(PS3-B28) Rumination as a Mechanism of the Prospective Association Between COVID-19 Stress and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescents

A growing body of literature indicates some adolescents have experienced increased depression and anxiety symptoms due to the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., Jones et al., 2021; Meharali et al., 2021). However, few studies have examined possible mechanisms of increased internalizing symptoms, and most existing studies have relied on cross-sectional data or short-term longitudinal data early in the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to persist and impact the daily lives of adolescents, it is important to identify potential mechanisms linking COVID-19-related stress to increased internalizing symptoms, which may help identify which adolescents are at heightened risk and inform prevention and intervention efforts. Brooding rumination, characterized by excessive dwelling on negative emotions and experiences associated with past events, may be a candidate mechanism explaining the association between COVID-19-related stress and increased internalizing symptoms during the pandemic (Duttweiler et al., 2022; Satici et al., 2020). Thus, the current study examines whether brooding rumination explains the longitudinal relation between COVID-19-related stress and internalizing symptoms in 238 adolescents with and without ADHD (118 with ADHD; Mage = 16.74, SD = 0.59, 44.5% female, 80.3% White) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020 (T1), adolescents reported on their COVID-19-related stress, and both adolescents and parents provided ratings of adolescents’ anxiety and depression symptoms. In October/November 2020 (T2), adolescents reported on their brooding rumination, and in March/April 2021 (T3), adolescents and parents completed ratings of anxiety and depression. Covariates included adolescent sex, ADHD group status, T1 anxiety and depression symptoms, T1 medication use, and schooling type (remote or in-person) at the start of the 2020-2021 school year. The indirect effect and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using 10,000 bias-corrected bootstrapped sampling estimates. Above and beyond covariates and baseline symptoms, T1 self-reported COVID-19-related stress was associated with increased T3 self-reported anxiety (ab = .10, SE = .05, p = .03, 95% CI [.01, .11]), T3 self-reported depression (ab = .07, SE = .04, p = .04, 95% CI [.01, .11]), and T3 parent-reported depression (ab = .09, SE = .04, p = .01, 95% CI [.01, .08]) via T2 brooding rumination. The indirect effect for T3 parent-reported anxiety was non-significant (p = .06). Finally, the indirect effect did not differ for adolescents with and without ADHD. Findings suggest that brooding rumination may explain the prospective association between COVID-19-related stress and increased depression and anxiety symptoms during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brooding rumination may be important to monitor and target in treatment with adolescents as the pandemic is prolonged.