Actual-ideal and actual-ought self-discrepancies have been theorised to be independently associated with depressive and anxious symptoms respectively. This study tested this prediction and extended it to consider whether rumination mediates these relationships. One hundred and thirty-eight students (48 males, 90 females) listed four adjectives describing how they would ideally hope to be and four adjectives describing how they ought to be. Participants then rated how distant they perceived themselves to be from each of their ideal and ought selves, as well as the importance of each ideal and ought self. Finally, participants self-reported levels of negative rumination, anxious and depressive symptoms. Actual-ideal self-discrepancy was independently associated with both anxious and depressive symptoms, whereas actual-ought self-discrepancy was independently associated with anxious symptoms only. Rumination mediated the independent relationships between actualideal self-discrepancy and anxious and depressive symptoms. Actual-ought self-discrepancy retained an independent association with anxious symptoms that was not mediated through rumination. Anxious and depressive symptoms both have independent associations with actual-ideal self-discrepancies, whereas anxious symptoms are uniquely associated with actual-ought self-discrepancies. We reveal further evidence for rumination as a cognitive-motivational transdiagnostic process linking self-regulatory difficulties with anxious and depressive symptoms.

Introduction

Theorists have suggested that anxiety and depression share some cognitive, affective and behavioural features but have other features that are distinct (e.g., Clark, Watson, & Mineka, 1994; Mineka, Watson, & Clark, 1998). The tripartite model of anxiety and depression (Clark et al., 1994) suggests that these conditions share a common core of negative affect, with depression being distinguished by low positive affect and anxiety by autonomic hyperarousal. While these emotional states typically co-occur, the literature indicates that certain features differentiate anxiety and depression. Distinguishing the self-regulatory processes that have common versus distinct associations with anxiety and depression will further inform our understanding of the nature of these emotional symptoms. To date though, relatively little research has examined which self-regulatory processes have common and distinct relationships with anxiety and depression (but see Dickson & MacLeod, 2004a, 2004b, Winch, Moberly, & Dickson, 2015). Self-regulation theorists posit that aversive affective states result from an individual’s inability to regulate their perceived current state with respect to their desired states (Carver, 2006; Carver & Scheier, 1998; Dickson & Moberly, 2013; Dickson, Moberly, O’Dea, & Field, 2016; Higgins, 1987, 1997). Higgins’ (1997) regulatory focus theory (RFT) proposes that two basic components are involved in representations of future states used for self-regulation: the valence of the anticipated goal outcome (positive vs. negative) and the orientation of the goal (promotion vs. prevention).