Attention to negative words predicts daily rumination among people with clinical depression: evidence from an eye tracking and daily diary study

ABSTRACT

The present study examined relationships between attention to negative words and daily rumination and daily adjustment in a sample of clinically depressed individuals. We recorded eye movements of 43 individuals diagnosed with major depression while they were freely viewing dysphoric, threat-related, neutral, and positive words. Then, each day for one week, participants provided measures of their daily rumination and psychological adjustment. Multilevel analyses found that attention to dysphoric and threat-related words was positively related to daily rumination and attention to threat-related words was negatively related to daily adjustment. These findings suggest that the impaired ability to disengage from negative words is positively related to rumination in daily life and is negatively related to well-being, as defined in terms of Beck’s Triad.

KEYWORDS:

• Rumination
• attentional bias
• eye movements
• diary study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Based on the distinction between reflection and rumination as two types of self-focused attention made by Trapnell and Campbell (1999) we use the term “rumination” to refer to what some describe as “brooding rumination”.

Additional information

Funding

Support for this research was provided by the Narodowe Centrum Nauki, Grant/Award Number: [2012/04/M/HS6/00/470 to Izabela Krejtz].