The Event-Related Rumination Inventory: How Does Scale Validity Change with Time Instructions?

Abstract

Two types of rumination following a traumatic event can be identified: intrusive and deliberate rumination. Intrusive rumination is defined as a series of intrusive and undesired thoughts, whereas deliberate rumination is characterized by voluntary repetitive thoughts that help make sense of the experience. The Event-Related Rumination Inventory (ERRI) is an instrument capable of assessing both types of rumination. This study aimed to define the best modality of administration for the ERRI, by comparing the two original time frame instructions (immediate vs recent) and examining its psychometric properties in an Italian sample. To achieve this goal, 601 participants who experienced a trauma at different times (subsample 1: 1 year maximum; subsample 2: more than 1 year) were recruited and asked to complete an online survey assessing the following constructs: rumination, post-traumatic growth, post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms. ERRI’s reliability and validity were evaluated using the exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) method, i.e. combining the power and flexibility of traditional confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. The ESEM model for the “recent” time frame achieved the best indices in terms of goodness of fit. The correlation network revealed significant connections with related constructs, indicating the validity of intrusive and deliberate scores. Finally, the two dimensions of the scale demonstrated a significant ability to discriminate both intrusive and deliberate rumination as participants moved away from the time of the trauma. ERRI has shown very good psychometric properties and appears to be a good instrument to assess ruminative processing after a highly stressful event.

Keywords:

• Intrusive rumination
• deliberate rumination
• traumatic experience
• confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
• Exploratory structural equation analysis (ESEM)

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants involved in the study.

Authors’ contributions

Conceptualization: AR, GM, MDT, BL. Data curation: AR, MDT. Formal analysis: GM, BL. Investigation: AR, MDT. Methodology: GM, BL. Validation: AR, GM, MDT, BL. Writing-original draft: AR, GM, MDT, BL. Writing-review and editing: AR, GM, MDT, BL.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All relevant data are within the paper. The full data set will be made available upon request from the corresponding author.

Notes

1 Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence in one or more of the following ways: (1) Directly experiencing the traumatic event(s); (2) Witnessing, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others; (3) Learning that the traumatic event(s) occurred to a close family member or close friend). In cases of actual or threatened death of a family member or friend, the event(s) must have been violent or accidental; (4) Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to unpleasant details of the traumatic event(s) (e.g., first responders collecting human remains, police officers repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Notes on contributors

Annunziata Romeo

Annunziata Romeo, PhD, is a postdoc fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Turin. Her research focuses on different psychological aspects of both clinical and non-clinical populations. Particularly, her studies examined individual characteristics (i.e., alexithymia, attachment style, personality, defense mechanisms) in relation to symptoms of psychological distress and quality of life, and post-traumatic outcomes following various traumatic experiences.

Giorgia Molinengo

Giorgia Molinengo, PhD, PsyD, Psychologist is Researcher in Psychometrics at the Psychology Department of the University of Turin. She teaches Data Analysis and Measurement in Psychology and has carried out research on the evaluation of the psychometric properties of psychological instruments and on the quality of life in chronic diseases

Marialaura Di Tella

Marialaura Di Tella, PhD, is a Researcher in Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Turin. Her research focuses on different psychological aspects of both clinical and non-clinical populations. Particularly, her studies examined socio-emotional abilities (i.e., alexithymia, emotion regulation, empathy, emotion recognition, theory of mind) in relation to symptoms of psychological distress and quality of life, and post-traumatic outcomes following various traumatic experiences.

Barbara Lucia Loera

Barbara Loera, PhD, PsyD, Psychologist, is Associate Professor of Psychometrics at the Psychology Department of the University of Turin, where she directs the Psychometrics Laboratory. Her teaching activities regard Data Collection and Analysis, and Consumer Psychology. Her latest research works are dedicated to health psychology.