Abstract
We propose that researchers should utilize ratio scores when examining the response styles theory rather than examine each of the response styles separately. Higher ratio scores indicate a higher probability of engaging in ruminative, as opposed to distracting and problem solving, behaviors. In Phase One, we examined the factor structure and reliability of the Children’s Response Styles Questionnaire (CRSQ) in a sample of 287 third through sixth grade schoolchildren. A two factor solution was obtained: (1) Rumination and (2) Distraction and Problem Solving. Both factors exhibited strong psychometric properties. In Phase Two, 140 children completed the CRSQ and the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). Six weeks later, children completed the CDI. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the two-factor solution fit the data well. In line with hypotheses, CRSQ ratio scores were more strongly associated with CDI residual change scores than were either CRSQ rumination or distraction and problem solving scores.
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Notes
In order to examine whether our high-risk (HR) sample of children differed from a similarly recruited low-risk (LR) sample of children, the 50 children of the 39 parents who did not meet criteria for either a past or current major depressive episode were invited to the laboratory to complete a series of questionnaires including the CRSQ and the CDI. Although our HR and LR samples did not differ in terms of age (HR: μ = 9.84, SD = 2.36; LR: μ = 10.14, SD = 1.47; t(188) = 0.85, ns), gender (HR: μ = 0.51, SD = 0.50; LR: μ = 0.46, SD = 0.50; t(188) = 0.66, ns), and distraction/problem-solving (HR: μ = 2.42, SD = 0.69; LR: μ = 2.50, SD = 0.63; t(188) = 0.75, ns), our HR sample reported higher levels of both depressive symptoms (HR: μ = 10.08, SD = 6.74; LR: μ = 6.78, SD = 4.70; t(188) = 3.19, p < 0.01) and rumination (HR: μ = 2.20, SD = 0.60; LR: μ = 1.97, SD = 0.52; t(188) = 2.44, p < 0.05) than our LR sample. In addition, children in the HR sample (n = 38; 27.8%) were more likely than children in the LR sample (n = 6; 12.0%) to report levels of depressive symptoms on the CDI that fell in the above average range (CDI ≥13; χ 2 = 4.75, p < 05).
Details on these specific analyses are available from the first author.
Based on the results of our factor analysis, we decided to use the combined distraction and problem solving subscale of the CRSQ rather than the two separate subscales. At the same time, higher scores on both the distraction and problem solving subscales were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms at Time 1 (r = −0.27, p < 0.01, and r = −0.19, p < 0.05, respectively). The correlation between the distraction and problem solving subscales was 0.58, p < 0.001. Neither distraction (r = 0.09, ns) nor problem solving (r = 0.15, ns) were significantly associated with rumination. Both the three-item distraction CRSQ subscale and the five-item problem solving exhibited moderate internal consistency (alphas = 0.61 and 0.73, respectively).
The CRSQ distraction subscale approached significance in predicting residual change in depressive symptoms from Time 1 to Time 2 (pr = −0.17, p < 0.07) after controlling for SCID-I-SXS, AGE, SEX, and Time 1 CDI scores. The CRSQ problem-solving scale was a significant predictor of residual change in CDI scores from Time 1 to Time 2 (pr = −0.29, p < .01) after controlling for SCID-I-SXS, AGE, SEX, and Time 1 CDI scores. A test of the difference between dependent correlations indicated that the strength of the association between the problem solving scale and residual change in CDI scores did not significantly differ from the strength of the association between distraction and residual change in CDI scores (t (103) = 0.78, ns).
In response to one reviewer’s suggestion, we split the sample at age 10 and examined distraction separately in the 6–9 and 10–14 year old children. Distraction was significantly associated with decreases in depressive symptoms between Time 1 and Time 2 in the older children (pr = −0.32, p < .05) but not younger children (pr = −0.18, ns). At the same time, in the sample as a whole, the DISTRACTION × AGE interaction was not significant, indicating that these age differences are not statistically significant. In contrast, problem solving was significantly associated with decreases in depressive symptoms in both older (pr = −0.29, p < 0.05) and younger (pr = −0.29, p < 0.05) children.
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Acknowledgments
The research reported in this article was supported, in part, by a Young Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) awarded to John R. Z. Abela. We would like to thank Martin E. P. Seligman and David Zuroff for serving as mentors for the NARSAD grant.
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Abela, J.R.Z., Aydin, C.M. & Auerbach, R.P. Responses to Depression in Children: Reconceptualizing the Relation Among Response Styles. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35, 913–927 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9143-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9143-2