{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T18:48:36Z","timestamp":1785350916493,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,15]],"date-time":"2023-03-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1678838400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Psychological inflexibility is related to depressive symptoms through the \u2018ruminative response style\u2019 (RR) and \u2018cognitive fusion\u2019 (CF). We aimed at exploring whether university students were more exposed to CF, RR and depressive symptoms because of their intellectual performance than non-university students of the same age. We compared university students (US) (n = 105) vs. non-university students (NUS) (n = 76) through online administration of the \u2018Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire\u2019 (CFQ-7), the \u2018Depression-Zung Self-Assessment Scale\u2019 (ZSDS) and the \u2018Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire\u2019 (PTQ) (study protocol #0077818\/2022, approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Pisa, Italy). University students scored significantly higher than non-university students in the CFQ-7 Total Score (27.5 \u00b1 9.4 vs. 24.4 \u00b1 9.5; p = 0.040), ZSDS Total Score (41.1 \u00b1 7.7 vs. 39.0 \u00b1 7.3; p = 0.031), PTQ Total Score (26.1 \u00b1 13.1 vs. 21.8 \u00b1 13.9; p = 0.029), PTQ \u2018Repetitiveness\u2019 (5.3 \u00b1 2.8 vs. 4.5 \u00b1 2.9; p = 0.034), \u2018Intrusiveness\u2019 (5.8 \u00b1 3.0 vs. 4.8 \u00b1 3.1; p = 0.046) and \u2018Repetitive Negative Thinking capturing mental resources\u2019 (5.0 \u00b1 3.1 vs. 4.0 \u00b1 3.0; p = 0.013) (MANOVA analysis). In a binary logistic regression analysis of US (with ZSDS scores &lt; 44 vs. \u226544 as the dependent variable, and PTQ Total Score and dimensions, CFQ-7 Total Score, age and gender as the covariates), PTQ Total Score predicted the more severe depressive symptomatology (OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.017\u20132.039; p = 0.040). We believe that RR and CF should be specifically targeted through psychoeducational\/psychotherapeutic interventions in university students.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life13030803","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,16]],"date-time":"2023-03-16T03:50:45Z","timestamp":1678938645000},"page":"803","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Cognitive Fusion, Ruminative Response Style and Depressive Spectrum Symptoms in a Sample of University Students"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7536-9927","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mario","family":"Miniati","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8693-7050","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara","family":"Busia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical Care and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0726-3634","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ciro","family":"Conversano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical Care and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8769-7693","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Graziella","family":"Orr\u00f9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical Care and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4264-6884","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rebecca","family":"Ciacchini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical Care and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Viarda","family":"Cosentino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4021-5829","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Donatella","family":"Marazziti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Angelo","family":"Gemignani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Medical and Molecular Pathology, Critical Care and Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Palagini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"740","DOI":"10.1126\/science.274.5288.740","article-title":"Evidence-Based Health Policy\u2014Lessons from the Global Burden of Disease Study","volume":"274","author":"Murray","year":"1996","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"657","DOI":"10.1590\/1516-4446-2020-0650","article-title":"Prevalence and Correlates of Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review","volume":"42","author":"Dunne","year":"2020","journal-title":"Braz. 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