The effects of cataclysm-related stress on rumination patterns: The case of COVID-19.

Abstract

Despite a demonstrated association between rumination and everyday stress, there is a paucity of research on how cataclysm-related stress impacts the two subtypes of rumination (brooding and reflection). Beginning in March of 2020, the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) swiftly spread across the world, causing great tension and threat to peoples' lives. The present study examined whether and how rumination status (brooding and reflection) was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspectives of environmental stressors and perceived intrinsic stress. This study applied a cross-sectional design based on current and retrospective memories regarding participants' experiences of rumination, stress and anxiety. A total of 101 adults from the New York metropolitan area completed surveys that measure rumination, environmental stressors, perceived intrinsic stress, and anxiety symptoms based on their current experience during the cataclysmic event of COVID-19 and their recalled experience before the pandemic. Results indicated that changes in the environmental stressors significantly predicted changes in participants' engagement in reflection, but not in brooding, while changes in the levels of perceived intrinsic stress significantly predicted changes in brooding, but not in reflection. It was also found that rumination moderated the effects of external stressors on anxiety symptoms. Clinical interventions that reduce brooding activities and modify reflection activities could help individuals cope with the stress of a cataclysmic event in different ways. Public Significance Statement Results of this COVID-19-focused study indicated that changes in environmental stressors significantly predicted changes in participants' reflection activity, but not in brooding, while changes in levels of perceived intrinsic stress significantly predicted changes in brooding, but not in reflection. These results point to the need for clinical interventions that reduce brooding activities and modify reflection activities to help individuals cope with the stress of a cataclysmic event.