(PS10-D91) An Investigation of Emotional Responding to Sad Mood Induction as a Function of the Dispositional Tendency to Ruminate

Habitual ruminators demonstrate greater emotional reactivity to (Larwood & Dingle, 2021; Thomsen et al., 2004) and poorer recovery from (Watson, 2004) inductions of negative mood. Although rumination is a predictor of the severity and duration of depressive episodes, this research has not typically controlled for depressive symptoms (e.g., Nolan et al., 1998; Sarin et al., 2005). Existing studies have examined only subjective emotional experience, while the impact of trait rumination on physiological and behavioral responding to induced sad mood remains unclear. The present study investigated trait rumination as a predictor of emotional responding to a sad mood induction (SMI) across all domains of emotional responding: subjective, physiological, and behavioral.

97 college students (79.4% cis-women) completed baseline measures of depression symptom severity (Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale – depression subscale; DASS-D) and habitual rumination (Ruminative Response Scale; RRS).Participants were connected to psychophysiological apparati and completed a 5-minute resting baseline and then a 5-minute previously-validated SMI. Indicators of physiological (Heart Rate; HR, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia; RSA) and behavioral (EMG corrugator activity; EMG-C) responding were collected continuously. Self-reported affect (Brief Affect Scale- Sadness; BAS-S, and -Happiness; BAS-H) was collected pre-baseline, post-baseline, and post-SMI. We used linear mixed modeling (LMM) to examine trait rumination as a predictor of change in emotional responding over time, controlling for depression symptom severity by adding DASS-D as a level 2 predictor.

LMM analyses supported the effectiveness of the SMI for the elicitation of sad mood. For EMG-C, interactions between RRS and time effects were significant (RRS*linear time: β = -0.002, t (5459) = -2.26, p</em> = .024; RRS*quadratic time: β = 0.00005, t (5459) = 3.00, p</em> = .003), such that higher RRS scores were associated with steeper increase in EMG-C. HR analyses demonstrated significant interactions between RRS and time effects (RRS*linear time: β = 0.01, t (1814) = 3.69,p < .001; RRS*quadratic time: β = -0.001, t (1816) = -3.74, p</em> < .001), with higher rumination associated with greater attenuation of elevation in HR. Significant RRS*linear time interaction (β = -0.001, t (1820) = -3.04, p </em>= .002) emerged in analyses of RSA, with higher rumination associated with steeper decline in RSA. For both BAS-S and BAS-H, RRS*linear time interactions were not significant.

When controlling for depression, rumination predicted greater behavioral and physiological reactivity to a SMI. Findings suggest the SMI elicited greater negative facial expression and emotional stress among participants with higher ruminative tendencies. However, rumination was not associated with trajectories of subjective responding, suggesting that the impact of dispositional rumination may be incongruent across domains of emotion. Future research using clinical populations to examine the effects of trait rumination on emotional reactivity to induction of sad mood will further inform our understanding of trait versus state conceptualizations of the function of rumination.