Rethinking Rumination
Nolen-Hoeksema and colleagues review two decades of work on rumination and are notably willing to report where the original theory did not hold. Well supported: rumination worsens depression, intensifies negative thinking, impairs problem solving, interferes with taking action, and erodes the patience of the people around a person, which removes their support. Revised: rumination predicts the onset of depression more consistently than its duration, and predicts duration only in combination with negative thinking styles. Contradicted: the original claim that positive distraction should be associated with fewer symptoms does not hold in correlational studies, though dozens of experiments show distraction lifting a low mood. Extended: rumination is now associated with anxiety, binge eating, heavy drinking and self-harm rather than depression alone. The review also takes up the distinction between rumination and useful self-reflection, which is the part this vault most often needs. A model of how to revise a theory in public.
Nolen-Hoeksema and colleagues review two decades of work on rumination and are notably willing to report where the original theory did not hold. Well supported: rumination worsens depression, intensifies negative thinking, impairs problem solving, interferes with taking action, and erodes the patience of the people around a person, which removes their support. Revised: rumination predicts the onset of depression more consistently than its duration, and predicts duration only in combination with negative thinking styles. Contradicted: the original claim that positive distraction should be associated with fewer symptoms does not hold in correlational studies, though dozens of experiments show distraction lifting a low mood. Extended: rumination is now associated with anxiety, binge eating, heavy drinking and self-harm rather than depression alone. The review also takes up the distinction between rumination and useful self-reflection, which is the part this vault most often needs. A model of how to revise a theory in public.
Written from the abstract, OpenAlex.
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increases negative attributions, increases the accessibility of negative memories, impairs problem solving, interferes with instrumental behaviour and erodes social support.
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- Why You Lie Awake at 3am Replaying One Conversation, Why We Care
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The link below was matched against the publisher's record on title, first author and year, and all three agree.
The source
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00088.x
DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00088.x