Brooding and pondering: isolating the active ingredients of depressive rumination with exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.
Depressive rumination, as assessed by Nolen-Hoeksema's Response Styles Questionnaire (RSQ), predicts the onset, chronicity, and duration of depressed mood. However, some RSQ items contain depressive content and result in a heterogeneous factor structure. After the a priori elimination of items potentially confounded with depressed item content, Treynor, Gonzalez, and Nolen-Hoeksema identified two factors within the remaining RSQ rumination sub-scale that were differentially related to depression: brooding and pondering. However, Treynor et al. used a nonstandard form and administration of the RSQ. The present study sought to address these methodological idiosyncrasies and replicate the factor structure of Treynor et al. through exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings support the brooding and pondering solution and demonstrate that brooding relates more strongly to depression and anxiety than does pondering.
Armey
Michael F
MF
Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
Fresco
David M
DM
Moore
Michael T
MT
Mennin
Douglas S
DS
Turk
Cynthia L
CL
Heimberg
Richard G
RG
Kecmanovic
Jelena
J
Alloy
Lauren B
LB
D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult