The Multi-Dimensional Rumination in Illness Scale (MRIS) has been recently developed to assess ruminative thinking style in the context of illness. The MRIS examines general aspects of rumination such as duration and controllability, illness-specific content including causality and consequences, and metacognitive aspects of rumination.

The MRIS is based around four domains:

Intrusion represents negative dimensions of rumination including duration and lack of controllability. 'I can't seem to control thinking about my illness.'

Brooding captures the content of ruminaton with regard to the experience of and consequences of illness. 'I think about how liuttle I can do to improve my situation'.

Instrumentality concerns the positive beliefs that underlie the initiation and maintenance of rumination. 'Thinking about my illness helps me understand its cause'.

Searching for Meaning relates to rumination as an attempt to make sense of illness, to think about causality. 'I wonder where things went wrong'.

Initial examination of the psychometric properties of the MRIS have demonstrated the MRIS to be a consistent measure of rumination for use in the setting of either physical or psychological illness.

If you are interested in learning further about the MRIS, please contact us.