title: Age differences in rumination and autobiographical retrieval.
abstract: Higher well-being in older adults compared to young adults is a well-known phenomenon. However, the variables associated with this effect are still uncertain. Negative repetitive thinking (rumination) is a transdiagnostic variable related to psychopathology. It is strongly associated with depression and a lack of specificity in autobiographical retrieval. This research explores age differences in the association of rumination with mood, autobiographical memories and working memory.
  
  
  
  Two groups of participants (older adults versus young adults), recruited through a public announcement, were compared in a cross-sectional study.
  
  
  
  Older adults ruminated less than young participants. Rumination was positively associated with depression scores but not with working memory scores in both samples. More importantly, the interaction between brooding rumination and negative autobiographical memories was the only significant variable to explain the variance of mood scores in young participants. However, in older participants, the interaction between brooding and positive autobiographical memories significantly explained the variance of mood scores. Digit span forward and the interaction of brooding by negative autobiographical memories also significantly explained mood scores in older adults.
  
  
  
  These results suggest that a different interaction between brooding rumination and the valence of autobiographical memories may be a relevant variable associated with mood differences by age.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine , University of Castilla La Mancha , Albacete , Spain.|b Research Institute of Neurological Disabilities (INIDE) , University of Castilla La Mancha , Albacete , Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ricarte
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine , University of Castilla La Mancha , Albacete , Spain.|b Research Institute of Neurological Disabilities (INIDE) , University of Castilla La Mancha , Albacete , Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ros
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine , University of Castilla La Mancha , Albacete , Spain.|b Research Institute of Neurological Disabilities (INIDE) , University of Castilla La Mancha , Albacete , Spain.
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology, Facultuy of Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Nursing , University of Castilla La Mancha , Talavera de la Reina , Spain.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martínez-Lorca
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine , University of Castilla La Mancha , Albacete , Spain.|b Research Institute of Neurological Disabilities (INIDE) , University of Castilla La Mancha , Albacete , Spain.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Latorre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: autobiographical memories; rumination