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Ruminative Responses Scale

RRS
psychologyhealth sciencesFree for research use

Permission: Free for research use. Free for non-commercial academic research, with no licence fee. Cite the original publication.

A 22-item measure of ruminative responses to depressed mood; a refined 10-item version separates maladaptive brooding from more neutral reflection.

Items
22
Response format
4-point frequency scale
Version
1.0
Subscales
2

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Rumination was measured with the 22-item Ruminative Responses Scale (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991), whose brooding and reflection subscales (Treynor et al., 2003) showed acceptable internal consistency (α = .77 and .72).

Citing this in a methods section? This scale spans more than one discipline, so the style depends on where you publish. See the APA 7 or Vancouver guides, or compare all six citation styles.

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Reliability & validation

Validation population
Community adults (Treynor et al., 2003)
Cronbach's α
0.72–0.77

Subscales

BroodingReflection

Response anchors

Almost never · Sometimes · Often · Almost always

Known limitations

The original 22-item total overlaps with depression item content, which inflates its association with depression; the refined brooding and reflection subscales are only five items each.

Original citation

Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Morrow, J. (1991). A prospective study of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms after a natural disaster: The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(1), 115-121.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.1.115

Questions researchers ask

What does the RRS measure?

A 22-item measure of ruminative responses to depressed mood; a refined 10-item version separates maladaptive brooding from more neutral reflection.

How many items does the RRS have?

The Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS) has 22 items across 2 subscales: Brooding, Reflection.

Is the RRS free to use?

The RRS is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.

Is the RRS reliable?

Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.72–0.77. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.

Who developed the RRS, and how do I cite it?

Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Morrow, J. (1991). A prospective study of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms after a natural disaster: The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(1), 115-121. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.1.115

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Library entry verified September 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.