Understanding Gender Differences in Co-Rumination and Confidant Choice in Young Adults

Abstract

Expanding rumination to an interpersonal context, the construct of co-rumination has garnered interest as an additional factor that explains gender differences in depression. To date, co-rumination has been primarily examined in adolescent and preadolescent samples and within the context of same-sex friendships. This approach may not effectively capture co-rumination in young adults, who have more diverse social networks than adolescents. As an extension of co-rumination research, we not only asked college students (N = 283, 168 females) to report on levels of co-rumination with a same-sex best friend but also on levels of co-rumination with their self-identified closest confidant. We administered the two corumination questionnaires at separate times along with the BDI-II. The results indicated that compared to men, women were less likely to choose cross-sex friends as their closest confidants. College men reported higher levels of co-rumination with female friends. Women tended to co-ruminate at the same levels regardless of their relationship to their primary confidant. These results have important implications for measuring co-rumination in young adults and indicate that, for men, co-ruminating varies according to their relationship to their primary confidant.