Abstract
Background: Internalizing symptoms peak among college students during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Social support interactions are generally beneficial in reducing internalizing symptoms, but social support interactions can also involve maladaptive coping processes, such as co-brooding. How certain factors might exacerbate the negative effect that co-brooding has on mood remain unknown. The current study investigated if trait affective empathy strengthens the relation between co-brooding and negative affect, as well as the relation between co-brooding and internalizing symptoms. Methods: Participant dyads (pairs of close friends) from Brandeis University completed a series of problem discussion tasks and self-report questionnaires on co-brooding patterns, levels of trait affective empathy, negative affect change, and depression and anxiety symptoms. We used hierarchical linear modeling with multiple regressions to analyze the data. Results: Trait affective empathy did not moderate the relation between co-brooding and negative affect change. However, trait affective empathy was associated with a stronger association between trait co-brooding and internalizing symptoms in women, but a weaker association in men. Trait affective empathy was also associated with a stronger link between co-brooding and depression, but not anxiety, symptoms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that people higher in trait affective empathy may be at higher risk for developing depression, but not anxiety, symptoms when repeatedly and regularly co-brooding with friends. Moreover, while higher trait affective empathy may be more harmful to women who typically co-brood than men, lower trait affective empathy may be more harmful to men. Higher levels of trait affective empathy may conversely protect men against internalizing symptoms.