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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Me, Myself, and My Thoughts: The Influence of Brooding and Reflective Rumination on Depressive Symptoms in Athletes in the United Kingdom

Niels B. FeddersenNoora RonkainenNoora J. RonkainenMichael McdougallMichael McdougallRichard E TahtinenOlli TikkanenRobert Morris

subject

biologyAthletes05 social sciencesPsychological interventionCompetitive athletes030229 sport sciencesbiology.organism_classification050105 experimental psychologyOddsPatient Health Questionnaire03 medical and health sciences0302 clinical medicineRuminationmedicine0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesmedicine.symptomPsychologyApplied PsychologyDepression (differential diagnoses)Depressive symptomsClinical psychology

description

Individual differences in vulnerability to depression are still underexplored in athletes. We tested the influence of different brooding and reflective rumination profiles (i.e., repetitive thought processes in response to low/depressed mood) on the odds of experiencing clinically relevant depressive symptoms in competitive athletes (N = 286). The Patient Health Questionnaire–9 and the Ruminative Responses Scale–short form were utilized to measure depression and rumination, respectively. Compared to athletes with a low brooding/reflection profile, athletes with a high brooding/reflection profile had significantly higher odds of experiencing clinical levels of depressive symptoms (OR = 13.40, 95% CI = 3.81–47.11). A high reflection/low brooding profile was not, however, related to increased odds of depressive symptoms. Future research could extend our findings by exploring determinants of ruminative tendencies, especially brooding, in athletes. Furthermore, psychological interventions targeting rumination could be examined as a potential prevention and treatment approach to tackling depressive symptoms in athletes.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2020-09-01Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology
https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2019-0039