Search

This study examined associations between uncertainty about sexual orientation, rumination, and psychological distress in university students. We hypothesized that increased rumination would mediate associations between higher sexual orientation uncertainty and greater psychological distress. Furthermore, we hypothesized that these associations might differ for self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) versus heterosexual emerging adults. A sample of 207 university students completed questionnaires assessing sexual orientation uncertainty, rumination, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and aggression. Path analyses indicated that higher sexual orientation uncertainty was associated with greater rumination, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. Furthermore, rumination mediated associations between sexual orientation uncertainty and all measures of psychological distress across the entire sample. However, multi-group analyses indicated that these associations emerged for LGB participants but not for heterosexuals. Results suggest that rumination may constitute a common but maladaptive coping response for sexual minorities facing sexual orientation uncertainty. Interventions for this population should focus on decreasing rumination.

Expectancy-value theory emphasizes the importance of outcome expectancies for behavioral decisions, but most tests of the theory focus on a single behavior and a single expectancy. However, the matching law suggests that individuals consider expected outcomes for both the target behavior and alternative behaviors when making decisions. In this study, we expanded expectancy-value theory to evaluate the contributions of two competing expectancies to adolescent behavior problems. One hundred twenty-one high school students completed measures of behavior problems, expectancies for both acting out and academic effort, and perceived academic competence. Students' self-reported behavior problems covaried mostly with perceived competence and academic expectancies and only nominally with problem behavior expectancies. We suggest that behavior problems may result from students perceiving a lack of valued or feasible alternative behaviors, such as studying. We discuss implications for interventions and suggest that future research continue to investigate the contribution of alternative expectancies to behavioral decisions.

Objective: This investigation attempted to determine whether trait and state hostile rumination functioned as risk factors for the relation between acute alcohol intoxication and aggression. Method: Participants were 516 social drinkers (252 men and 264 women). Trait hostile rumination was assessed using Caprara's Dissipation Rumination Scale. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a laboratory task in which electric shocks were received from and administered to a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Aggression was operationalized as the combined mean responses for shock intensity and duration across all trials. In a subset of the sample (n = 320), state hostile rumination was assessed following the aggression task using a self-report measure. Results: As expected, both trait and state measures acted as moderators. Specifically, acute alcohol intoxication was more likely to increase aggression in persons with higher trait and state hostile rumination scores compared with their equally intoxicated lower rumination counterparts. Conclusions: This was the first investigation to demonstrate that trait or state rumination significantly heighten the risk of intoxicated aggression. We believe that hostile rumination facilitates intoxicated aggression because ruminators have difficulty diverting their attention away from anger-provoking stimuli and related thoughts, thus making violent reactions more likely. Clinical and public health interventions would benefit by developing strategies to distract ruminative attention away from violence-promoting messages, especially when persons are under the influence of alcohol. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs. 72. 545 554, 2011), Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.--Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha ACUTE [...]

People are more willing to engage in collective action when they feel anger about collective disadvantage (van Zomeren, Postmes, & Spears, 2008). However, anger is often a fleeting emotion, whereas collective action is deliberate and sustained. Moreover, people cannot always engage in collective action on demand. We propose that rumination, or repetitive thoughts about negative emotions and experiences, may constitute a mechanism by which anger about collective disadvantage is sustained, and through it the motivation to engage in collective action. In three separate samples (128 students of color, 155 women, and 150 sexual minorities), we measured group-based anger about discrimination, group efficacy, group identification, rumination about discrimination, and collective action intentions. In all samples, rumination mediated the unique association between group-based anger and collective action intentions, controlling for group efficacy and group identification. Further, in an experimental study with 117 undergraduate women, we found that rumination, compared to distraction, sustained anger about collective disadvantage over a short period of time, and this sustained level of anger mediated the relationship between rumination and collective action intentions. These results lend support to conceptualizing collective action as a form of coping with collective disadvantage, and highlight the potential role of emotion regulation strategies like rumination in understanding intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rumination is associated with exacerbated angry mood. Angry moods may also trigger rumination. However, research has not empirically tested the bidirectional associations of state rumination and anger, as experience sampling methodology can do. We predicted that state anger and rumination would be bi-directionally associated, both concurrently and over time, even controlling for trait anger and rumination. In addition, because mindfulness is associated with rumination and anger at the bivariate level, we examined the effect of trait mindfulness on the bidirectional association between state rumination and anger. We examined two hypotheses: (i) state rumination mediates the effect of trait mindfulness on state anger; and (ii) trait mindfulness weakens, or moderates, the bidirectional associations between state rumination and anger. In an experience-sampling study, 200 college students reported their current ruminative thinking and angry mood several times a day for 7 days. Mixed model analyses indicated that state anger and rumination predicted each other concurrently. In cross-lagged analyses, previous anger did not uniquely predict current rumination; previous rumination predicted current anger, although the effect was small. In support of our hypothesis, state rumination mediated the association between trait mindfulness and state anger. Additionally, trait mindfulness moderated the concurrent and cross-lagged associations between state rumination and anger, although the results were complex. This study contributes new information about the complex interplay of rumination and anger. Findings also add support to the theory that mindfulness decreases emotional reactivity. Aggr. Behav. 43:342-351, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The majority of individuals who endure traumatic events are resilient; however, we do not yet understand why some individuals are more resilient than others. We used data from a prospective longitudinal study Army National Guard and Reserve personnel to examine how unit cohesion (military-specific social support) and avoidant coping relate to resilience over the first year after return from deployment., Method: Soldiers (N = 767) were assessed at 4 phases: predeployment (P1), immediately postdeployment (P2), 3 months' postdeployment (P3), and 1-year postdeployment (P4)., Results: After controlling for predeployment avoidant coping and overall social support, higher unit cohesion was associated with a reduction in avoidant coping (from P1 to P3). This reduction in avoidant coping (from P1 to P3) mediated the relationship between unit cohesion (P2) and improvement in mental health function (from P1 to P3)., Conclusions: The results are consistent with the hypothesis that higher unit cohesion may mitigate increases in avoidant coping in military personnel after a combat deployment and in turn may improve mental health function. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)