Abstract: Depression has become a major threat to college students’ mental health, and identifying effective and easily implementable intervention strategies has important theoretical and practical significance. Drawing on Beck’s schema theory and Beevers’ dual-process model of cognitive vulnerability to depression, the present research examined the mechanism and intervention effects of self-distancing on depression among Chinese college students from the perspective of self-reflection. Specifically, we investigated whether self-distancing predicts lower depressive symptoms through positive and negative rumination, and whether a language-based self-distancing intervention can reduce depressive symptoms in daily life.
The research adopted a multi-method design comprising three studies and five substudies. Study 1 examined the association between self-distancing and depression through a cross-sectional survey and a 10-day dynamic assessment. Study 1a involved 770 college students and tested whether trait self-distancing was associated with depressive symptoms through positive and negative rumination. Study 1b involved 156 participants and used repeated daily assessments to examine whether state self-distancing predicted momentary depressed mood at both the between-person and within-person levels. Study 2 provided preliminary experimental evidence for the effectiveness of language-based self-distancing in Chinese college students. In Study 2a, 109 participants were randomly assigned to use either non-first-person language or first-person language when reflecting on negative events. In Study 2b, 75 participants repeatedly reflected on six common types of negative events, allowing us to examine the mediating role of rumination and the moderating role of baseline depressive symptoms. Study 3 implemented a 14-day micro-longitudinal self-distancing intervention among 104 college students with elevated depressive symptoms, testing whether the intervention reduced depressive symptoms and whether this effect was explained by changes in rumination.
Study 1 showed that both trait and state self-distancing negatively predicted depressive symptoms or depressed mood, respectively. Positive rumination and negative rumination mediated the association between self-distancing and depression, and this mediating pattern was observed at both the between-person and within-person levels. Study 2 showed that using non-first-person language to reflect on negative events effectively reduced depressed mood. Results from the repeated self-distancing task across six types of negative events further supported the mediating role of rumination and showed that baseline depressive symptoms moderated the indirect effects. Study 3 showed that the 14-day self-distancing intervention significantly reduced negative rumination and depressive symptoms among students with elevated depressive symptoms, and these effects were maintained at follow-up. Mediation analyses further indicated that the intervention effect on depressive symptoms was mainly explained by reductions in negative rumination.
Together, these findings extend the dual-process model of cognitive vulnerability to depression by suggesting that the adaptiveness of reflective processing depends, at least in part, on whether individuals adopt a self-distanced perspective. The results indicate that self-distancing may reduce depressive symptoms by changing ruminative processing, especially by decreasing negative rumination. This research provides preliminary evidence for a brief, language-based, and easily implementable self-distancing intervention, offering a practical approach for college mental health education and early prevention of depressive symptoms.

Key words: self-distancing, depression, rumination, mechanism, intervention