Rumination about social stress mediates the association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms during middle childhood

Although prior research has established a link between exposure to peer victimization and depressive symptoms, relatively little is known about the processes underlying this association. This study examined whether maladaptive responses to a novel social stressor – specifically, lower levels of problem solving or higher levels of rumination – mediate this association. Data were gathered from 130 children (64 boys, 66 girls; M age = 9.46, SD = 0.33) who participated in a laboratory social stressor task with an unfamiliar peer. Results indicated that prior exposure to peer victimization in the school context was associated with ruminative responses to the novel stressor, which mediated the association between victimization and depressive symptoms. These results indicate that ruminative responses to social stress outside of the victimization context may serve as one process explaining the association between victimization and heightened depressive symptoms.