Girls’ Rumination and Anxiety Sensitivity: Are They Related After Controlling for Girl, Maternal, and Parenting Factors?

Background Rumination and anxiety sensitivity are posited cognitive vulnerabilities in the development and/or maintenance of depression and anxiety and have only been examined separately in youth. Objective We examined the relation between rumination and anxiety sensitivity in girls, after controlling for other girl, maternal, and parenting factors known to be related to youth depression, anxiety and their cognitive vulnerabilities. Methods A community sample of 125 mother-daughter dyads (girls aged 9–12; 86.4 % Caucasian) independently completed randomly-ordered measures assessing anxiety sensitivity, rumination, depression, anxiety, and rejecting parenting. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. Results We found significant and unique relations between girls’ rumination and anxiety sensitivity, after controlling for girls’ perceptions of maternal depression and rejecting parenting, maternal report of their rejecting parenting, depression, and rumination, and girls’ depressive and anxiety symptoms. Girls’ perceptions of mothers’ depression and rejecting parenting also interacted with (i.e., moderated) girls’ rumination predicting anxiety sensitivity (but did not interact with anxiety sensitivity in predicting rumination). Conclusions The relations between girls’ anxiety sensitivity and rumination appear strong, even when controlling other factors that are known to be related to these vulnerabilities. Our results add to recent advances in integrative cognitive vulnerability models, which highlight the importance of examining the interrelations and distinctions among cognitive vulnerabilities. Our results may also have treatment implications. In cognitive-behavioral treatment for youth anxiety and/or depression, anxiety sensitivity and/or rumination may be a relevant outcome variable or treatment target, or if not even targeted each might be examined as a mechanism of change.