Perceived stress is associated with low life satisfaction; however, the underlying mechanism is relatively underexplored. This study investigated whether rumination might mediate this link during the highly stressful COVID-19 pandemic. Building on the distinction between the subtypes of rumination, we predicted that reflection and brooding would sequentially mediate this relationship and that maladaptive brooding would negatively influence life satisfaction. A representative sample of 316 adults was recruited from the greater Daegu area, where the first massive outbreak occurred in South Korea. After informed consent was obtained, they completed a package of questionnaires that included demographics, COVID-19-related experiences, perceived stress, life satisfaction, and rumination. A serial mediation analysis showed that reflection and brooding sequentially mediated the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction. As predicted, only brooding was negatively related to life satisfaction. In contrast, reflection per se was positively related to life satisfaction, and it negatively affected life satisfaction only through brooding. Our results extended the negative effect of brooding, as compared to reflection, in the pandemic. Given that reflection may easily turn into brooding under stress, it will be necessary to develop ways to guide people to counteract brooding while maintaining a reflective self-focus to preserve their well-being.

感知压力与低生活满意度有关；然而，潜在的机制相对未得到充分探索。这项研究调查了在高度紧张的 COVID-19 大流行期间，反刍是否可能调节这种联系。基于反刍亚型之间的区别，我们预测反思和沉思会依次调解这种关系，而适应不良的沉思会对生活满意度产生负面影响。从韩国首次大规模爆发的大邱地区招募了 316 名成年人的代表性样本。在获得知情同意后，他们完成了一系列调查问卷，其中包括人口统计学、与 COVID-19 相关的经历、感知压力、生活满意度和反思。一系列中介分析表明，反思和沉思依次中介感知压力和生活满意度之间的关系。正如预测的那样，只有沉思与生活满意度呈负相关。相比之下，反思本身与生活满意度呈正相关，它仅通过沉思对生活满意度产生负面影响。与反思相比，我们的结果扩大了大流行中沉思的负面影响。鉴于反思在压力下很容易变成沉思，因此有必要开发方法来引导人们抵消沉思，同时保持反思的自我关注以保持他们的幸福。反思本身与生活满意度正相关，仅通过沉思对生活满意度产生负向影响。与反思相比，我们的结果扩大了大流行中沉思的负面影响。鉴于反思在压力下很容易变成沉思，因此有必要开发方法来引导人们抵消沉思，同时保持反思的自我关注以保持他们的幸福。反思本身与生活满意度正相关，仅通过沉思对生活满意度产生负向影响。与反思相比，我们的结果扩大了大流行中沉思的负面影响。鉴于反思在压力下很容易变成沉思，因此有必要开发方法来引导人们抵消沉思，同时保持反思的自我关注以保持他们的幸福。