Examined Emotion Regulation Research Articles

Emotion regulation from a virtue perspective

BackgroundThe ability to regulate one’s emotional state is an important predictor of several behaviors such as reframing a challenging situation to reduce anger or anxiety, concealing visible signs of sadness or fear, or focusing on reasons to feel happy or calm. This capacity is referred to as emotion regulation. Deficits in this ability can adversely affect one’s adaptive coping, thus are associated with a variety of other psychopathological symptoms, including but not limited to depression, borderline personality disorder, substance use disorders, eating disorders, and somatoform disorders.MethodsThe present study examined emotion regulation in relation to the virtue-based psychosocial adaptation model (V-PAM). 595 participants were clustered based on their Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) score, producing two clusters (i.e., high functioning vs. low functioning). Then, emotion regulation group membership was discriminated by using five V-PAM virtue constructs, including courage, integrity, practical wisdom, committed action, and emotional transcendence.ResultsResults show that five virtues contribute to differentiating group membership. Practical wisdom was the strongest contributor, followed by integrity, emotional transcendence, committed action, and courage. Predictive discriminant analysis was conducted and 71% of cases were correctly classified. A discussion of the relationship between emotion regulation and virtues was elaborated.ConclusionThe concept of virtue holds significant importance in the comprehension of an individual’s capacity to regulate their emotions, meriting future study.

Emotion Dysregulation and Substance Use Risk and Protective Factors among Veterans in Residential Treatment

Background: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are frequent concerns among healthcare providers serving military personnel and Veterans, and SUDs are also associated with high healthcare utilization. Problematic substance use is consistently associated with deficits in emotion regulation, and changes in emotional regulatory processes may be important factors during treatment and recovery. Methods: The present study examined emotion regulation and substance use risk and protective factors among Veterans seeking residential treatment for SUD within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Data were collected from 138 Veterans at pre-treatment and post-treatment to examine if changes in emotion regulation were associated with post-treatment outcomes. Results: Results indicated difficulties with emotion dysregulation at discharge predicted substance use risk factors, but not substance use protective factors, after controlling for scores at intake. Emotion regulation significantly improved throughout the course of treatment. Facets of emotion dysregulation at post-treatment, specifically difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, lower emotional clarity, lower emotional awareness, and more impulse control difficulties, predicted future admission to withdrawal management services, but not future mental health engagement, mortality, or resumed use (positive urine drug screen). Conclusions: Emotion regulation skills may be valuable treatment components, as they are related to reduced substance use risk factors; however, the results of improved emotion regulation were mixed for other measures of treatment outcome.

Appreciation and rumination, not problem solving and avoidance, mediate the effect of optimism on emotional wellbeing

Research suggests that optimism is positively related to emotional wellbeing. However, little is known about the emotion regulation mechanisms that potentially explain (i.e., mediate) this relationship. The present study was designed to address this issue. To this end, it examined emotion regulation strategies (i.e., appreciation, rumination, problem solving, and avoidance) that are theoretically and/or empirically related to optimism as possible mediators of the optimism-emotional wellbeing relationship. In the first of two phases, we established a baseline measure of dispositional optimism among 218 French adults. In the second phase, an experience sampling method was used to assess emotional wellbeing and emotion regulation strategy use over a 1-month period. A multiple mediation analysis suggested that the optimism-emotional wellbeing relationship is significantly mediated by appreciation and rumination but not by problem solving and avoidance. More specifically, engaging more in appreciation mediated 41 % of this relationship, while engaging less in rumination mediated 20 % of it. The results are discussed in light of the current knowledge on optimism, wellbeing, and emotion regulation.

