Rumination Response Scale - 10 items

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Created: October 24, 2022

Last Modified: April 01, 2026 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements a computerized version of the Ruminative Responses Scale-10 items (RRS-10, Treynor et al, 2003). Rumination can be described as a tendency to use 'repetitive and passive focus on one's negative emotions' and has been linked to depression.

The RRS-10 is a short version of the original 22-item RRS scale with all 12 D(epression) items removed.

References

Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Morrow, J. (1991). A Prospective Study of Depression and Distress Following a Natural Disaster: The 1989 Lorma Prieta Earthquake. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 105-121. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.1.115

Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2000). The Role of Rumination in Depressive Disorders and Mixed Anxiety/Depressive Symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology (1965), 109(3), 504–511. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.109.3.504

Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R. & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. Rumination Reconsidered: A Psychometric Analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research 27, 247–259 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023910315561

Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2003). 10-item Ruminative Responses Scale [Database record]. APA PsycTests. https://doi.org/10.1037/t65937-000

Erdur-Baker, Ö., & Bugay, A. (2010). The short version of ruminative response scale: reliability, validity and its relation to psychological symptoms. Procedia, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 2178–2181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.433

Duration

1 minute

Description

The RRS10 scale is a self-report measure consisting of 10 4-point Likert Scale questions.

Summary Data

File Name: RRS_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
computer.touch 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities
computer.hasKeyboard 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
totalRRS10 The total rumination response scale score,
calculated as the sum of the individual 10 responses
Range: 10 - 40, the higher the score the more
participants tend to ruminate

Raw Data

File Name: rrs.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
build Inquisit version number
q*_response Response given (in assigned values)
Scale: 1 (almost never) - 4 (almost always)
_B: brooding
_R: reflection
q*_latency How much time (in ms) the participant spent on the surveyPage with this particular
question (the last time this particular surveyPage was visited)