Perceived Extent and Effectiveness of Reflection and Brooding in Relation to Depressed Mood

The goal of this study was to determine whether the perceived effectiveness of two components of rumination, namely reflection and brooding, would differ, and whether these perceptions would interact with the extent that reflection and brooding were personally experienced, to predict depressed mood states. Participants completed measures of depressed mood, rumination, and measures of the personal and general effectiveness of rumination. Brooding was perceived to be less personally and generally effective compared to reflection. Depressed moods were predicted by high levels of brooding irrespective of effectiveness perceptions. High levels of reflection predicted depressed mood scores when the general effectiveness of reflection was perceived to be low. From a therapeutic perspective, these results suggest that brooding should be targeted irrespective of beliefs about the effectiveness of brooding but interventions designed to attenuate reflection should do so in the context of an individual's beliefs about its general effectiveness.