Publications internationales The relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression in a non-clinical sample

The relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression in a non-clinical sample

Michelle L. Moulds, Eva Kandris, Susannah Starr and Amanda C.M. Wong

Revue : Behaviour Research and Therapy

Recent commentaries have proposed conceptualizations of rumination in terms of both cognitive and behavioral avoidance. This study examined the relationship between rumination, avoidance and depression using a newly developed self-report measure of avoidance in depression, the Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale (CBAS) [Ottenbreit, N.D., & Dobson, K.S. (2004). Avoidance and depression: The construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293?313]. A non-clinical sample (N=104) of undergraduate students completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety, rumination and avoidance. Rumination, avoidance and depression were all significantly correlated. Rumination and behavioral avoidance remained intercorrelated when anxiety was controlled, confirming an association that is independent of anxiety. By contrast, the relationship between cognitive avoidance and rumination disappeared when anxiety was partialled out. Notably, avoidance predicted unique variance in depression scores, over and above anxiety and rumination. Consistent with the proposal of Ottenbreit and Dobson [Avoidance and depression: The construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 293?313], our findings support the value of clinicians and psychopathologists giving consideration to avoidance in their conceptualization of depression.

Keywords: Depression; Rumination; Avoidance



Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 9385 3425; fax: +61 2 9385 3641.

Behaviour Research and Therapy, Volume 45, Issue 2 , February 2007, Pages 251-261

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