Rumination and social problem-solving in depression.

Full Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that impaired social problem solving in depression is a consequence of state-oriented rumination, which can be ameliorated by improving awareness of mental processes. 32 currently depressed, 26 recovered depressed, and 26 never depressed participants completed the Means Ends Problem Solving Test while randomly allocated to no questions, state-oriented ruminative questions, (e.g. focusing on why you have a problem) or process-focused questions (e.g. focusing on how you decide to solve a problem). In the no question condition, the currently depressed group was significantly impaired at problem solving compared to the never depressed and recovered depressed groups, which did not differ from each other. As predicted, the process-focused questions significantly improved social problem solving in depressed patients, compared to no questions and state-oriented questions, which did not differ from each other. As predicted, compared to the process-focused questions, the state-oriented questions significantly impaired social problem solving in the recovered depressed group. These results are consistent with recent theories and treatment developments which suggest that increased awareness of mental processes can shift people away from ruminative thinking, thereby, reducing depressive relapse.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Watkins, Ed (E); Baracaia, Simona (S);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London, UK. e.watkins@iop.kcl.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Behaviour research and therapy (Behav Res Ther), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Oct; vol 40 (issue 10) : pp 1179-89

Dates: Created 2002/10/11; Completed 2002/11/13; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12375726, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Cognition
Depression - diagnosis; psychology; therapy
Female
Humans
Male

This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.

See 100+ related articles.