Developmental Psychology and Gender Differences
Girls are more likely than boys to co-ruminate with their close friends, and co-rumination increases with age in children. Female adolescents are more likely to co-ruminate ruminate than younger girls, because their social worlds become increasingly complex and stressful. This is not true for boys, however as age differences are not expected among boys because their interactions remain activity focused and the tendency to extensively discuss problems is likely to remain inconsistent with male norms.
Unfortunately, while providing this support, this tendency may also reinforce internalizing problems such as anxiety or depression, especially in adolescent girls, which may account for higher depression among girls than boys. For boys, lower levels of co-rumination may help buffer them against emotional problems if they spend less time with friends dwelling on problems and concerns, though less sharing of personal thoughts and feelings can potentially interfere with creating high-quality friendships.
Co-rumination has been found to partially explain (or mediate) gender differences in anxiety and depression; females have reported engaging in more co-rumination in close friendships than males, as well as elevated co-rumination was associated with females' higher levels of depression, but not anxiety. Co-rumination is also linked with romantic activities, which have been shown to correlate with depressive symptoms over time, because they are often the problem discussed among adolescents.
Research suggests that within adolescents, children who currently exhibit high levels of co-rumination would predict the onset of depressive diagnoses than in children who exhibit lower levels of co-rumination. In addition, this link was maintained even when children with current diagnoses were excluded, as well as statistically controlling for current depressive symptoms. This further suggests that the relation between co-rumination and a history of depressive diagnoses is not due simply to current levels of depression. Another study looking at 146 adolescents (69% female) ranging in age from 14 to 19 suggests that comparing gender differences in co-rumination across samples, it appears as if these differences intensify through early adolescence but begin to narrow shortly thereafter and remain steady through emerging adulthood
Read more about this topic: Corumination
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