Decentering predicts attenuated perseverative thought and internalizing symptoms following stress exposure: A multi-level, multi-wave study

Abstract

While research identifies a growing list of risk factors for anxiety and depression, it is equally important to identify potential protective factors that may prevent or reduce vulnerability to developing internalizing psychopathology. We hypothesized that forms of perseverative thinking, such as rumination and worry, act as mechanisms linking negative life experiences and prospective symptoms of anxiety and depression. More specifically, we investigated whether decentering, the meta-cognitive capacity to adopt a distanced perspective toward one's thoughts and feelings, serves as a protective factor at various points along this mediational pathway. A sample of 181 undergraduate students were recruited and assessed at five time points over a 12-week period. Multilevel modeling indicated that decentering was associated with an attenuated impact of (1) negative events on prospective depressive symptoms; (2) negative events on prospective brooding, and (3) brooding, pondering and worry on prospective internalizing symptoms. Multilevel moderated mediation analyses provided partial support for the hypothesis that perseverative thinking would mediate the longitudinal associations between negative life events and internalizing symptoms, with decentering attenuating risk at several connections of the indirect pathways. The strongest support was provided for moderated mediation models in which decentering was associated with attenuated relationships between negative events, brooding, and symptoms of depression. This study is the first to elucidate the role of decentering as a protective factor against anxiety and depressive symptoms at different points in the path from stress to perseverative thought to internalizing symptoms. Decentering therefore may be a critical target for clinical intervention to promote resilience against anxiety and depression.

Keywords: Anxiety; Decentering; Depression; Perseverative thinking; Rumination; Stress; Worry.

Figure 1.

Conceptual figure representing hypothesized relationships between negative life events, perseverative thinking, and internalizing symptoms, with decentering attenuating the strength of each of the three links.

Figure 2.

Cross-level interaction between decentering and person-centered negative life events predicting weekly (a) symptoms of depression, and (b) brooding. Decentering plotted at +/− 1 SD from the sample mean.

Figure 3.

Cross-level interactions between decentering and person-centered (a) brooding predicting symptoms of depression, (b) brooding predicting symptoms of anxiety, (c) pondering predicting symptoms of depression, (d) pondering predicting symptoms of anxiety, (e) worry predicting symptoms of depression, and (f) worry predicting symptoms of anxiety. Decentering plotted at +/− 1 SD from the sample mean.