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PubMed2006

The relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression in a non-clinical sample.

Recent commentaries have proposed conceptualizations of rumination in terms of both cognitive and behavioral avoidance. This study examined the relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression using a newly developed self-report measure of avoidance in depression, the Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale (CBAS) [Ottenbreit, N.D., & Dobson, K.S. (2004). Avoidance and depression: The construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293-313]. A non-clinical sample (N=104) of undergraduate students completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety, rumination and avoidance. Rumination, avoidance and depression were all significantly correlated. Rumination and behavioral avoidance remained intercorrelated when anxiety was controlled, confirming an association that is independent of anxiety. By contrast, the relationship between cognitive avoidance and rumination disappeared when anxiety was partialled out. Notably, avoidance predicted unique variance in depression scores, over and above anxiety and rumination. Consistent with the proposal of Ottenbreit and Dobson [Avoidance and depression: The construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293-313], our findings support the value of clinicians and psychopathologists giving consideration to avoidance in their conceptualization of depression.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

The effect of practice on recall of negative material in dysphoria.

BACKGROUND: Little is known of the impact of repeated retrieval of negative material on the content of what depressed individuals remember. On the premise that high dysphoric individuals possess: (i) a tendency to ruminate, and (ii) deficient inhibition of negative material, we hypothesized that they would demonstrate less inhibition of unpracticed and non-practiced negative material. METHODS: High and low dysphoric participants' memory for practiced, unpracticed and non-practiced negative and neutral words was tested with the retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) paradigm. RESULTS: Across participants, RIF was observed for neutral words. In both groups, there was no difference between the recall of unpracticed and non-practiced negative words. LIMITATIONS: Use of a non-clinical sample. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are discussed in the context of methodological suggestions about how future studies could enhance the applicability of the RIF procedure to investigate the impact of ruminative rehearsal.

Adult↗