Coping styles in response to depressed mood.: Factor structure and psychometric properties of the German version of the Response Styles Questionnaire (RSQ)

Background: The Response Styles Questionnaire (RSQ) claims to assess trait-like coping styles in response to depressed symptoms. Objective: To investigate the psychometric properties of the German Response Styles Questionnaire (RSQ). Method: Analyses included principal component analyses with a depressed inpatient sample after discharge (n = 130) and a community sample (n = 311) and further reliability and validity analyses with subsamples. Results: The PCAs yielded a three-factor solution in both samples, with factors labeled "symptom-focused rumination", "self-focused rumination", and "distraction". Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the factors were satisfactorily high. The RSQ subscales showed plausible associations with related cognitive constructs and with sevarity of depression. Symptom-focused rumination and distraction predicted at depressive symptoms 5-month follow-up. Conclusions: We recommend the use of the factorially derived RSQ subscales in further research.