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When does the Gender Difference in Rumination Begin? Gender and Age Differences in the Use of Rumination by Adolescents

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Abstract

A cross-sectional non-clinical sample of 1,218 adolescents, aged 10–17 years, completed measures of stress, rumination, and depression to allow tests of the response style theory of S. Nolen-Hoeksema [J Res Adolesc 4:519–534, 1994] in adolescents, in particular whether increasing levels of stress and rumination in early adolescence are predictive of the onset of the gender difference in depression. Overall, females reported higher levels of stress, rumination, and depression than males. The onset of the gender differences in stress and depression occurred at age 13 years, and for rumination one year earlier at 12 years. Significantly, also from 13 years, rumination explained the gender difference in depression by showing that it significantly mediated the effect of gender on depression. Gender moderated the rumination to depression relationship; specifically the association was stronger for females than males. Developmental differences were noted in that rumination significantly mediated between stress and depression earlier in the age range for females than males. Results supported many of the predictions of Nolen-Hoeksema’s model of the emergence of a gender difference in adolescent depression.

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Notes

  1. Baron and Kenny (1986) have defined “perfect mediation” as the case when the initial significant relationship (IV to DV) is reduced to zero when the mediator is entered into the regression equation and a significant Sobel’s t-score (Sobel, 1982) is obtained. We have avoided using the term perfect mediation for the present results even though the IV to DV relationship was reduced to virtually zero. In the social sciences it is virtually impossible to obtain a zero relationship between the IV and DV after a mediator has been included in the equation. Instead, we would prefer to refer to results such as these when the ratio of the indirect to total effect is greater than 80% as “full mediation”. See Jose (2003a) for a fuller explanation.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are expressed to the schools, principals, and students who participated in this study; the research assistants: Katherine Schurer, Verity Ratcliffe, and Trudy Lefebre; and to Kirsty Weir for helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand

    Paul E. Jose

  2. Ministry of Social Development, Government of New Zealand, P.O. Box 12–136, Wellington, New Zealand

    Isobel Brown

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  1. Paul E. Jose
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  2. Isobel Brown
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Correspondence to Paul E. Jose.

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Dr. Paul E. Jose has studied adolescent stress, coping, and adjustment for two decades and is particularly interested in gender differences in these constructs during early and middle adolescence. Dr. Jose is interested in adolescent development broadly conceived, and particularly with how teenagers negotiate the stress and coping process.

Ms. Isobel Brown’s post-graduate research focused on adolescent rumination, and the current report includes findings from her master’s research. She is now employed by government to evaluate policies to assist children and adolescents. Ms. Brown is interested in child and adolescent development and is specifically interested in what government can do to support and encourage optimal development in youth.

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Jose, P.E., Brown, I. When does the Gender Difference in Rumination Begin? Gender and Age Differences in the Use of Rumination by Adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 37, 180–192 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9166-y

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