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Academic performance: A longitudinal study on the role of goal-directed rumination and psychological distress
Sabrina Krys1, Kai-Philip Otte1, Kristin Knipfer2
1Institute of Psychology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany.
Background:
In this research, we examine the relationship between goal-directed rumination, psychological distress, and performance. Although previous research has largely contributed to our understanding of how these constructs are related, the direction of their relationships remains unclear.
Objectives:
We argue that goal-directed rumination and psychological distress (conceived as perceived stress and strain) are reciprocally related, and that goal-directed rumination has a positive effect on performance when controlling for the negative effect of psychological distress.
Design:
We explored these relationships in a longitudinal field study, drawing on multiple sources: self-reports of 147 students on goal-directed rumination and psychological distress and objective ratings of academic performance.
Method:
Based on structural equation modelling, we employed a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model and hierarchical regressions to examine our hypotheses.
Results:
We demonstrated that goal-directed rumination predicted perceived stress one week later but not vice versa, while its relationship to strain was less clear. Furthermore, goal-directed rumination positively predicted academic performance when we controlled for psychological distress.
Conclusions:
We found evidence for a unidirectional relationship between goal-directed rumination and psychological distress, especially for perceived stress. Additionally, we observed that psychological distress diminishes the beneficial effect of goal-directed rumination on academic performance.
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