Depressive rumination and past depression in Japanese university students: comparison of brooding and reflection

The Ruminative Responses Scale, a measure of depressive rumination, contains two subscales: Brooding and Reflection. Treynor, Gonzalez, and Nolen-Hoeksema (2003) proposed that Brooding is maladaptive and Reflection is adaptive. This article examined the relationships among Brooding, Reflection, and previous depression in two samples of Japanese undergraduates, who were non-depressed at the time of their participation. Based on answers to a self-report measure, participants were divided into a formerly depressed group, who had experienced an episode that met the criteria for major depression, and a never-depressed group. Logistic regression analyses were conducted with Brooding, Reflection, and current depression as the independent variables and past depression as the dependent variable. Brooding had consistent positive associations with past depression. The relationship between Reflection and past depression was not significant for one sample, but was statistically significant and positive in the second sample. In the second sample, Brooding and Reflection both were related with past depression after controlling for worry.