Co-rumination across in-person and digital communication: Associations with affect and relationship closeness in adolescents

Introduction: Despite the prominence of interpersonal emotion regulation, particularly during adolescence, it is a relatively understudied area of investigation. Co-rumination is an interpersonal emotion regulation strategy that is frequently used by adolescents. Traditional examinations of co-rumination have focused on its occurrence in person, while largely overlooking digital modes of communication. This study was the first to investigate adolescents' co-rumination across multiple communication modalities (i.e., in person, text, social media, phone) and its downstream association with affect and relationship closeness. Specifically, we examined: (1) the frequency of co-rumination across modalities, (2) the effect of co-rumination in one modality on the future use of co-rumination within that same modality (i.e., stability) and across other modalities (i.e., generalization); and (3) the prospective relation of co-rumination on negative affect, positive affect, and relationship closeness.

Methods: Adolescents (n = 71; 33 girls and 38 boys; M_age = 12.70 years) residing in Canada completed twice-daily diary surveys for 14 days.

Results: Findings indicated that adolescents co-ruminate across all modes of communication, particularly in person. There also was evidence of co-rumination stability and generalization over time for some modes of communication (within phone and from social media to in-person interactions), but not for others. Co-rumination through text and over the phone had affective and/or social benefits, whereas co-rumination through social media predicted diminished positive affect. We also identified ways these findings differed by gender.

Conclusions: Implications for adolescents' emotional and social development and the field of co-rumination are discussed.