Rumination and health behaviours: a self-regulation resource perspective

Abstract

Background: Rumination, a style of thinking involving repetitive and intrusive thoughts, is associated with poor well-being and high levels of negative affect. The Self-Regulation Resource model (SRRM) posits that negative affect disrupts the self-regulation of health behaviours. We meta-analytically tested whether rumination dimensions (brooding and reflection) were associated with less frequent practice of health-promoting behaviours, and if higher stress explained the associations. Methods: Four cross-sectional survey studies were conducted, three with student samples (N = 190, N = 336, N = 208) and one with a community sample (N = 621). All samples completed the Ruminative Response Style scale and a measure of health behaviour frequency; two samples completed the Perceived Stress scale. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted on the correlations of each rumination dimension with health behaviours. Indirect effects through stress were tested with a bootstrapping analysis. Findings: Overall, brooding was significantly associated with less frequent practoce of health behaviours across the four samples, avg. r = -.244 [-.35, -.14], whereas reflection was not, avg. r = -.082 [-.19, 03]. Bootstrapping analyses revealed that the indirect effects on health behaviours through stress were significant for brooding in both samples tested (b’s = -.12, -.16). Discussion: Consistent with the SRRM, these findings suggest that ruminative brooding, but not reflection, is associated with less practice of health-promoting behaviours, and that high levels of stress may explain this link. Interventions to reduce the repetitive negative thinking that characterizes brooding may help improve health behaviours in individuals with this response style.