Development of a Relational Rumination Questionnaire

• We developed a 16-item measure of rumination on romantic relationships.
• The factor structure of the measure was explored and confirmed in two studies.
• Three factors: romantic preoccupation, relational uncertainty, breakup rumination
• The total scale and subscales showed good psychometric properties.
• Singles scored higher on relational rumination than people who were partnered.

Rumination about romantic relationships has been implicated in interpersonal problems generally, and intimate partner violence and stalking of former romantic partners specifically. While various scales exist to measure depressive, angry, or general rumination, no existing scale comprehensively assesses rumination on romantic relationships. This paper describes the development and validation of the Relational Rumination Questionnaire (RelRQ). The RelRQ was developed and tested across two studies involving university students and members of the general population. Study 1 (n = 578) used exploratory factor analyses to develop an 18-item RelRQ from a larger item pool. The derived three-factor structure: 1) romantic preoccupation rumination; 2) relationship uncertainty rumination; and 3) break-up rumination was confirmed in Study 2 (n = 525), and the scale was revised to a 16-item version. Total RelRQ and subscale scores showed high internal consistency, good test–retest reliability, and expected correlations with related constructs such as insecure attachment, anger rumination, and negative affect. Results indicate that the RelRQ can be used in future studies to test if relational rumination is associated with maladaptive relational outcomes such as intimate partner violence and stalking.