Sergiu Paul VĂLENAȘ* & Aurora SZENTAGOTÁI-TĂTAR
Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Abstract
Rumination is a vulnerability factor involved in the development of depression and anxiety. Despite the fact that some studies have proposed a relationship between rumination and social anxiety, more data is needed to draw clear conclusions. Moreover, there is a need for research aiming to find the mechanisms involved in the rumination-social anxiety relation. In the current study, we examined whether stress, negative affect, and rumination are predictors of social anxiety symptoms. Also, we tested if rumination mediates the relationship between stress and social anxiety on the one hand, and negative affect and social anxiety on the other. Participants in this study (N = 95) were undergraduate psychology students (females = 82, males = 13) and the mean age was 21.54 years (SD =2.95, Range = 18–37). Self-reported stress, negative affect, rumination and social anxiety were measured. Results showed that stress and negative affect are predictors of both rumination and social anxiety. Both rumination and stress significantly predicted social anxiety, but negative affect was no longer a predictor when rumination was included in the predictive model. This study provides evidence that rumination is involved in the relationship between stress and social anxiety and negative affect and social anxiety. Also, this study provides insights for developing prevention interventions in social anxiety disorder.
Keywords: rumination, social anxiety disorder, stress, negative affect
