Girls' Rumination on Problems Actually Causes Depression

Amanda Rose, in an study published in the July issue of Development Psychology has found that girls who talk very extensively about their problems with friends are likely to become more anxious and depressed (Prospective Associations of Co-Rumination With Friendship and Emotional Adjustment: Considering the Socioemotional Trade-Offs of Co-rumination)

The six-month study, which included boys and girls, examined the effects of co-rumination - excessively talking with friends about problems and concerns. Rose discovered that girls co-ruminate more than boys, especially in adolescence, and that girls who co-ruminated the most in the fall of the school year were most likely to be more depressed and anxious by the spring.

When girls co-ruminate, they're spending such a high percentage of their time dwelling on problems and concerns that it probably makes them feel sad and more hopeless about the problems because those problems are in the forefront of their minds. Those are symptoms of depression. In terms of anxiety, co-ruminating likely makes them feel more worried about the problems, including about their consequences. Co-rumination also may lead to depression and anxiety because it takes so much time - time that could be used to engage in other, more positive activities that could help distract youth from their problems. This is especially true for problems that girls can't control, such as whether a particular boy likes them, or whether they get invited to a party that all of the popular kids are attending.

The study involved 813 third, fifth, seventh and ninth grade students. The participants answered questionnaires that assessed co-rumination, depression, anxiety and the quality of their best friendship in the fall and spring of the school year.

Ironically, although co-rumination was related to increased depression and anxiety, Rose also found that co-rumination was associated with positive friendship quality, including feelings of closeness between friends. Boys who co-ruminated also developed closer friendships across the school year but did not develop greater depressive and anxiety symptoms over time.

What's intriguing about theses findings is that co-rumination likely represents too much of a good thing. Some kids, especially girls, are taking talking about problems to an extreme. When that happens, the balance tips, and talking about problems with friends can become emotionally unhealthy. Rose recommended adolescents should be encouraged to talk about their problems, but only in moderation and without co-ruminating.

This is an interesting study for several reasons. The most important is that it calls into question the utility of individual therapy for children (especially girls). If it can lead to further depression and anxiety, is it an ethical thing to do? Talking about the problem may be useful up to a degree and then it may become too dangerous.

Therapy effectiveness and efficacy studies point to activities that will engage the body as well as active solution focused therapy as better methods of dealing with these issues.

Review of "Strange Son" by Portia Iverson

Mr. and Mrs. Iverson have set up a foundation to deal with autism in their and many other individuals' chidlren. Mrs. Iverson wrote this book about her experiences with Soma Mukhopadhyay from Bangalore, India. Soma had managed to teach her severely autistic son, Tito to communicate, write poetry on a laptop, and articulate his thoughts and feelings.

Mrs. Iverson persuaded her foundation to bring Soma and 14-year-old Tito to Southern California for what proved to be an exhausting and exhaustive monthslong effort by a network of neuroscientists and well-wishers to anatomize the miracle that was Tito. But few miracles withstand minute dissection, and this one was no exception.

For one thing, the young poet was still an immensely dysfunctional adolescent who could not remain still for most neurological testing, who was besieged by erratic impulses (like trying to jump out of a minivan speeding down a California freeway) and who became unhinged whenever he was separated from his mother.

His mother was a loner and a bit of an oddball, whose method of cajoling intelligent communication from Tito depended on an alphabet board and a frenetic combination of shouts, gestures and taps on the knee.

But, when Soma finally sat down with Mrs. Iversen’s Dov and begins to prod and cajole him just as she does Tito, their frighteningly inaccessible and uncontrollable child began to use an alphabet board to tap out logical human thoughts.

He wanted a Barbie doll and a blue blazer. He identified that he had known how to read English for three years. His favorite color is red. He thinks his little brother is spoiled rotten. After a few weeks he drops Barbie like a shot when he learns that dolls are for girls.

We learn that Soma’s method works better for some autistic children than others, and is nowhere near being a panacea.

I havent read the book, but it may be interesting. Those of you who have, please drop me a line