Emotion Regulation Strategy Choices Following Aversive Self-Awareness in People with Nonsuicidal Self-Injury or Indirect Self-Injury

Emotion regulation difficulties are implicated prominently in self-injury. Additionally, emotion regulation strategy selection is a core component of the emotion regulation process. Yet it is unclear how people who engage in different forms of self-injury attempt to regulate negative affect when multiple strategies are available to them. This laboratory-based study examined emotion regulation strategy choices in individuals who engage in non-suicidal self-injury (n=40), indirect forms of self-injury (disordered eating and problematic substance use; n=46), and controls (n=48). Following a self-relevant stressor (negative autobiographical memory recall), participants selected one of six strategies based on what they believed would most effectively alter their affect. Strategies spanned behavioral (physical pain, a snack, word activity) and non-behavioral (rumination, reappraisal, doing nothing) domains. Compared to controls, individuals who engage in NSSI and indirect self-injury were more likely to select behavioral strategies. In addition, people with NSSI and indirect self-injury were more likely than controls to choose physical pain and less likely to ruminate. Findings indicate that people with direct and indirect forms of self-injury alike are more likely to take action than engage in further thought when experiencing aversive self-awareness, even when cognitive strategies are made salient. Results illuminate intervention targets for these clinical populations.

An exploratory study on emotion regulation strategy use in individuals with Williams syndrome, autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability.

Individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders often have atypical emotion profiles, but little is known about how they regulate their emotions. While several studies have examined emotion regulation strategy use in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), only a few have included individuals with intellectual disability (ID) or focused on specific syndromes such as Williams syndrome (WS). A parent-reported survey launched during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed to exploratorily study emotion regulation strategy use and its link to anxiety in individuals with ASD with (N=785) and without ID (N=596), WS (N=261), and Intellectual Disability not otherwise specified (N=649). Using multilevel analyses, besides revealing specific group differences in emotion regulation strategy use, a variety of strategies (e.g., rumination, avoiding information, repetitive behaviors) were found to be linked to elevated levels of anxiety, while focusing on the positive was linked to lower anxiety levels in all groups. Moreover, only autistic people without ID used humor more frequently while experiencing lower anxiety levels. This study sheds light on an underexplored area of emotion regulation strategy use in different neurodevelopmental disorders. It also paves the way to further examine emotion regulation in more rigorous ways to better understand emotion regulation in different neurodevelopmental disorders as well as the impact on outcome measures such as anxiety. This exploratory study may help to develop and validate adequate measures to study a broad array of ER strategies used by individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Emotion regulation in selective mutism: A comparison group study in children and adolescents with selective mutism

A deficit in emotion regulation skills could be an important factor influencing the vulnerability and maintenance of symptoms in selective mutism (SM). Unfortunately, to date only a few studies have examined emotion regulation in SM. Therefore, the present study investigated whether SM is associated with dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies. We compared a sample of 28 children and adolescents with SM (M = 12.66 years, SD = 3.98; 18 females) to 33 controls without SM (M = 12.45 years, SD = 3.18; 21 females). Both groups were investigated for the assessment of SM, social anxiety and emotion regulation using self and parent report questionnaires. We assumed that the disorder is associated with less adaptive and more maladaptive strategies, especially maladaptive cognitive strategies. Instead of significant differences in these overall values, only significant differences in individual emotion regulation strategies were found. In terms of adaptive strategies, children and adolescents with SM reported less problem-oriented behaviour and less cognitive problem-solving. Instead, they reported the maladaptive strategy of abandonment more often than the control group. In contrast to other anxiety disorders, children and adolescents with SM did neither report maladaptive cognitive strategies nor seek support more frequently than the control group. Their emotion regulation strategies are qualitatively closely related to the symptoms of SM, which makes it difficult to determine their independent significance.Trial registration: This study is registered with the ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT04233905.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Chronic Low Back Pain in Adulthood: Role of Emotion Regulation

