Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Short Depressive Rumination Scale in a Nonclinical Sample

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is considered a transdiagnostic variable underlying common symptoms (e.g., depressed mood) across various mood disorders. Depressive rumination is one typical and frequent manifestation of RNT and is a well-known vulnerability factor of depression onset, maintenance and recurrence. Due to the time-related constraints in assessment settings and the association of rumination on sadness with diagnosis of depression, the rapid identification of individuals scoring high on this construct may become a useful screening tool in non-clinical samples. The main aim of the present study was to test the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Short Depressive Rumination Scale (SDRS) in a large sample (N = 649). Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported a one-factor model accounting for 75% of variance with an excellent internal consistency (alpha = .93) in spite of the reduced number of items (4 items). Criterion validity results based on associations with other well-established rumination (sub)scales, age, scores in depression and gender differences, were congruent. The results suggest that the SDRS, the shortest existing scale assessing depressive rumination to our knowledge, can be a useful instrument for a rapid assessment of depressive rumination in community samples.