The role of attentional bias, rumination and avoidance in depression among Chinese clinical patients

Abstract

Previous research suggested that attentional bias, rumination and avoidance associate with depression. Depressed individuals who show a habitual tendency to attend to negative aspects of their life, to focus on their negative mood and ruminate over the causes and consequences of their depressive symptoms are more vulnerable to depression. Avoidance, a construct that has received relatively less attention in the studies of depression in the past, is considered to play a role in depression as more evidences emerged in recent research. This study examined the tripartite relationship among attentional bias, rumination and avoidance, and specifically, explored the relationship between attentional bias and avoidance in the context of depression. A Chinese clinically depressed sample (N = 91) completed self-report measures on attentional bias, rumination, avoidance and depressive symptoms. Results showed that positive and negative attentional bias, rumination, avoidance were all significantly correlated with depressive symptoms even after anxiety was controlled. Positive attentional bias and rumination were found to be significant independent predictors of depressive symptoms. Besides, current results supported the role of avoidance as a partial mediator in the relationships between attentional bias (both positive and negative) and depressive symptoms. The findings extended current models of depression and further confirmed the role of avoidance in depression. The present results provided important evidences for clinicians to take note of the roles of attentional bias, rumination and avoidance in the development of depression and include attentional training, behavioral activation and cognitive components into their therapeutic interventions for depressed individuals.