Effect of Gender on the Relationship Between Ruminative Thinking and Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Rumination means dealing with one's own feelings and thoughts passively and repetitively. There are two types of rumination: reflection, and brooding. Rumination prepares a suitable ground for many mental disorders, especially depression. The incidence of depressive symptoms in women was reported to be higher than in men. It has been claimed that the frequency and severity of depression may be increasing due to rumination since rumination is also higher in women. Studies in the literature have often progressed on a single type of rumination, brooding. Reflection is often considered a positive coping style and protective because it is related to problem solving, but inconsistent results have been obtained in studies on the effect on depression. In our study, we aimed to examine the effect of gender on depression by considering reflection and brooding separately instead of evaluating rumination only through brooding. Two hundred and twenty-seven university students were invited to the study, and 196 of them agreed to participate in the study. A sociodemographic form, ruminative responses scale, and patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) were applied to the participants who accepted the study. Correlation analyses and linear regression were applied to the obtained data. Brooding and reflection scores were positively correlated with the PHQ-9 scores. Women got higher scores in brooding and reflection scales than men. Women got higher scores in PHQ-9 than men but it is not significant statistically. In linear regression analyses, brooding and reflection scores positively significantly predicted PHQ-9 scores. Women have higher depressive symptoms and are considered more ruminative, but only ruminative thinking (both brooding and reflection) can predict depressive symptoms. Interventions targeting both brooding and maladaptive reflection are recommended to treat major depression.

Keywords

• depression
• rumination
• gender
• brooding
• reflection

Ruminatif Düşünme ve Depresif Belirtiler Arasındaki İlişkide Cinsiyetin Etkisi

Öz

Ruminasyon, kişinin kendi duygu ve düşünceleriyle pasif ve tekrarlayıcı bir şekilde ilgilenmesi anlamına gelir. Ruminasyonun iki türü vardır; derin düşünme(refleksiyon) ve kara kara düşünme (brooding). Ruminasyon, başta depresyon olmak üzere birçok ruhsal bozukluk için uygun bir zemin hazırladığı düşünülmektedir. Kadınlarda depresif belirtilerin görülme sıklığının erkeklere göre daha yüksek olduğu bildirilmiştir. Kadınlarda ruminasyonun da daha yüksek olması nedeniyle depresyon sıklığının ve şiddetinin ruminasyon nedeniyle artıyor olabileceği iddia edilmiştir. Literatürdeki çalışmalar genellikle tek bir ruminasyon türü olan kara kara düşünme üzerinden ilerlemiştir. Refleksiyon, problem çözme ile ilişkili görüldüğünden sıklıkla olumlu bir basetme yöntemi gibi ele alınsa da depresyonla ilişkisine dair çalışmalar birbirleri ile çelişen sonuçlar vermiştir. Biz çalışmamızda refleksiyon ve kara kara düşünmeyi ayrı ayrı ele alarak cinsiyetin depresif semptomlar üzerindeki etkisini incelemeyi amaçladık. Çalışmaya iki yüz yirmi yedi üniversite öğrencisi çalışmaya davet edildi, 196 kişi çalışmaya katılmayı kabul etti. Çalışmayı kabul eden katılımcılara sosyodemografik form, ruminatif tepkiler ölçeği ve hasta sağlık anketi (HSA-9) uygulanmıştır. Elde edilen verilere korelasyon analizi ve doğrusal regresyon uygulanmıştır. Kara kara düşünme ve refleksiyon puanları HSA-9 puanı ile pozitif korelasyon göstermiştir. Kadınların kara kara düşünme ve refleksion puanları erkeklere göre anlamlı derecede daha yüksektir. Kadınlar HSA-9'da erkeklerden daha yüksek puan olsa da iki grup arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı fark yoktur. Doğrusal regresyon analizlerinde, brooding ve refleksiyon puanları HSA-9 puanlarını pozitif yönde anlamlı şekilde yordamıştır. Kadınlar daha yüksek depresif semptomlara sahiptir ve daha ruminatif olarak kabul edilir, ancak sadece ruminatif düşünce (hem kara kara düşünme hem de refleksiyon) depresif semptomları öngörebilmektedir. Depresif bozukluk tedavisinde hem kara kara düşünme hem de işlevsiz olabilecek refleksiyonu hedefleyen müdahaleler göz önünde bulundurulmalıdır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• depresyon
• ruminasyon
• cinsiyet
• kara kara düşünme
• derin düşünme

Kaynakça

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