ABSTRACT
Objective
The literature on the association between sex, rumination, and depression indicates significant variability from childhood to adulthood. Although this variability indicates the need for a developmental lens, a surprising lack of research has been conducted on the association between these variables from middle to late adolescence.
Method
The present study seeks to bridge this gap using structured equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the reciprocal associations between sex, brooding rumination, reflective rumination, and depressive symptoms in a sample of students measured at 8th grade, 9th grade, and 12th grade time points.
Results
In line with findings across the lifespan, female participants indicated significantly higher average levels of both subtypes of rumination and depressive symptoms versus males. Novel results of this study include the findings that for male participants in this age range, brooding rumination predicted later depressive symptoms, while for female participants, early depressive symptoms predicted later brooding. For female participants, early reflective rumination predicted later depressive symptoms.
Conclusions
This is the first investigation of its kind to demonstrate deleterious longitudinal effects of self-reflective rumination. Findings are interpreted through an ecological framework and mark the transition to high school as a potential risk for interrupted problem-solving of circumstances related to adolescents’ distress.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Seattle children and parents who participated in the Developmental Pathways Project.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.