Derailment captures the inability to integrate past selves and directions with future ones, a psychological rupture that leaves individuals feeling disconnected from their life trajectory. Extensive research from our lab demonstrates that derailment is associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety, distress, and other indicators of maladjustment. Understanding the causes and consequences of derailment, and developing interventions to help people reconnect their past and future selves, remains a critical focus of our ongoing work..

Illustrative work from our lab on this topic:

Burrow, A. L., Hill, P. L., Ratner, K., & Fuller-Rowell, T. E. (2020). Derailment: Conceptualization, measurement, and adjustment correlates of perceived change in self and direction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(3), 584. [link]

Ratner, K., & Burrow, A. L. (2021). Derailment within the landscape of psychopathology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 41, 21-27. [link]

Davis, C. J., Levinbook, E. J., Spearman, S. R., & Burrow, A. L. (2024). Derailment is associated with increased depressed mood at lower levels of stress: An experimental approach. Journal of Affective Disorders, 363, 320-330. [link]

Ratner, K., Mendle, J., Burrow, A. L., & Thoemmes, F. (2019). Depression and derailment: A cyclical model of mental illness and perceived identity change. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(4), 735-753. [link]