The cyclical nature of depressed mood and future risk: Depression, rumination, and deficits in emotional clarity in adolescent girls.
Deficits in emotional clarity, the understanding and awareness of one's own emotions and the ability to label them appropriately, are associated with increased depressive symptoms. Surprisingly, few studies have examined factors associated with reduction in emotional clarity for adolescents, such as depressed mood and ruminative response styles. The present study examined rumination as a potential mediator of the relationship between depressive symptoms and changes in emotional clarity, focusing on sex differences. Participants included 223 adolescents (51.60% female, Mean age = 12.39). Controlling for baseline levels of emotional clarity, initial depressive symptoms predicted decreases in emotional clarity. Further, rumination prospectively mediated the relationship between baseline depressive symptoms and follow-up emotional clarity for girls, but not boys. Findings suggest that depressive symptoms may increase girls' tendencies to engage in repetitive, negative thinking, which may reduce the ability to understand and label emotions, a potentially cyclical process that confers vulnerability to future depression.
Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall, 1701 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA.
Liza M
LM
Rubenstein
Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall, 1701 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA.
Jessica L
JL
Hamilton
Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall, 1701 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA.
Jonathan P
JP
Stange
Medica Research Institute, 401 Carlson Parkway, Minnetonka, MN 55305, USA.
Megan
M
Flynn
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1202 West Johnson St., Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Lyn Y
LY
Abramson
Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall, 1701 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA. Electronic address: lalloy@temple.edu.
Lauren B
LB
Alloy
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking
Adolescence; Depression; Emotional clarity; Rumination