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Integrating Cognitive Mechanisms In The Relationship Between Trait Affect And Depressive Symptoms: The Role Of Affect Amplification, Kaitlin A. Harding

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Trait levels of negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) are established risk factors for depressive symptoms (Clark & Watson, 1991), but the mechanisms through which high NA and low PA confer risk for depression are poorly understood. Two proposed mechanisms in the transmission of affective vulnerabilities to depression are the cognitive responses of brooding and positive rumination. Brooding and positive rumination may represent a common cognitive process that amplifies the intensity of affect and contributes to depressive symptoms. Therefore, my dissertation purposes were to (a) determine whether brooding and positive rumination represent a shared cognitive process on distinct affective …