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have profound deleterious effects on subsequent physical health and psychological functioning in adulthood. Commonly studied ACEs include childhood emotional, physical, sexual abuse, parental psychopathology, substance abuse, and early parental loss due to death/abandonment, or parental incarceration. Recent evidence suggests that ACEs represent a likely social determinant of chronic pain development in adulthood; however, little research to date has investigated the psychological processes that might underlie the link between ACEs and chronic pain. The current study examined emotion regulation as a potential mediator of the relationship between ACEs and pain severity in adults with chronic low back pain (cLBP). Study participants included 209 adults (54% women, 58% non-Hispanic Black) between the ages of 18 and 85 with cLBP. Participants retrospectively reported childhood experiences of abuse and neglect on the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) questionnaire. Higher ACEs scores are indicative of greater exposure to adverse childhood events. Participants also completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Brief Pain Inventory – Short Form (BPI-SF) to assess cLBP severity. Sociodemographic data (e.g., sex/gender, ethnicity/race, age, social status) were also collected. In data analytic models, sociodemographic variables were included as covariates. Results revealed that emotion regulation mediated the relationship between ACEs and cLBP severity (indirect effect = .160, 95% percentile bootstrap CI [.071 to .270]). More specifically, ACEs were linked to greater difficulty with emotion regulation (p < .001), which, in turn, was associated with greater cLBP severity (p < .001). Results suggest ACEs may be linked to cLBP severity in adulthood though difficulties in emotion regulation. This aligns with research demonstrating that childhood maltreatment can lead to maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (heightened emotional reactivity, rumination, attentional bias to threats) which can exacerbate and perpetuate poor physical and mental health over the lifespan. Grant support from R01MD010441.

Pathways From Preschool Language Difficulties to School-Age Internalizing Problems.

Early language difficulties are associated with later internalizing problems across different ages and for different aspects of language. The mechanisms behind this association are, however, less understood. In the current study, we investigated longitudinal associations between language difficulties at 5 years and internalizing problems at 6 years. We also examined emotion regulation, empathy, assertiveness, and social engagement at 6 years as possible pathways for this association. A subsample from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) was used (N = 928). Structural equation models were developed to test the longitudinal associations and indirect pathways between language and internalizing problems. The results showed high stability for internalizing problems from 5 to 6 years (β = .59, p < .001). Furthermore, semantic language difficulties predicted change in internalizing problems (β = .12, p < .001). Finally, the path between semantic language and internalizing problems was partially mediated by social engagement and emotion regulation, with the indirect pathways accounting for 55% of the initial association. For girls, there was a significantly stronger correlation (p < .05) between semantic language difficulties and internalizing problems at baseline (r = .30, p < .001) than for boys (r = .16, p < .001). Otherwise, there were no sex differences. Indirect pathways from language difficulties to internalizing problems were identified through social engagement and emotion regulation. The results may guide targets for intervention in groups of children with language difficulties at risk for developing internalizing problems.

Trait mindfulness, emotion dysregulation, and depression in individuals with multiple sclerosis

ObjectivesEmotion dysregulation plays a role in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. Given the higher rates of mood disturbances in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), there is a need to explore the relationships between metrics of emotion dysregulation and potential protective traits. Mindfulness, a multi-faceted trait characteristic reflecting present moment awareness, is one such trait showing promise for positive associations with affective health. The current project assessed the relationship between trait mindfulness, the use of emotion regulation strategies during an emotionally evocative task, and depression in PwMS. MethodsSixty-one PwMS completed a worry/rumination induction task that examined emotion regulation strategy use in response to emotionally evocative stimuli. ResultsHigher trait mindfulness was associated with both lower symptoms of depression and greater employment of acceptance-based strategies following worry and rumination inductions. Acceptance use mediated the relationship between trait mindfulness and symptoms of depression. ConclusionsOur results suggest that the association between trait mindfulness and emotion dysregulation extends to the use of emotion regulation strategies during an emotionally evocative task. Additionally, emotion regulation strategy use, and acceptance in particular, may play a role in the relationship between trait mindfulness and depression. These findings suggest that increasing levels of mindfulness through clinical interventions may present a path toward improving emotion regulation, and by extension, reducing the symptoms of depression in PwMS.

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

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.

Identifying Specific Emotion Regulation Deficits that Associate with Nonsuicidal Self-injury and Suicide Ideation in Adolescents.

