Emotion regulation in context: A naturalistic study of emotion regulation in response to everyday happy and sad memories during dysphoria

Abstract

Background and objectivesEffective emotion regulation is an important marker of mental health. However, only a sparse number of studies have examined emotion regulation within the context of different emotion type and intensity levels among individuals with elevated depressive symptoms. MethodWe investigated emotion regulation in response to happiness and sadness experienced in the context of everyday memories of 23 dysphoric and 20 non-depressed participants. Participants completed a diary indicating the intensity of these emotions when thinking about a personal memory, as well as their employment of five emotion regulation strategies at that moment. ResultsMultilevel models indicated that dysphoric and non-depressed individuals differed in how they employed three emotion regulation strategies depending on the intensity of the emotions. Relative to non-depressed individuals, dysphoric individuals employed greater brooding, expressive suppression, and memory suppression when experiencing less intense happiness, and employed more brooding for more intense sadness. These effects were maintained after controlling for habitual emotion regulation, and controlling for the opposite concurrent emotion. The findings suggest that dysphoric individuals adjust the use of emotion regulation strategies differently from non-depressed individuals depending on the intensity level of happiness and sadness experienced. These patterns may be indicative of reduced emotion regulation flexibility or fear of emotional shifts. LimitationsThe sample consisted of mostly young women. ConclusionsClinical implications, particularly concerning emotion-focused interventions, are discussed.