

Negative emotionality (NE) and positive emotionality (PE) have repeatedly shown to act as vulnerability factors for youth depression. Less research examined the mechanisms through which these reactive temperament traits may differently confer vulnerability to depression. Based on recent integrated models of depression proposing emotion regulation as a key underlying mechanism, the current study aimed to clarify the general and day-to-day relations among temperament, emotion regulation strategies, and depressive symptoms in Dutch-speaking youth (35% boys; M_age = 13.27 years, SD = 1.98) using a cross-sectional (n = 495) and a 7-day daily diary design (n = 469). Self-reported temperament, trait rumination, trait positive refocusing, and depressive symptoms were measured at baseline. State rumination, state positive refocusing, and depressive symptoms were further assessed daily. Whereas results revealed that NE and PE interacted in predicting baseline and daily depressive symptoms, the cross-sectional analyses provide preliminary evidence for the hypothesis that NE and PE each provide unique pathways for understanding vulnerability to depression. Additional analyses in the daily diary study showed NE to be significantly related to trajectories of state rumination. Results contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the associations between temperament, emotion regulation strategies, and depressive symptoms in youth.

Examining the Relationship Between Daily Co-Rumination and Rumination in Response to Negative Events Among Adolescents Using Ecological Momentary Assessment

Introduction: Rumination and co-rumination are related processes characterized by repetitive focus on negative feelings and problems, with current theory suggesting that co-rumination fosters the use of intrapersonal rumination over time. Additionally, both rumination and co-rumination are related to the occurrence of depressive symptoms during adolescence.

Method: The current study utilized an ecological momentary design to examine the temporal relationship between daily co-rumination and rumination in response to negative events within a sample of young adolescents (N = 150).

Results: Hierarchical linear models indicated that co-rumination in response to a negative event significantly, positively predicted the use of rumination the following day, whereas use of rumination did not predict engagement in co-rumination the following day.

Discussion: Results of the current study support the hypothesis that co-rumination influences the tendency to ruminate individually, which may indirectly result in depressive symptoms over time.

Stress and Eating Behavior: A Daily Diary Study in Youngsters

Background: Overweight and obesity are growing problems, with more attention recently, to the role of stress in the starting and maintaining process of these clinical problems. However, the mechanisms are not yet known and well-understood; and ecological momentary analyses like the daily variations between stress and eating are far less studied. Emotional eating is highly prevalent and is assumed to be an important mechanism, as a maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategy, in starting and maintaining the vicious cycle of (pediatric) obesity. Objectives: The present study aims to investigate in youngsters (10 - 17 years) the daily relationship between stress and the trajectories of self-reported eating behavior (desire to eat motives; hunger eating motives and snacking) throughout 1 week; as well as the moderating role of emotion regulation and emotional eating in an average weight population. Methods: Participants were 109 average weighted youngsters between the age of 10 and 17 years (M _age = 13.49; SD = 1.64). The youngsters filled in a trait-questionnaire on emotion regulation and emotional eating at home before starting the study, and answered an online diary after school time, during seven consecutive days. Desire to eat motives, hunger eating motives and snacking were assessed daily for seven consecutive days. Results: Using multilevel analyses results revealed that daily stress is significantly associated with trajectories of desire to eat motives and hunger eating motives. No evidence was found for the moderating role of maladaptive ER in these relationships; marginally significant evidence was found for the moderating role of emotional eating in the trajectories of desire to eat and snacking. Discussion: These results stress the importance of looking into the daily relationship between stress and eating behavior parameters, as both are related with change over and within days. More research is needed to draw firm conclusion on the moderating role of ER strategies and emotional eating.

An Experimental Investigation of Co-rumination, Problem Solving, and Distraction

Co-rumination involves excessive dwelling on negative aspects of problems within a dyadic relationship (Rose, 2002). While research has focused on the tendency to co-ruminate within particular relationships, we were interested in examining the behavior of co-rumination outside the context of a preexisting relationship. Using an experimental manipulation of co-rumination, the primary goal of this study was to experimentally test the effects of co-rumination and examine its associations with negative and positive affectivity. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three interviewing style conditions: a co-ruminative style, a problem-solving style, or a distracting style. Results revealed that the co-rumination condition significantly differed from both the distraction and problem-solving conditions on overall negative affect, sadness, and anxiety, but not on hostility. There were no significant differences among groups on positive affect. In conclusion, this investigation revealed detrimental effects of co-ruminative behavior even between strangers.