title: How ruminative thinking styles lead to dysfunctional cognitions: evidence from a mediation model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dysfunctional attitudes and a ruminative thinking style are of utmost clinical importance because they are found to be crucially implicated in depression vulnerability. In this study, based on the Diathesis-Stress model (Beck, 1967) and the Differential Activation Hypothesis (Teasdale, 1988), we investigated whether inter-individual differences in a ruminative thinking style would be related to the development of depressive symptoms, leading to the activation of dysfunctional attitudes under stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-six never depressed undergraduate students completed internet questionnaires measuring rumination, depressive symptoms and dysfunctional attitudes at 4 fixed moments in time (T1, T2, T3, T4): T1 was performed six weeks before their exams (considered as a low stress period); T2, T3 and T4 were performed during three consecutive weeks in their final exams (considered as life stress event).
  
  
  RESULTS
  As expected, results revealed that the relationship between rumination, measured both out of (T1) and in (T2) a stressful period, and dysfunctional attitudes (measured at T4) was mediated by increased depressive symptoms (measured at T3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Because the questionnaire for rumination was developed in the context of understanding responses to depressive symptoms, there might be a construct overlap between the predictor and the mediator of the models that were tested. Moreover, because only healthy undergraduates were included, our results demonstrate a decreased generalizability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings indicate that rumination can be conceived as a stable and underlying mechanism leading to depressed mood and dysfunctional attitudes under stress. Moreover, our findings highlight that clinical interventions should not only target dysfunctional schemas and attitudes, but might also benefit from the use of procedures aimed at changing processes such as a ruminative thinking style.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium. MarieAnne.Vanderhaselt@UGent.be
authors.forename: Marie-Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Vanderhasselt
authors.forename: Rudi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Raedt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003071:Cognition; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D013850:Thinking