It is not known how emotion regulation deficits and strategies may differentially relate to nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide ideation in samples of community-based adolescents. The current study examined emotion regulation using comprehensive multi-method assessment to identify which specific deficits are uniquely related to NSSI and suicide ideation in a sample of high school students. Regarding specific deficits, it was expected that lack of emotional awareness, lack of access to emotion regulation strategies, poor cognitive reappraisal, and poorer automatic emotion processing would uniquely associate with past-year NSSI engagement. It was also predicted that lack of access to strategies, lack of impulse control, lack of awareness, and nonacceptance of emotion would uniquely associate with past-year presence of suicide ideation and suicide ideation severity. The sample included 696 adolescents (54.8% female; ages 14-17; mean age = 15.5) recruited from public high schools. Self-report measures were administered assessing suicide ideation, NSSI engagement, dimensions of emotion regulation, and automatic emotion processing (Emotion Stroop). Emotion suppression was the only unique and significant predictor of past-year NSSI engagement, and lack of access to emotion regulation strategies was the strongest predictor of both past-year presence of suicide ideation and recent suicide ideation severity when accounting for all deficits in the same model. Acquiring emotion regulation skills during the period of adolescence has great potential to buffer from occurrence of NSSI and severity of suicide ideation.

Analysis of emotion regulation using posture, voice, and attention: A qualitative case study

The ability to detect and regulate emotions is an important aspect of emotional intelligence that can benefit individuals in their personal well-being and social interactions (Mayer, Caruso, Salovey, 2016). This study examined emotion regulation (ER) in medical students as they practiced learning how best to communicate undesired news to patients in an international technology-rich learning environment (TRLE; Lajoie et al., 2012). Gross’ (2015) process model of ER served as the theoretical model that guided the analysis of regulatory strategies, in a case study (Yin, 2011) of four medical students. A qualitative approach was used to determine how multichannels of emotion representation (vocal characteristics, motor expressions, attention tendencies) indicate instances of conscious or unconscious ER. Analyses revealed four major findings as evidences of ER: (a) dissociation between emotion channels (e.g. a calm face accompanied by a nervous voice); (b) sudden changes in emotion expression without external triggers (e.g. from smile to a rapidly serious face); (c) unexpected emotions (e.g. smiling when expected to demonstrate empathy); and, (d) use of multiple emotion channels to demonstrate emotion regulatory responses. The findings demonstrate the power of multimodal emotion analysis towards accurate detection of ER, and how it may inform the relationship between experienced and expressed emotions. Multimodal ER detection approaches, as illustrated in this study, may have important implications for assisting learners in face to face and computer-supported collaborative settings in becoming more conscious of their ER, helping them regulate undesired self and peer emotions in challenging learning situations.

State emotion modulation and loss-of-control eating in individuals with obesity: A preliminary ecological momentary assessment study

There is ample evidence linking broad trait emotion regulation deficits and negative affect with loss-of-control (LOC)-eating among individuals with obesity and binge eating, however, few studies have examined emotion regulation at the state-level. Within and across day fluctuations in the ability to modulate emotion (or regulate emotional and behavioral responses), one facet of state emotion regulation, may be a more robust momentary predictor of LOC-eating than momentary negative affect and trait emotion regulation ability. As such, the current study tested if daily emotion modulation, and daily variability in emotion modulation differed on days with and without LOC-eating episodes, and if momentary emotion modulation was associated with subsequent LOC-eating episodes. For two weeks individuals (N = 14) with obesity and binge eating completed surveys as part of an ecological momentary assessment study. Participants reported on current ability to modulate emotion, LOC-eating, and current negative affect. On LOC-eating days compared to non-LOC-eating days, ability to modulate emotion was poorer (β =0.10, p < .001) and average variability in ability to modulation emotions was greater (β = 0.56, p = .008), even when controlling for negative affect. Greater momentary difficulty modulating emotion was associated with a 40% increase in subsequent risk for LOC-eating (ß = 0.34, p = .071, OR = 1.40). Findings from this pilot study suggest that individuals with obesity report poorer ability to modulate emotion and greater variability in ability to modulate emotion on LOC-eating days, even when controlling for negative affect. Future research should replicate findings and further elucidate the relationships between state emotion regulation, negative affect, and LOC-eating.

Emotion Regulation Difficulties Strengthen Relationships Between Perceived Parental Feeding Practices and Emotional Eating: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study.

