Investigating Intrusive and Deliberate Rumination as Mediators in the Effects of Perceived Stress on Depression and Anxiety Severity

Rumination, a form of self-relevant repetitive thought, can manifest after stressful experiences and exacerbate symptoms of psychopathology. Intrusive rumination (IR) but not deliberate rumination (DR) has been previously shown to mediate the links between COVID-19 pandemic stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression; this study investigates whether these results generalize to stressful life experiences more broadly. 1057 participants from an online convenience sample completed questionnaires assessing perceived stress, event-related rumination, depression, and anxiety. A parallel mediation model tested whether the associations of perceived stress with anxiety and depression symptoms were mediated by IR and DR. All effects in the model were statistically significant, except the prediction of anxiety by DR. Additionally, we found that IR partially positively mediated the stress-depression and stress-anxiety associations, whereas DR partially negatively mediated the stress-depression association. Therefore, psychological treatments that promote a shift from IR to DR after a stressful experience are recommended.