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Rumination, worry, cognitive avoidance, and behavioral avoidance: examination of temporal effects.
Kelsey S Dickson1, Jeffrey A Ciesla, Laura C Reilly
1Departmentof Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242-0001, USA.
Behavior Therapy
|June 16, 2012
Summary
Cognitive avoidance, or trying not to think about threats, predicts later rumination and negative emotions like sadness and anxiety in adolescents. Rumination and worry then worsen these feelings.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Cross-sectional studies link depressive rumination to cognitive and behavioral avoidance.
- Rumination may serve as a strategy to avoid threatening thoughts, aligning with worry theories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the temporal relationships between daily cognitive avoidance, behavioral avoidance, rumination, worry, and negative affect in adolescents.
- To investigate the mediating roles of rumination and worry in the link between avoidance and negative affect.
Main Methods:
- Seventy-eight adolescents completed baseline questionnaires.
- Daily electronic assessments of rumination, worry, cognitive avoidance, behavioral avoidance, sadness, and anxiety were conducted over 7 days.
- Lagged-effect multilevel models and mediation analyses were employed.
Main Results:
- Increased daily sadness was predicted by higher daily rumination and cognitive avoidance.
- Increased daily anxiety was predicted by higher daily rumination, worry, and both cognitive and behavioral avoidance.
- Daily rumination and worry were predicted by daily cognitive avoidance, but not behavioral avoidance.
- Rumination mediated the impact of cognitive avoidance on sadness and anxiety; worry mediated the impact on anxiety.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive avoidance appears to be a significant predictor and potential precursor to rumination and worry in adolescents.
- These findings support models where avoidance strategies contribute to the maintenance and exacerbation of negative emotional states.
- Interventions targeting cognitive avoidance may be beneficial for reducing rumination, worry, and negative affect in adolescent populations.
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