Repetitive thought dimensions, psychological well-being, and perceived growth in older adults: a multilevel, prospective study

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Forms of repetitive thought (RT) such as worry are clearly related to states such as anxiety and depression. However, the presence of other forms such as reminiscing suggests that RT could also relate to eudaimonic well-being (EWB). Furthermore, a largely overlooked characteristic, total tendency to engage in RT, may associate with a particular kind of EWB, namely, perceived growth (PG). Design: Older adults (N = 150) were interviewed semi-annually for up to 10 waves. Methods: Participants completed a battery of RT measures at baseline and annual assessments of psychological well-being (PWB) and PG. Multilevel models tested the prospective, between-person relationships between baseline RT and future PWB and PG. Results: RT qualities prospectively predicted both PWB and PG: more positive valence best predicted PWB whereas more negative valence and more total RT best predicted PG. Furthermore, RT qualities largely accounted for a negative between-person relationship between PWB and PG. Conclusions: Different qualities of RT promoted different kinds of EWB, and a negative association between different kinds of EWB could be attributed to their different RT antecedents.

Keywords:

• rumination
• processing
• perceived growth
• eudaimonic well-being
• psychological well-being

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Personality Interest Group at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and Annette Stanton for their helpful comments on a previous version.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Dana Foundation and the National Institute on Aging [grant numbers R01-AG026307, K02-AG033629, and P30-AG028383.