Depression and Two Aspects of Private Self-consciousness: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Previous studies have suggested private self-consciousness has two contradictory aspects. One is an adaptive aspect to prompt self-knowledge and contribute to mental health, and the other is maladaptive, leading to depression. To clarify this paradox, Trapnell & Campbell (1999) proposed two constructs, rumination and reflection, and constructed Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire. Both are dispositional self-attentiveness; rumination is triggered by perceived threats, loss or injustice to the self, and reflection is motivated by curiosity or epistemic interest in the self. We investigated the causal relationships between the two aspects of self-consciousness and depression based on the diathesis-stress model in longitudinal design on a non-clinical sample. Hierarchical regression showed rumination and its interaction with depression were significant predictors of change in depression. On the other hand, neither reflection nor its interaction with stress predicted change in depression. These results indicated that rumination was a vulnerability or risk factor for depression. However, although reflection is a kind of self-consciousness, it had no relation to depression, which suggested that reflection could prompt self-knowledge without increasing negative feelings. It may have some implications as an adaptive self-focusing for clinical practice.