Avoidance Motivation and Symptoms of Depression: Distinguishing Mediational Effects of Rumination

Dysfunction in motivational systems has been associated with depression. Rumination, a common avoidance strategy has been found to exacerbate depression. Rumination was tested as a mediator in the relationship between avoidance motivation and depressive symptoms. Results indicate that rumination mediates the relationship between high avoidance motivation and different depressive symptoms.