(PS2-C73) Examining Social Connectedness as a Mechanism Underlying the Relationship Between Rumination and Anhedonic Depression

Depression is characterized both by high levels of negative affect and reduced levels of positive affect. Reduced positive affect, also referred to as anhedonia, is uniquely implicated in depression and distinguishes depression from other disorders of high negative affect, such as anxiety (Clark & Watson, 1991). Cognitive-behavioral models of depression underscore the importance of rumination in the development and maintenance of depression. Research indicates that rumination is associated with anhedonia (Just & Alloy, 1997; Lackner & Fresco, 2016; Taylor & Snyder, 2021). This relationship is not well understood, although recent cognitive theories posit that rumination interferes with the ability to attend to positive social cues (for a review, see Rutherford et al., 2023). Concordant with this framework is research showing that rumination is associated with several undesirable personality traits which strain relationships (Gorski & Young, 2002; Spasojevic & Alloy, 2001). In addition, prior studies have found associations between rumination and perceived social support (Nolen-Hoeksema & Davis, 1999), a negative perception of one’s social relations (Kuehner & Buerger, 2005), and overall difficulties in social relationships (Lam et al., 2003). Other studies have found that social connectedness is negatively associated with anhedonia (Hagerty & Williams, 1999; Shochet et al., 2006; Williams & Galliher, 2006). The current study seeks to temporally examine the mediational role of social connectedness in the relationship between rumination and anhedonia.

A nationally representative sample of participants (N = 142) enrolled in a longitudinal ecological momentary assessment study and reported their levels of rumination (Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire; Ehring et al., 2011). During the subsequent seven days, they were prompted three times per day and asked to indicate their level of social connectedness (0 = Not at all, 6 = Extremely). Eight months later, participants reported anhedonia symptoms via the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire’s Anhedonic Depression subscale (Watson et al., 1988). Results indicated that social connectedness partially mediated the relationship between rumination and anhedonic depression symptoms. Specifically, greater rumination predicted lower levels of social connectedness over the subsequent week, which in turn predicted greater anhedonia eight months later. We also explored whether this mediational relationship would be stronger for women compared to men, as prior literature has demonstrated that (a) women’s ruminative response style is a risk factor for the development of depression (Butler & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1994; Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987; Roberts et al., 1998) and (b) women evidence stronger associations between social connectedness and depression symptoms (Jose & Lim, 2014). Although the model exploring sex as a moderator was not significant, this may have been due to insufficient statistical power. However, it is noteworthy that the mediation model was significant for women but not for men. These findings provide evidence that reduced social connectedness partially explains how rumination maintains anhedonia. Clinical and theoretical implications will be discussed.