People with emotional eating (EE) may experience weight gain and obesity, eating disorder psychopathology, and emotion dysregulation. Limited research has examined experiences in childhood that may be associated with EE in adulthood. Perceived parental feeding practices and emotion regulation difficulties were examined as correlates of negative and positive EE in adulthood. A cross-sectional study using an online community sample of adults (N = 258) examined self-reported negative (Emotional Eating Scale-Revised; EE-anger/anxiety, EE-boredom, and EE-depression) and positive (Emotion Appetite Questionnaire; EE-positive) EE, perceived parental feeding practices (Child Feeding Questionnaire), and emotion regulation difficulties (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale). Moderation analyses calculated in PROCESS macro examined emotion regulation difficulties as a moderator of relationships between perceived parental feeding practices and EE. Across all models tested, age, BMI, and gender were entered as covariates. Higher perceptions of parental control (monitoring and restriction) of unhealthy eating behaviors and pressure to eat were more strongly associated with EE-anger/anxiety and EE-positive when emotion regulation difficulties were high. Higher perceptions of parental restriction of unhealthy eating behaviors and pressure to eat were more strongly associated with higher EE-boredom when emotion regulation difficulties were high. No significant interactions between perceived parental feeding practices and emotion regulation difficulties emerged in relation to EE-depression. Perceived controlling parental feeding practices and emotion regulation difficulties may explain meaningful variance in negative and positive EE in adulthood.

An observational study of emotion regulation in children with Tourette syndrome.

Explosive outbursts occur in 25%-70% of children with Tourette syndrome (TS) and may cause more distress than the tics themselves. Previous studies have indicated that a comorbid diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with emotional dysregulation in TS; however, this relationship has almost exclusively been studied using parent-reported questionnaires. We examined emotion regulation (ER) with an observational measure in 150 medication-naïve children aged 7-12 allocated to four groups: Forty-nine children with TS, 23 children with ADHD, 16 children with TS+ADHD, and 62 typically developing controls. We assessed participants' ER ability, as well as parent-child interactions in the context of a complex puzzle task, and coded the observed behavior with the Tangram Emotion Coding Manual (TEC-M). We examined group differences in ER, as well as associations between ER and severity of symptoms pertaining to TS and ADHD. Children with TS did not differ from controls in their ER ability. However, children with ADHD and TS+ADHD had more problems with ER than those with TS only and controls. Finally, parents of children with ADHD displayed more tension during the experimental task. ER ability was not associated with tic severity nor premonitory urges; however, better ER ability was associated with less severe symptoms of ADHD. This study is the first to evaluate ER with an observational, clinician-rated measure in a controlled social setting in children with TS. Our findings support earlier questionnaire-based studies by showing impaired ER in children with TS+ADHD, but not in children with TS without comorbidity. These findings inform our understanding of the phenomenology of emotional dysregulation in TS and the role of comorbid disorders.

Difficulties regulating positive and negative emotions in relation to coping motives for alcohol use and alcohol problems among hazardous drinkers

Objective: Hazardous drinking is a prevalent form of alcohol misuse. Past research has examined emotion regulation difficulties as a risk factor for hazardous drinking; however, the majority of prior studies have focused on regulation of negative emotions. Recent work has implicated difficulties regulating positive emotions in relation to alcohol misuse, yet, it is largely unknown if difficulties regulating positive emotions are significantly related to alcohol misuse outcomes after accounting for difficulties regulating negative emotions. Method: A racially diverse sample of hazardous drinkers were recruited from a university setting (75% female, Mage = 22.1, SDage = 4.0) to participate in a treatment study. Data from baseline was used in the current study. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate relations between difficulties regulating positive and negative emotions and alcohol problems both directly and indirectly via coping motives. Results: After controlling for sex, age, and levels of negative and positive affect, positive but not negative emotion regulation difficulties were significantly associated with alcohol problems. Difficulties regulating emotions (both positive and negative), were significantly related to coping motives; each valence of difficulty was also indirectly related to alcohol problems via drinking to cope. Conclusions: Difficulties regulating emotions – both positive and negative – carry a heightened risk of engaging in coping-oriented alcohol use during drinking episodes and this maladaptive means of self-regulation may explain a common pathway to experiencing alcohol-related problems. Notably, difficulties regulating positive emotions appear to offer incremental, explanatory value over and above difficulties regulating negative emotions. Such findings offer important clinical and theoretical implications.

