Rumination and depressive symptoms: Moderating role of defense style immaturity

Based on an integration of the theoretical conceptualization of rumination and defense style, we hypothesized that the association between rumination and depressive symptoms would be moderated by defense style immaturity. Three hundred and fourteen undergraduate students completed measures of rumination, defense style, and depressive symptoms. As predicted, both rumination and defense style were independently associated with depressive symptoms. Also as hypothesized, a significant interaction emerged in which the association between rumination and depressive symptoms was moderated by defense style. Rumination was associated with depressive symptoms primarily when accompanied by an overuse of immature defenses. The pattern of findings were obtained with both the brooding and reflection components of rumination, suggesting that there is no clear differentiation between the two in terms of their association with depression. The results support the possibility that we can identify a particularly problematic subtype of rumination that is associated with distortion of reality and poor problem solving, which are characteristic of an immature defense style.