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Susan Nolen-Hoeksema 
Professor (Ph.D., 1986, University of Pennsylvania) Yale Depression and Cognition Program My research focuses on cognitive vulnerabilities to
depression, and on the relationship of mood regulation strategies to
vulnerability to depression and other mental health problems. Much of
my research is on a construct I call rumination, the tendency to
respond to distress by focusing on the causes and consequences of your
problems, without moving into active problem-solving. In experimental
and survey studies, we have found that people who ruminate in response
to difficult circumstances have more severe and prolonged periods of
depression and anxiety. Rumination appears to exacerbate negative
thinking and interfere with good problem-solving. Ruminators are also
more likely than nonruminators to engage in impulsive, escapist
behaviors, such as binge drinking and binge eating. My most recent work
in this area is attempting to determine what makes some forms of
self-reflection adaptive, and what characteristics of people make them
able to use adaptive self-reflection but avoid maladaptive
self-reflection. Sample Publications Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Stice, E., Wade, E., & Bohon, C. (In
Press). Reciprocal relations between rumination and bulimic, substance
abuse, and depressive symptoms in adolescent females. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. |
