Loneliness and Depressive Symptoms: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Uncontrollable Ruminative Thoughts

2011/12/05 by Janne Vanhalst, Koen Luyckx, Filip Raes +1 · 3 citations
Psychology · #Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Mental Health Research Topics

paper · doi:10.1080/00223980.2011.555433

Abstract

Although feelings of loneliness often are accompanied by depressive symptoms, little is known about underlying mechanisms in this association. The present study sampled 370 college freshmen and investigated whether rumination (and its components of Uncontrollability, Causal Analysis, and Understanding) functioned as a mediator or moderator in the relationship between 2 types of loneliness (as experienced in the relationship with parents and with peers, respectively) and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that rumination partially mediated the relationship between peer-related loneliness and depressive symptoms and moderated the relationship between parent-related loneliness and depressive symptoms. In addition, the uncontrollable nature, rather than the content, of these ruminative thoughts about parent- and peer-related loneliness was particularly harmful in the development of depressive symptoms. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Citations

• The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.
• Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes.
• The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.

Cited by

• Rapid Systematic Review: The Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in the Context of COVID-19
• Thinking too much: How young people experience rumination in the context of loneliness
• Loneliness in the Maltese population: A comparison of data from 2019 and 2022

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• Loneliness as a transdiagnostic risk factor for mental and physical health in adulthood — state of the evidence, research gaps, and ways forward