Skip to main content
Original Article

Measurement Invariance of Three Brief Measures of Rumination in Young Adults With and Without a History of Self-Injury

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000605

Abstract. Rumination is central to understanding the onset and maintenance of non-suicidal self-injury. Yet, no study has evaluated whether reported differences in rumination between people with and without a history of self-injury represent genuine group differences. The present study reports an investigation into the measurement invariance of three common measures of rumination in university students with and without a history of self-injury (total N = 1,519). Results revealed configural invariance for the Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS), the Ruminative Thought Style Questionnaire (RTSQ), and the Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ). Additionally, the RTSQ and RTQ supported metric invariance, while the RRS supported partial metric invariance. Further, the RTQ demonstrated partial scalar invariance while the RTSQ demonstrated full scalar invariance. The current findings suggest that observed differences using the RTSQ and RTQ reflect genuine differences in rumination between people with and without a history of self-injury, while researchers using the RRS are advised to account for differential item functioning.

References

  • Arbuthnott, A. E., Lewis, S. P., & Bailey, H. N. (2015). Rumination and emotions in nonsuicidal self-injury and eating disorder behaviors: A preliminary test of the emotional cascade model. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 71, 62–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22115 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Brinker, J. K., & Dozois, D. J. (2009). Ruminative thought style and depressed mood. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20542 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Brown, T. A. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Dawkins, J. C., Hasking, P. A., Boyes, M. E., Greene, D., & Passchier, C. (2019). Applying a cognitive-emotional model to nonsuicidal self-injury. Stress Health, 35, 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2837 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ehring, T., & Watkins, E. R. (2008). Repetitive negative thinking as a transdiagnostic process. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 1, 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2008.1.3.192 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gandhi, A., Luyckx, K., Baetens, I., Kiekens, G., Sleuwaegen, E., Berens, A., … Claes, L. (2018). Age of onset of non-suicidal self-injury in Dutch-speaking adolescents and emerging adults: An event history analysis of pooled data. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 80, 170–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.10.007 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Glenn, C. R., & Klonsky, E. D. (2011). One-year test-retest reliability of the Inventory of Statements about Self-Injury (ISAS). Assessment, 18, 375–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191111411669 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Hasking, P., Whitlock, J., Voon, D., & Rose, A. (2017). A cognitive-emotional model of NSSI: Using emotion regulation and cognitive processes to explain why people self-injure. Cognition and Emotion, 31, 1543–1556. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2016.1241219 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • International Society for the Study of Self-Injury. (2018). What is self-injury? Retrieved from https://itriples.org/category/about-self-injury/ First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kiekens, G., Hasking, P., & Boyes, M. (2019). Measurement invariance of three brief emotion regulation questionnaires in people with and without a history of non-suicidal self-injury. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 35(6), 835–841. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000464 First citation in articleLinkGoogle Scholar

  • Kiekens, G., Hasking, P., Claes, L., Boyes, M., Mortier, P., Auerbach, R. P., … Bruffaerts, R. (2019). Prediciting the incidence of non-suicidal self-injury in college students. European Psychiatry, 59, 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.04.002 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Klonsky, E. D., & Glenn, C. R. (2009). Assessing the functions of non-suicidal self-injury: Psychometric properties of the Inventory of Statements About Self-injury (ISAS). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioural Assessment, 31, 215–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-008-9107-z First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Li, C. H. (2016). Confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data: Comparing robust maximum likelihood and diagonally weighted least squares. Behavior Research Methods, 48, 936–949. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0619-7 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • McEvoy, P. M., Mahoney, A. E. J., & Moulds, M. L. (2010). Are worry, rumination, and post-event processing one and the same? Development of the Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 509–519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.03.008 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • McEvoy, P. M., Thibodeau, M., & Asmundson, G. J. G. (2014). Trait repetitive negative thinking: A brief transdiagnostic assessment. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 3, 382–398. https://doi.org/10.5127/jep.037813 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Meade, A. W., Johnson, E. C., & Braddy, P. W. (2008). Power and sensitivity of alternative fit indices in tests of measurement invariance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 568–592. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.568 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2017). Mplus user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Nicolai, K. A., Wielgus, M. D., & Mezulis, A. (2016). Identifying risk for self-harm: Rumination and negative affectivity in the prospective prediction of nonsuicidal self-injury. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 46, 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12186 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Nock, M. K. (2009). Why do people hurt themselves? New insights into the nature and functions of self-injury. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 78–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01613.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Putnick, D. L., & Bornstein, M. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review, 41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Selby, E. A., Connell, L. D., & Joiner, T. E. (2010). The pernicious blend of rumination and fearlessness in non-suicidal self-injury. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 34, 421–428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-009-9260-z First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Selby, E. A., Franklin, J., Carson-Wong, A., & Rizvi, S. L. (2013). Emotional cascades and self-injury: Investigating instability of rumination and negative emotion. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69, 1213–1227. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.21966 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Slabbert, A., Hasking, P., & Boyes, M. (2018). Riding the emotional roller coaster: The role of distress tolerance in non-suicidal self-injury. Psychiatry Research, 269, 309–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.08.061 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Swannell, S. V., Martin, G. E., Page, A., Hasking, P., & St John, N. J. (2014). Prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury in nonclinical samples: Systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression. Suicide Life Threat Behav, 44, 273–303. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12070 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Tanner, A., Voon, D., Hasking, P., & Martin, G. (2012). Underlying structure of ruminative thinking: Factor analysis of the Ruminative Thought Style Questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37, 633–646. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-012-9492-1 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Taylor, P. J., Jomar, K., Dhingra, K., Forrester, R., Shahmalak, U., & Dickson, J. M. (2018). A meta-analysis of the prevalence of different functions of non-suicidal self-injury. J Affect Disord, 227, 759–769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.11.073 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2003). Rumination reconsidered: A psychometric analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 247–259. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1023910315561 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Voon, D., Hasking, P., & Martin, G. (2014). The roles of emotion regulation and ruminative thoughts in non-suicidal self-injury. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 95–113. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12030 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar