2 - (SYM 133) Parent-child Co-rumination and Treatment Outcomes in a Randomized Clinical Trial of Rumination-focused Cognitive-behavioral Therapy

Rumination is a form of repetitive, prolonged, and recurrent negative thinking that typically emerges during the transition to adolescence. Although a number of developmental factors increase risk for youth rumination, this maladaptive thinking pattern often emerges in the context of familial stressors and parental modeling. One mechanism by which rumination becomes entrenched within a family system is via co-rumination between parent and child. Co-rumination involves comprehensively discussing and revisiting problems, speculating about problems, and focusing on negative feelings with others. Although rumination can be effectively targeted with rumination-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (RF-CBT), it is currently unknown whether (1) patterns of co-rumination affect parental views of their child’s psychopathology, (2) co-rumination interferes with youth rumination-focused treatment, or (3) if youth RF-CBT positively influences problematic familial rumination patterns. The present study uses data from a randomized clinical trial of RF-CBT to examine whether parental engagement in ruminative processes with their child, co-rumination as assessed by the Co-rumination Scale Questionnaire, or parent’s own rumination on the Rumination Response Scale are associated with bias in their perception of their adolescent’s psychopathology (operationalized as a greater discrepancy between parent scores and both child and independent evaluator scores on the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised). We will also examine if co-rumination scores moderate rumination-related outcomes for youth at treatment termination and at follow-up; and whether any beneficial effects from youth treatment (decreasing youth rumination with treatment) generalize to co-rumination patterns between parent and child. Youth (N = 76) were randomized to either 10-14 sessions of RF-CBT (n = 38) or assessment only (n = 38), and are being followed over a two year follow-up period. This presentation will help shed light on how co-rumination patterns interact with RF-CBT. Findings may impact treatment decision making and recommendations particularly with respect to parental involvement in the intervention process.