BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Inconclusive evidence for causal effects between rumination and sleep problems: A simulated reanalysis and comment on Yang and Lei (2025)
Provisionally accepted
- Karolinska Institutet (KI), Solna, Sweden
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Background: Based on findings from analyses with cross-lagged panel models, Yang and Lei suggested reciprocal causal effects between rumination and sleep problems. However, it is well known that findings from cross-lagged panel models may be spurious. Method: We simulated data to resemble the data used by Yang and Lei. We used triangulation and fitted complementary models to the simulated data. Results: We found contradicting increasing and decreasing effects of initial rumination on subsequent change in sleep problems and vice versa. Conclusion: The divergent findings indicated that it is premature to assume causal effects between rumination and sleep problems and the suggestions by Yang and Lei in this regard can be challenged. It is important for researchers to be aware that correlations, including adjusted cross-lagged effects, do not prove causality in order not to overinterpret findings, something that appears to have happened to Yang and Lei. We recommend researchers to triangulate by fitting complementary models to their data in order to evaluate if analyzed data could be used to support contradicting conclusions, in which case the data should not be used to support any of those conclusions.
Keywords: contradicting support, Cross-lagged panel model, rumination, simulation, sleep problems, Triangulation
Received: 11 Apr 2025; Accepted: 27 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sorjonen and Melin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kimmo Sorjonen
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