Rumination has been consistently found to be a risk factor of depression.
However, few studies examined rumination and its relationship with depression,
and the protective role of such individual positive traits as hope, in a Hong Kong
Chinese context. As opposed to western findings, a recent local study found that
the two components of rumination (Treynor, Gonzalez, & Nolen-Hoeksema,
2003), namely brooding and reflective pondering, were not correlated, and the
latter was rather adaptive in predicting depressive symptoms (Lo, Ho, & Hollen,
2008). Together with some psychometric issues revealed in the same study, it is
unclear if the two-factor model of rumination is applicable in the Hong Kong
Chinese context. In addition, given that hope only buffers against negative impact
of risk factors of depression, whether the moderating effect of hope on the
relationship of brooding and reflective pondering with depressive symptoms in
Geiger and Kwon’s (2010) western sample can be replicated in Hong Kong
Chinese populations is not clear. Therefore, the present study re-examines the
two-factor model of rumination and its relationship with depressive symptoms,
and the moderating role of hope in a Hong Kong Chinese sample using a
longitudinal design.
Adult Trait Hope Scale, Ruminative Response Scale, and Center for
Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were administered to 189 Hong Kong
Chinese university students at lectures with a four-week interval between the two
time-points. Analyses using hierarchical linear regression were conducted to
examine the relationship of brooding and reflective pondering, and their
relationship with depressive symptoms and the role of hope, both concurrently
and prospectively.
Results confirmed the applicability of the two-factor model of rumination in
the Hong Kong Chinese college sample. Rumination (total) and brooding
consistently predicted depressive symptoms. Also, moderating effect of hope on
the relationship of brooding and depressive symptoms was replicated using the
time 1 data in the present study. Nonetheless, contrary to the recent local finding
by Lo et al. (2008), brooding and reflective pondering were positively correlated
as in western samples, and there was some evidence of one-way relationship from
reflective pondering to brooding as shown by the longitudinal data. Reflective
pondering itself was neither adaptive nor maladaptive, because there was no
significant relationship between reflective pondering and depressive symptoms
after controlling for level of brooding. Hence, hope had no interaction with
reflective pondering in predicting depressive symptoms. For longitudinal data,
after controlling for baseline level of the dependent variables, the one-way
relationship from reflective pondering to brooding, the relationship of rumination
(total) and brooding with depressive symptoms, and the moderating effect of hope
on the relationship between brooding and depressive symptoms, all became
nonsignificant.
The findings of the present study support the use of the two-factor model of
rumination in Hong Kong Chinese context, and suggest that the two components
of rumination were correlated probably because reflective pondering tended to
lead to brooding. This study also offers further empirical support for brooding
being a more robust risk factor of depression than reflective pondering and the
buffering impact of hope on psychological well-being. Implications of the results,
limitations of this study and recommendations for further research were also
addressed. / published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/174561 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Leung, Man-chi, Candi., 梁敏芝. |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B47850036 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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