An Integrated Examination of Risk Factors for Repetitive Negative Thought

Abstract

The two most common forms of repetitive negative thought (RNT) are rumination and worry, which are both repeatedly implicated in the onset and maintenance of depression and anxiety disorders. It is therefore of theoretical and clinical value to understand why people engage in worry and rumination, despite their negative consequences. A variety of vulnerability factors have been implicated, including distal factors relating to personality, abuse, and overcontrolling parenting; and proximal cognitive factors, including abstract processing and perceptions of the function of repetitive thought (RT). The current study provided a cross-sectional examination of these vulnerability factors alongside rumination and worry in a large sample of adults, with reference to a new integrative model of RNT. Structural equation modelling analyses indicated that a model in which neuroticism and emotional abuse were related to RNT via their association with perceptions about the function of RT provided a good fit to the data.