A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved? Investigating the Costs and Benefits of Co-rumination Across Contexts

Co-rumination is a social emotion regulation strategy whereby at least two people cyclically perseverate on problems, focus on negative feelings, and intensely discuss the causes and consequences of issues. Thus far, Ana's dissertation research has demonstrated that co-rumination is related to increased internalizing symptoms, heightened feelings of closeness, and increased physiological synchrony of sympathetic nervous system responses. Moreover, her work has revealed that although some people co-ruminate more than others, on average, co-rumination is highly variable over time and elicits disagreement between dyad members. Through explicitly quantifying the heterogeneity, or variability, in co-rumination, Ana has also shown that not all individuals reap simultaneous costs and benefits, illustrating the person- and context-specific nature of co-rumination. In the last chapter of her dissertation, Ana will capitalize on a 4-week daily diary study surrounding the US presidential election (2-weeks pre- and 2-weeks post-election day), to examine whether and how co-rumination about political issues is associated with political action. This will enable Ana to assess co-rumination about societal level stressors, understand the temporal dynamics of co-rumination, and better understand its relation to behavior. Ana McMahon DiGiovanni is a PhD candidate at Columbia University, where she works primarily with Niall Bolger, PhD. Ana's research collates theories across affective science and relationship science, and capitalizes on advanced quantitative methods to investigate 1.) the interdependent and dynamic nature of problem-focused (e.g., co-ruminative) conversations, 2.) the social, affective, and physiological outcomes of support interactions, and 3.) how relational and affective processes are shaped by socio-structural forces. Across all of this work, Ana seeks to examine how we show up for loved ones, work alongside others to regulate complex emotions, and make progress on pressing personal and societal problems. Before coming to Columbia, Ana received her BA from New York University.