Distinct dimensions of anxiety and depression: anxiety and rumination differentially predict depressed mood and low positive affect

Rumination is an important transdiagnostic construct associated with both anxiety and depression. However, relationships among the three constructs have mainly been investigated using non-domain-specific self-report inventories, which index overlapping symptoms and do not distinguish well between fundamentally distinct dimensions of anxiety (anxious apprehension and anxious arousal) and depression (depressed mood and low positive affect). The present study investigated relationships among distinct anxiety dimensions, rumination, and depression dimensions using domain-specific inventories. Results indicated that anxiety dimensions of anxious apprehension and anxious arousal have differential relationships with depression dimensions of depressed mood and low positive affect. Furthermore, anxious apprehension and rumination have independent associations with both depressed mood and low positive affect, signifying that the former two are distinct and separable constructs. These results were further validated by confirmatory analyses, which indicated that the distinguishable associations among the constructs are not a result of item overlap among the scales. These findings implicate the importance of respecting the domain specificity of these constructs in examining mechanisms and pathways in the development of psychopathology.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2016

Author dc:creator

• Tengshe, Chinmayi Shrikrishna

• anxious apprehension
• anxious arousal
• rumination
• depressed mood
• low positive affect

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2015 Chinmayi Tengshe

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89160

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/89160