Title:
Rumination as a mediator of depression prevention effects among college students
Author:
Daniel T. Pardo
Thesis Advisor:
Mary Jo Coiro
Committee Member:
Matthew W. Kirkhart
Committee Member:
Alison A. Papdakis
Committee Member:
Amanda M. Thomas
Committee Member:
Jason M. Prenoveau
Degree Granting Institution:
Loyola University Maryland--College of Arts and Sciences
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Loyola University Maryland
Date Created:
2017
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
born digital
Abstract:
Depression is a common mental health concern facing students across American colleges and universities. Students with depression symptoms are more likely to struggle with academics, partake in unsafe drug and alcohol use, and complete suicide. While treatment for depression is typically available on college campuses, most students with depression do not receive services, indicating a need for alternative approaches to mental healthcare in this population. Prevention is a viable alternative that seeks to address mental health problems before treatment is required. Some preventive interventions exist for college students; however, research has yet to identify a uniform approach or an optimal risk factor to target. The current study examines data from a pilot preventive intervention conducted with undergraduate students at two U.S. universities. In order to obtain a sample of mentally healthy college students who had not yet experienced depression, participants reporting high levels of depression symptoms at baseline were excluded from the sample. One-hundred and four participants were assigned to either a coping condition (receiving a coping skills group alone or in combination with cognitive training) or a comparison condition (receiving cognitive training alone or an information-only control). The coping skills group consisted of six 1.5-hour weekly sessions where participants learned strategies for coping with stress. The cognitive training component consisted of online ?ǣbrain training?ǥ using Lumosity. Depression symptoms and ruminative brooding were assessed across three time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 6-week follow up. The results of the study indicate that there was no effect of intervention condition on either depression symptoms or ruminative brooding at post-intervention and follow-up. Additionally, ruminative brooding at post-intervention was not found to mediate the effect of intervention condition on depression symptoms at follow-up. Limitations of the study are discussed, including sample characteristics, measurement issues, and study design. Future interventions that target multiple risk factors (including rumination) directly and simultaneously may garner more promising results.
Subject:
Electronic dissertations
Degree:
Doctor of Clinical Psychology
Level:
Doctoral
Discipline:
Psychology
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online.
Use and Reproduction:
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Identifier:
PardoDT-17
