Cross-lagged associations among ruminative response style, stressors, and depressive symptoms in adolescents

Recent models suggest that the relationships among cognitive vulnerabilities, stressors, and depression could be dynamic and bidirectional. This study investigated these transactional relationships among ruminative style, depressive symptoms, and stressors. Specifically, this study assessed rumination and stressors as predictors of depressive symptoms, depressive symptoms and rumination as predictors of stressors, and depressive symptoms and stressors as predictors of rumination. Method: A total of 1,000 adolescents (545 boys, Mean Age = 13.42 years) participated in the study. A fully cross-lagged panel design was used in which ruminative style, stressors, and depressive symptoms were assessed at three time points separated by 6 months (Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3). Results: Rumination predicted an increase of depressive symptoms consistently over time. Time 1 depressive symptoms predicted Time 2 stressors, and Time 2 depressive symptoms predicted Time 3 stressors. Finally, Time 1 stressors predicted Time 2 rumination and Time 2 depressive symptoms predicted Time 3 rumination. The findings generally supported a reciprocal model where stressors and rumination contribute to the increase of depressive symptoms, depressive symptoms contribute to generate stress, and both the occurrence of stressors and depressive symptoms worsen ruminative style.