Positive future-oriented fantasies and depressive symptoms: Indirect relationship through brooding

- We examine brooding as a mediator between positive fantasies and depressive symptoms.
- Objectively-rated fantasy engagement associated with brooding but not reflection.
- Indirect relation to depressive symptoms 6 weeks later through brooding.
- Indirect relation to difficulty generating likely positive future outcomes.

Although a positive future outlook is generally associated with psychological well-being, indulging in positive fantasies about the future has been found to exacerbate negative mood-related outcomes such as depressive symptoms. We examined rumination as a cognitive mechanism in this relationship, using an objectively coded measure of future-oriented fantasies, among 261 young adults assessed twice. Engaging in a positive fantasy about the future was associated with the brooding subtype of rumination but not with reflection at baseline. There was an indirect relationship between fantasies at baseline and depressive symptoms at six-week follow-up through brooding at average and high levels of fantasy positivity when fantasizing was consistent or increased over time but not when it decreased. Engaging in fantasies was indirectly associated with perceived difficulty anticipating likely positive future outcomes through brooding. These findings extend previous research on positive fantasies by suggesting brooding as a mechanism to explain when they are maladaptive.