Understanding Gender Differences in Internalizing Symptoms: The Role of Co-Rumination and Empathetic Distress

Abstract

Rates of internalizing disorders in adolescent girls are twice as high as those in boys their age. One explanation for this disparity is that girls engage in higher rates of co-rumination than boys. The literature suggests that co-rumination contributes to empathetic distress, defined as experiencing another’s emotional distress and problems as one’s own. The current study investigated co-rumination and empathetic distress as mediators of the relationship between gender and internalizing symptoms. Participants were 437 Dutch youth (M_age = 12.88 years; 50.4% girls), and data were analyzed prospectively over two months. Although gender did not predict outcome measures at Time 3 above and beyond baseline measures, we did find an indirect effect of gender on anxiety through co-rumination and empathetic distress. However, co-rumination and empathetic distress did not mediate the relationship between gender and depression symptoms. These results may provide one explanation for the disparities in anxiety symptoms among girls.