Depressive Rumination and the Mood-as-Input Hypothesis

• Main Author: Kissinger, Alicia
• Format: Others
• Published: UNF Digital Commons 2014
• Subjects: Thesis; University of North Florida; UNF; Dissertations; Academic > UNF > Psychology; Academic > UNF > Master of Arts in General Psychology; mood; depressive rumination; stop rules; catastrophic interview; Clinical Psychology; Psychology; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/519; http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1547&context=etd

The mood-as-input hypothesis was developed to explain perseverative worry. Based on this model, it is predicted that the amount of time individuals persist on tasks is based on their mood, and this hypothesis may explain the tendency for some individuals to engage in prolonged episodes of depressive rumination. However, surprisingly few studies have examined the applicability of the hypothesis to depressive rumination. Based on the mood-as-input hypothesis, it was predicted that persistence at a rumination task would be greatest in a "sad mood" condition paired with an "as many as can" (AMA) stop rule because individuals with depression have a difficult time assessing when to disengage from the rumination process. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three mood conditions (positive, negative, or neutral) through the use of movie clips from the Lion King and one of two stop rules conditions (as many as can or feel like stopping). Participants then completed the Catastrophic Interview Procedure (CIP), in which they were asked to recall a situation or event in their life that is associated with a depressed mood. More steps are indicative of greater rumination. Contrary to previous literature on the topic, there was no significant interaction between mood and stop rules on depressive steps; however the current study was the first to identify rumination as a predictor of variance after controlling for mood and stop rules indicating that the natural tendency to engage in rumination is an additional relevant variable in a basic perseveration task.