The current study examined the relations between biological sex, socialized masculinity, rumination, neuroticism, and depressive symptoms in a large sample of young adults (N = 589). As hypothesized, socialized masculinity negatively predicted rumination, neuroticism, and depression even when biological sex was controlled. Structural equation modeling revealed that rumination-on-sadness predicted neuroticism and depression, whereas rumination-in-general predicted only neuroticism. Controlling for masculinity, rumination, and neuroticism, men were more likely to experience depressive symptoms than were women.
Research has consistently found rumination to be a predictor of depressive episodes. Individuals who ruminate in response to negative emotions experience more depressive symptoms, more depressive incidences, greater risk for future depressive episodes, and longer durations of depression than do those who tend not to ruminate (Matheson and Anisman, 2003, Nolen-Hoeksema and Morrow, 1991 and Spasojevic and Alloy, 2001). This relationship has also been found in clinical populations (Lam, Smith, Checkley, Rijsdijk, & Sham, 2003). Other studies have found that ruminative responses predict duration of depression even when initial severity of depression is controlled (Butler & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1994).
Ruminative responses consist of persistent thoughts that focus attention on depressive symptoms and possible causes. These thoughts are not goal directed and do not lead to plans to alleviate symptoms or causes of depression (Conway, Csank, Holm, & Blake, 2000). Rumination appears to affect depressive mood by interfering with attention and concentration, enhancing recall of negative events, and increasing use of depressive explanations for events (see Lyubomirsky, Tucker, Caldwell, & Berg, 1999).
Studies show that women are more likely than men to engage in ruminative responses to negative events (Butler & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1994), which parallels the long-held observation that women are approximately twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depressive disorders and report greater depressive symptoms (McGrath, Keita, Strickland, & Russo, 1990). Research using a multiple regression approach has shown that once rumination is controlled, sex differences in depression are no longer significant (Nolen-Hoeksema, Morrow, & Fredrickson, 1993). However, research has yet to fully explore the processes that foster this sex difference in rumination. A better understanding of the nature of sex differences in rumination may help shed light on women’s greater risk for depression.
