Friends’ Discussions of Interpersonal and Noninterpersonal Problems During Early and Middle Adolescence: Associations With Co-Rumination

Friendships are important sources of support during adolescence. However, a growing literature indicates some adolescents co-ruminate, or talk with friends about problems in a way that is excessive, speculative, and negatively focused, which confers risk for internalizing problems. Still, previous research had not examined the types of problems co-ruminators discuss. Using self-reported co-rumination and observations of friends’ conversations about problems, the present study of early and middle adolescents addressed this gap. Participants (N = 628) were approximately half female (52% of the sample) and primarily European American and African American (63% and 29% of the sample, respectively). Adolescents who reported greater co-rumination spent more time discussing interpersonal problems with friends, including problems with families, peers, and romantic interests. Interpersonal problems may lend themselves to co-rumination because they can be ambiguous, multifaceted, and difficult to resolve. In contrast, co-rumination was not related spending more time discussing noninterpersonal problems. In addition, middle adolescents were observed to spend more time than early adolescents discussing problems related to developmentally salient tasks (e.g., romantic relationships, academics), and girls spent more time than boys discussing interpersonal problems. Taken together, the findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of co-rumination. Moreover, the study has applied implications in that findings suggest that adolescents experiencing interpersonal problems may be at elevated risk of co-ruminating. In addition to steering these adolescents away from co-rumination, fostering better problem-solving skills for interpersonal problems may lead to the resolution of these problems before they become topics of co-rumination.