The prediction of rumination and worry based on the ability to control thought and cognitive behavioral avoidance in students university with clinical depression

The purpose of this study was to predict rumination and worry based on the ability to control thought and cognitive behavioral avoidance in students with clinical depression. For this purpose, a sample of 150 students with clinical depression (100 women and 50 men) were selected using multi-stage random sampling. In order to collect information from the Thought Control Ability Questionnaire (TCAQ, Luchiano, 2005), Cognitive Behavioral Avoidance Scale (CBAS, Ottenbreit, 2004), rumination scale (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ, Meyer, 1990) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II, Beck, 1996) and demographic characteristics. The results of regression analysis showed that the ability of thought control and behavioral cognitive avoidance together significantly predict 32.5% of rumination variance and 28.9% of worry variance in students suffering from clinical depression which these values are reliable at the level (p < 0.5). The findings of this study indicate that behavioral avoidance is more predictive than cognitive avoidance of anxiety.