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Brooding and Reflection as Subtypes of Rumination: Evidence from Confirmatory Factor Analysis in Nonclinical Samples using the Dutch Ruminative Response Scale

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Abstract

Previous research has shown that depressive rumination is an important vulnerability factor for experiencing depressive symptoms. The most widely used measure to assess depressive rumination is the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS). According to Treynor et al. (Cognitive Therapy and Research 27:247–259, 2003), the RRS contains two subscales, reflecting two different rumination subcomponents: brooding and reflection. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the RRS in two samples (N = 432 and N = 407). Based on a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), results confirmed that a two-dimensional model with brooding and reflection factors provided an adequate fit to the data. Reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the rumination subcomponents were appropriate. Furthermore, brooding but not reflection predicted depressive symptoms prospectively, even when accounting for concurrent depressive feelings. The results provide the first confirmatory factor-analytical support for the widely assumed two-factor model of the RRS and add to the accumulating body of evidence supporting the multidimensional nature of depressive rumination.

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Notes

  1. The RRS by Raes and Hermans (2007) is a slight adaptation of the original Dutch RRS by Raes et al. (2003). Raes et al. (2003) translated the original 22-item RRS of Nolen-Hoeksema (e.g., Nolen-Hoeksema and Morrow 1991). This widely circulated RRS version, however, does not include two items that appear in the Brooding scale of the more recent 22-item RRS (Treynor et al. 2003; previously published as Nolen-Hoeksema et al. 1999). Therefore, the original Dutch RRS was adapted query(Raes and Hermans 2007) so that it now contains the same 22 items as the recent English RRS as seen in Treynor et al. (2003) with the same five Brooding and five Reflection items.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Research Programme of the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO) (G.0339.08).

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  1. Department of Psychology, Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, box 3712, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Hanne Schoofs, Dirk Hermans & Filip Raes

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  1. Hanne Schoofs
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  2. Dirk Hermans
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  3. Filip Raes
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Correspondence to Hanne Schoofs.

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Schoofs, H., Hermans, D. & Raes, F. Brooding and Reflection as Subtypes of Rumination: Evidence from Confirmatory Factor Analysis in Nonclinical Samples using the Dutch Ruminative Response Scale. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 32, 609–617 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-010-9182-9

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