Does it help to talk about it? Co-rumination, internalizing symptoms, and committed action during the COVID-19 global pandemic

Co-rumination (defined as perseverative, negatively-focused discussions about problems) has been linked to internalizing symptoms, especially following psychosocial stress. The sudden outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during Spring 2020 may have been a common focus of co-rumination. Conceptualized within a contextual behavioral science framework, the current study examined pandemic-focused co-rumination and its components: co-brooding (i.e., passively dwelling on concerns and associated consequences and negative emotions in a dyadic context) and co-reflection (i.e., repetitively discussing problems dyadically to enhance insight). A total of 320 undergraduates (62 %, female, 37 % male, 1 % nonbinary gender) completed an online survey from late April-early May 2020 shortly after their universities abruptly ended in-person instruction and removed students from campus. COVID-19-focused co-rumination (specifically co-brooding) was associated with higher levels of internalizing symptoms. Co-brooding and co-reflection each moderated the association between COVID-19 stress exposure and a) internalizing symptoms (COVID-related fears and depressive symptoms) and b) committed action, but in opposite directions, with co-brooding predicting increased symptoms and decreased committed action, and co-reflection predicting the opposite. Results suggest that when the nature of social support-seeking discussions promote psychological flexibility via increased perspective and understanding (vs. dwelling on negative content of experiences), they may ameliorate emotional distress and promote committed action following stress exposure.