En Route to Depression: Self-Esteem Discrepancies and Habitual Rumination

Dual-process models of cognitive vulnerability to depression suggest that some individuals possess discrepant implicit and explicit self-views, such as high explicit and low implicit self-esteem (fragile self-esteem) or low explicit and high implicit self-esteem (damaged self-esteem). This study investigated whether individuals with discrepant self-esteem may employ depressive rumination in an effort to reduce discrepancy-related dissonance, and whether the relationship between self-esteem discrepancy and future depressive symptoms varies as a function of rumination tendencies. Hierarchical regressions examined whether self-esteem discrepancy was associated with rumination in an Australian undergraduate sample at Time 1 (N = 306; M(age) = 29.9), and whether rumination tendencies moderated the relationship between self-esteem discrepancy and depressive symptoms assessed 3 months later (n = 160). Damaged self-esteem was associated with rumination at Time 1. As hypothesized, rumination moderated the relationship between self-esteem discrepancy and depressive symptoms at Time 2, where fragile self-esteem and high rumination tendencies at Time 1 predicted the highest levels of subsequent dysphoria. Results are consistent with dual-process propositions that (a) explicit self-regulation strategies may be triggered when explicit and implicit self-beliefs are incongruent, and (b) rumination may increase the likelihood of depression by expending cognitive resources and/or amplifying negative implicit biases.