When talking goes awry: association between co-rumination and trait anxiety, test anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity in early and late adolescents

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Friends are major sources of social support for adolescents. This support may sometimes lead to co-rumination when the problem is discussed exhaustively with a focus on negative feelings. Co-rumination has been associated with some forms of anxiety, including clinical symptoms. Further studies are needed to investigate whether this association extends to additional and non-clinical forms of anxiety in youth. This study aimed to explore the relationship between co-rumination and trait anxiety, test anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity using secondary data. Design and Methods: In this 2019 cross-sectional study, 1204 (59% girls) Canadian 6th-grade early adolescents (ages 11-12) and 11th-grade late adolescents (ages 16-17) completed self-report questionnaires measuring co-rumination, trait anxiety, test anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity. Results: Co-rumination was associated with anxiety sensitivity in early adolescents and with trait anxiety, test anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity in late adolescents. Conclusions: Developmental factors may play a role in the association between co-rumination and different forms of anxiety. Anxiety sensitivity may appear alongside co-rumination in early adolescence and may broaden to trait and test anxiety in late adolescence. These results extend our understanding of the relationship between co-rumination and anxiety, as well as generate hypotheses for future longitudinal studies.