Teen Girls Who Ruminate Experience Heightened Rejection Sensitivity: New Study

March 14, 2024

Teenage girls who often ruminate exhibit patterns of brain activity different from their non-ruminative peers after encountering social rejection, according to new research published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.¹ Increased activity was seen in the parts of the brain involved in developing self-concept, which researchers say suggests that ruminative teens internalize social rejection and integrate it into their view of themselves.

“Everyone experiences rejection, but not everyone experiences it in the same way,” explained Amanda Guyer, Ph.D., one of the study’s authors and associate director of the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California at Davis. “Our results suggest that girls who tend to ruminate are experiencing more than just momentary sadness after rejection. They are deeply internalizing this negative feedback into their self-concept.”

The study, conducted by researchers at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, involved 116 female participants, aged 16 to 19, who were asked to self-report their tendency to ruminate, defined by the study’s authors as engaging in repetitive, negative thought patterns. The participants were also asked to perform two tasks related to social selection. In their initial visit, participants viewed photos of 60 teens, and were prompted to select 30 they’d like to talk to online. At the follow-up visit, the teens were informed of which of those selected teens had chosen them, and which teens had not. While receiving this information, the teens received functional MRIs to measure blood flow and electrical activity in different areas of the brain.

Social Rejection Plus Rumination Impacts Self-Concept

The study showed that, among girls who ruminate, there was increased activity in the parts of the brain associated with developing one’s sense of identity and interpreting the intentions of others. This led researchers to conclude that ruminative teen girls tend to deeply reflect on the negative feedback of social rejection, incorporating it into their self-concept.

This type of emotional distress is frequently experienced by people with ADHD, among whom rejection sensitivity is common, and painful. “The emotional intensity of rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is described by my patients as a wound.” explains William Dodson, M.D., in his ADDitude article “New Insights Into Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria.” “One-third of my adult patients report that RSD was the most impairing aspect of their personal experience of ADHD.”

The pattern of brain activity revealed in the study also helps explain why teen girls who ruminate are compelled to analyze peers’ behavior, particularly social rejection, which researchers say “aligns with high ruminators’ need to understand a situation and their propensity to ask ‘why’-type questions.”

Rumination Taxes Working Memory

The study also found that rumination caused increased activity in the parts of the brain associated with working memory. Researchers believe that because ruminative teen girls are using much of their working memory to revisit negative social feedback, it may be harder for them to perform cognitive tasks that demand working memory.

For individuals with ADHD, who frequently struggle with deficits in working memory, this may cause additional strain on already limited resources.

Impact of Rumination on Mental Health

By demonstrating the neurobiological basis of rumination and its relationship to rejection sensitivity, the study reveals the importance of equipping teen girls with strategies to decrease rumination.

Left unaddressed, rumination, which is more common among girls than boys, is associated with a higher incidence of many mental and behavioral health challenges. Previous research has demonstrated that rumination is a risk factor for:

• Depression and anxiety²
• Substance abuse ³
• Self-injury ⁴
• Disordered eating ⁵
• Sleep problems ⁶
• Aggressive behavior ⁷

Rumination Intervention Strategies

To avoid these negative outcomes, the study’s researchers stress the benefit of interventions that break the rumination cycle.

“Our study suggests that it can make a difference to reframe their [teens’] negative experiences in a way that makes them feel better afterward instead of worse,” said Guyer.

These strategies may be particularly important for individuals with ADHD, among whom patterns of negative thinking are common.

“Obsessing and ruminating are often part of living with ADHD,” explains ADHD coach Beth Main in her ADDitude article, “ADHD and Obsessive Thoughts: How to Stop the Endless Analysis.” “No matter how hard you try to ignore them, those negative thoughts just keep coming back, replaying themselves in an infinite loop.”

Rather than attempting to ignore ruminative thoughts, Main suggests the following strategies:

• Re-frame the experience: Cognitive reframing involves identifying familiar negative thought patterns, and then shifting the way situations, emotions or experiences are viewed.
• Repeat a mantra: Positive self-talk in the form of a short, repeated phrase with a positive message, like “I am worthy of love,” can counterbalance the negative self-talk to which ruminators are prone.
• Redirect focus elsewhere: Attention modification through a healthy dose of distraction can help break a negative loop, particularly if it’s something that demands your full attention. Activities involving exercise or being in nature can be especially therapeutic.

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