The Effects of Experiential Avoidance and Rumination on Depression among College Students

摘要

The article reports the results of three studies that compare the effects of experien-tial avoidance and rumination on depression among college students. Study 1 (N = 748) evaluated the cross-sectional association among rumination, experiential avoidance, and depression. Study 2 (N = 887) was a replication of Study 1. In Study 3, a subsample of 72 females was drawn from the larger sample of Study 1. In this prospective, longitudinal study, it was estimated whether rumination and experiential avoidance at Time 1 (the beginning of the semester) predicted depres-sion symptoms 8 to 12 weeks later. When these constructs were measured cross-sectionally in Studies 1 and 2, an interaction effect was found between avoidance and rumination; avoidance was only associated with depression symptoms when rumination was high.