Reciprocal Temporal Associations Between Grief Rumination and Daily Affect in Bereavement

ABSTRACT

Rumination and daily affect play important roles in the development of transdiagnostic mental disorders. However, little is known about the dynamic associations between grief rumination and daily affect in bereaved individuals' everyday lives. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine reciprocal temporal associations between grief rumination and daily negative and positive affect (NA and PA). Sixty‐one bereaved individuals completed EMA surveys four times daily for 14 days, yielding 3227 valid observations. Results from residual dynamic structural equation modelling (RDSEM) revealed reciprocal temporal associations between overall grief rumination and NA. Initial analyses further suggested higher‐than‐expected levels of NA predicted subsequent higher brooding, whereas higher‐than‐expected levels of reflection predicted subsequent higher NA. Sensitivity analysis controlling for baseline trait rumination or time since loss revealed significant bidirectional lagged associations between NA and overall grief rumination, brooding and reflection. No significant lagged associations were found between grief rumination and PA, but the contemporaneous associations were significant and negative. The results advance understanding of the emotional dynamics of grief rumination and suggest that bereavement interventions may benefit from targeting both rumination and negative affect.