Rumination and Excessive Reassurance Seeking: Investigation of the Vulnerability Model and Specificity to Depression

Recent research investigating cognitive and interpersonal models of depression have conceptualized rumination and excessive reassurance seeking (ERS) as vulnerabilities for the etiology of depression. However, research testing the vulnerability hypothesis for these constructs among youth is lacking. Additionally, the specificity of rumination and excessive reassurance seeking to depression is unclear. Two studies investigated associations between these constructs to depression and anxiety. In Study 1, concurrent associations between these constructs and depressive and anxious arousal were examined among 194 minority, underserved youth. Study 2 examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between both constructs and depressive and general anxiety symptoms in a community sample of 402 youth. Results from both studies supported rumination as a specific vulnerability for depressive symptoms, whereas ERS appeared to be a concomitant of negative affect common to depressive and anxiety symptoms. Findings inform cognitive and interpersonal theories of depression by advancing knowledge of how rumination and ERS relate to aspects of internalizing problems among diverse populations of youth.