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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Design and Implementation of an fMRI Study Examining Thought Suppression in Young Women with, and At-risk, for Depression
Published on: May 19, 2015
Testing the cognitive catalyst model of depression: does rumination amplify the impact of cognitive diatheses in
Jeffrey A Ciesla1, Julia W Felton, John E Roberts
1Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242-0001, USA. jciesla@kent.edu
Abstract:
Recent studies have found that rumination functions as a catalyst of cognitive vulnerability to depression. Specifically, these studies have reported synergistic effects between rumination and negative cognitive content (beliefs and attitudes), such that rumination amplifies the association between negative cognitive content and depression (Ciesla & Roberts, 2002, 2007; Robinson & Alloy, 2003). The current study extended this work by testing whether cognitive vulnerability involving the combination of negative cognitive content and rumination increases the impact of stress on the course of depressive symptoms. One hundred ninety-one college students with elevated depressive symptoms participated in a two-wave longitudinal study. Results indicate that the maintenance of depressive symptoms was predicted by the three-way interaction of negative cognitive content, rumination, and stressful life events. More specifically, students who endorsed both maladaptive cognitive content and a tendency to ruminate were particularly vulnerable to the deleterious impact of life stress.
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