Trait Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation upon Autobiographical Memory Retrieval during Depression Remission

ObjectivesDepression is associated with both emotion dysregulation upon retrieval of autobiographical memories and low trait mindfulness. The present study raised the question of whether these processes are related to each other and whether they may reflect a cognitive-affective vulnerability in individuals at risk of depression. The study examined emotion regulation in response to involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories during depression remission and explored how trait mindfulness relates to such emotion regulation.MethodsThe study employed a naturalistic design in which individuals with remitted depression (n = 35) and individuals with no history of depression (n = 32) completed a trait mindfulness measure and a structured memory diary where they rated state use of five emotion regulation strategies upon involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memory retrieval.ResultsIndividuals with remitted depression reported heightened brooding in response to autobiographical memories when memory retrieval occurred involuntarily, and trait mindfulness was low. Depression remission and higher trait mindfulness were independently associated with greater cognitive reappraisal efforts upon involuntary retrieval of autobiographical memories. Higher trait mindfulness predicted less memory suppression, irrespective of depression history and memory retrieval mode.ConclusionsThe findings suggest a vulnerability in emotional processing of autobiographical memories during depression remission that is dependent on mindfulness skill level and how memories come to mind.

Emotion regulation difficulties are associated with nightmares and suicide attempts in an adult psychiatric inpatient sample

Although many studies have examined potential moderators of the relation between nightmares and suicide, few have examined emotion regulation, particularly utilizing severe populations such as psychiatric inpatients. The present study sought to investigate whether emotion regulation difficulties are associated with nightmares and suicide attempts in an inpatient sample. We included 2,683 psychiatric inpatients ranging from 18 to 81 years (M = 34.35, SD = 14.70). Nightmare frequency, emotion regulation difficulties, and their interaction predicted previous suicide attempts. Limitations include the homogeneity and cross-sectional nature of the sample. Suggestions for future study are discussed.

A Dyadic Analysis of Emotion Regulation as a Moderator of Associations Between Marital Conflict and Marital Satisfaction Among First-married and Remarried Couples

We examined emotion regulation strategies as moderators of marital conflict and marital satisfaction between first-married and remarried couples. Remarried couples with a stepchild ( n = 108) and first marriage couples ( n = 111) with a child completed online surveys. Perceptions of both spouses were analyzed using actor–partner interdependence modeling. Although remarried spouses reported more marital conflict and lower marital satisfaction than first marriage spouses, emotion regulation strategies did not moderate the association between marital conflict and marital satisfaction differently for first-married and remarried couples. Expressive suppression exacerbated the negative association between marital conflict and marital satisfaction for men, and cognitive reappraisal attenuated the negative association for women. There was one partner effect; husbands’ greater cognitive reappraisal buffered the negative association between husbands’ marital conflict and wives’ marital satisfaction. Marriage order was less important than gender in how emotion regulation moderated the associations among marital conflict and marital satisfaction.

Emotion Regulation in Everyday Life: The Role of Goals and Situational Factors.

This study addresses three questions: How often and how consistently do predictors for emotion regulation choice occur in daily life? What predicts emotion regulation choice in daily life? How do predictors for emotion regulation choice interact in daily life? We examined emotion regulation goals (i.e., prohedonic and social goals), situational factors (i.e., perceived control, expected reoccurrence, and emotional intensity), and emotion regulation strategies (i.e., active coping, distraction, rumination, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression) in negative emotion events. A total of 110 individuals (65% female) participated in an experience sampling study and received beeps, five times a day over the course of 9 days. We used a random intercept model to estimate our results. Emotion regulation goals and situational factors vary strongly in different events within the same person. Emotion regulation strategies, effective in changing the emotional experience, are crucial for prohedonic goals, whereas expressive suppression is important for social goals. Perceived control was positively associated with putatively adaptive strategies. Emotional intensity and expected reoccurrence were negatively associated with putatively adaptive strategies. Emotional intensity was positively associated with putatively maladaptive strategies. Emotion regulation strategies were not associated with the interaction of emotion regulation goals and situational factors. We conclude that emotion regulation goals and situational factors are extremely context-dependent, suggesting that they should be treated as states. Emotion regulation goals appear to have a functional association with strategies for prohedonic and social goals. The associations between situational factors and strategies in daily life appear to be largely different from the results found in the laboratory, emphasizing the importance of experience sampling studies.