Rumination and overgeneral autobiographical memory as mediators of the relationship between attachment and depression

This study examined the potential mediating roles of the cognitive risk factors of rumination and overgeneral memory in explaining the relationship between insecure attachments (avoidant and anxious) and depression. One hundred African American outpatient psychiatric patients completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, the Ruminative Response Scale, the Diagnostic Inventory for Depression, and the Autobiographical Memory Test. Results supported a mediating role for rumination, but not for overgeneral memory. Implications of the findings for African Americans are considered.