The normative development of emotion regulation strategy use in children and adolescents: a 2-year follow-up study

It's a balancing act: The ratio of maladaptive (vs. All) emotion regulation strategies is associated with depression

Research on emotion regulation (ER) has increasingly recognized that people use multiple strategies simultaneously, often referred to as ER repertoire. Prior research found that ER repertoire is associated with psychopathology, but results have been mixed. Indeed, research from recent years suggests that it is the quality of ERs, more than their quantity, that needs to be considered. Based on the combination of the literatures on ER repertoire, polyregulation, and ER flexibility, we propose a novel metric: the ratio of using putatively maladaptive (vs. all) ER strategies. Using this metric, we examine (1) maladaptive ER ratio changes during the transition to adolescence, a developmental period in which the prevalence of depression sharply increases, and (2) whether changes in maladaptive ER ratio are associated with depressive symptoms. One-hundred and thirty-nine youths (baseline age: 8-15) reported ER strategies and depression daily for 21 days. One year later, 115 completed another 28-day daily-diary (Nassessments = 5631). Our results show that almost all youth use at least some maladaptive ERs. Importantly, maladaptive ER ratio decreases over a year of adolescence for most youths. Conversely, an increased maladaptive ER ratio predicted depression increases on the daily and on the yearly level. These results shed light on typical and atypical development of ER flexibility and emphasize the need to consider the balance between ERs in relation to psychopathology.

Exploring Emotional Dysregulation and Avoidance with Caregivers as the Mechanisms Linking Social Communication Understanding and Aggressive Behaviours

Many autistic adolescents and young adults present with aggressive behaviours, which can be challenging for caregivers. The present study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms between social communication understanding and aggressive behaviours in autistic and non-autistic adolescents, specifically the role of emotional dysregulation and its impact on avoidance with caregivers. Caregivers of autistic (n = 275) and non-autistic adolescents (n = 123) completed standardised caregiver-report questionnaires measuring social communication understanding, emotional dysregulation, avoidance between the adolescent and caregiver and aggressive behaviours. A serial mediation analysis indicated that levels of social communication understanding were indirectly associated with aggressive behaviours. This occurred through increased emotional dysregulation, which may have led to increased avoidance between the autistic and non-autistic adolescents and their caregivers. These findings support a sequential process by which adolescents with low social communication understanding are more likely to behave aggressively through being emotionally dysregulated and the impact of this on the increased avoidance within the caregiver-adolescent dyad. This process was found within autistic and non-autistic adolescents, suggesting a mechanism across individuals with aggression. These findings indicate that interventions based on improving emotion regulation ability and responses between adolescents and their caregivers may aid in reducing aggressive behaviours in adolescents and young adults with lower social communication understanding.

Development and adaptation of the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire for adolescents

INTRODUCTION

The ability to effectively regulate one's emotions is important for adolescent mental health. However, extant assessments of how adolescents regulate their emotions can be expanded upon in several ways, including incorporating more strategies (e.g., cultural and spiritual) and positive emotions, and being informed by adolescents and expert consultation during the development process. Thus, our study aimed to improve the construct validity of an emotion regulation measure by adapting and refining the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ) into an adolescent self-report.

METHODS

We recruited 24 13-17-year-olds (12 males; 11 females; 1 gender fluid) via social media advertisement in the United States in 2020. We used an iterative qualitative approach in which we combined expert consultation, cognitive interviewing with adolescents, and top-down and bottom-up coding to review and provide feedback on the ERSQ.

RESULTS

Findings of thematic analysis showed that a need for clarity in wording and inclusion of strategy examples across all sections of the ERSQ was needed. Adolescents also identified the need to replace the Silly/Excited section with a more age-appropriate positive emotion section.

CONCLUSION

Findings indicate cognitive interviewing can be successfully completed in a virtual format when necessary, youth utilize a wider range of strategies to maintain or upregulate positive emotions than what is represented in current measures, and use of qualitative methods may have reduced construct underrepresentation and construct-irrelevant variance in the adapted ERSQ.

Disclosures of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors to parents in the context of adolescent therapy: A qualitative investigation

Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs), including suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and nonsuicidal self-injury, are highly prevalent among adolescents. Identifying adolescents at risk for SITBs relies on their disclosure, and these disclosures commonly occur in therapy context. Moreover, therapists often breach confidentiality to inform adolescents' parent or guardian when they disclose SITBs. Research has explored rates of and barriers to disclosure among adolescents, yet no studies have examined adolescents' experiences of disclosure in the therapy context. Further, no studies have examined adolescents' experiences when their parents are then informed. In this study, we examined qualitative responses from 1495 adolescents who had experienced a SITB disclosure in the therapy context. Qualitative questions included asking adolescents to describe how the SITB disclosure occurred, how their parents were informed, and their parents' reactions. Using open and axial coding, several themes emerged. Adolescents described therapist breaches of confidentiality as collaborative, noncollaborative, or unclear. Adolescents described their parents' affective responses, communication about SITBs, validating and invalidating responses, treatment-oriented responses, and ways that parents restricted their access to people, places, and activities. Findings have implications for the development of clinical guidelines when adolescents disclose SITBs in therapy and highlight areas for future research in adolescent SITB disclosure.

Maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, maternal insensitivity to children's distress, and young children's blunted emotional reactivity

Maternal insensitivity to children's emotional distress (e.g., expressions of sadness or fearfulness) is one mechanism through which maternal alcohol dependence may increase children's risk for psychopathology. Although emotion dysregulation is consistently associated with psychopathology, it remains unclear how or why alcohol dependence's effects on caregiving responses to children's distress may impact children's emotion regulation over time, particularly in ways that may engender risks for psychopathology. This study examined longitudinal associations between lifetime maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, mothers' insensitivity to children's emotional distress cues, and children's emotional reactivity among 201 mother-child dyads (Mchild age = 2.14 years; 56% Black; 11% Latino). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed a significant mediational pathway such that maternal alcohol dependence predicted increases in mothers' insensitivity to children's emotional distress across a one-year period (β = .16, p = .013), which subsequently predicted decreases in children's emotional reactivity one year later (β = -.29, p = .009). Results suggest that mothers with alcohol dependence symptoms may struggle to sensitively respond to children's emotional distress, which may prompt children to suppress or hide their emotions as an adaptive, protective strategy. The potential developmental benefits and consequences of early, protective expressive suppression strategies are discussed via developmental psychopathology frameworks.

Socioeconomic status moderates neural markers of cognitive reappraisal across preschool

Emotion regulation (ER) is critical for children's healthy socio-emotional development, in part through its modulation of negative emotions that might otherwise place children at risk for psychopathology. The cognitive ER strategy of reappraisal appears to be particularly protective against the development of symptoms of anxiety and depression during childhood. Despite widespread acceptance of the benefits of reappraisal for children's long-term affective function, little is known about the developmental mechanisms that support emerging reappraisal in young children. Proximal mechanisms supporting reappraisal include biological processes; the modulation of reactivity to negative emotional stimuli is visible at the neural level through the Late Positive Potential (LPP). Influences on the developmental course of mechanisms like the LPP almost certainly include contextual factors, including quality of the environment, which have been largely ignored in work to date. The present study included a test of early (age 3-4) socioeconomic status (SES) as a moderator of children's reappraisal, evidenced by differences in the LPP to passive view and reappraisal conditions, at age 5. Results supported the presence of moderation. Reappraisal was visible as differences in LPP across conditions at high, but not low, levels of SES. Findings offer a foundation for delineating the development of reappraisal and understanding contexts that may promote preschoolers' reappraisal. Results also contribute to the delineation of the role of early psychophysiological markers in affective function and early risk for psychopathology.

Emotion dysregulation and psychopathological symptoms in non-clinical adolescents: The mediating role of boredom and social media use

BACKGROUND

Emotion dysregulation, boredom, and problematic social media use are well-known vulnerability factors for psychopathology during adolescence; nevertheless, the interplay between these factors remains underinvestigated in the literature. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study aimed to explore the mediating role of boredom and problematic social media use in the relations between emotion dysregulation and both internalizing and externalizing problems in a non-clinical group of Italian adolescents.

METHOD

721 students (64.6% girls; Mage = 15.49 years ± 1.82) were involved and completed self-report tools assessing emotion dysregulation, boredom, problematic social media use, and psychopathological symptoms. Path analysis was used to test whether boredom and problematic social media use mediated the relation between emotion dysregulation and psychopathology, distinguishing between internalizing and externalizing problems.

RESULTS

Path models showed that emotion dysregulation predicted both internalizing and externalizing problems, as well as boredom and problematic social media use. Importantly, boredom mediated the associations between emotion dysregulation and both psychopathological dimensions, while problematic social media use mediated only the relation with externalizing problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results highlight that the influence of emotion dysregulation on psychopathology can manifest through different paths, leading to specific symptomatology based on interactions between various variables. In particular, boredom seems to be a transdiagnostic factor for psychopathology in adolescence, whereas problematic social media use would be a dimension-specific factor. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Childhood emotional dysregulation paths for suicide-related behaviour engagement in adolescence

This study aimed at identifying the heterogeneous trajectories of emotional dysregulation across childhood and to study the relationship between specific trajectories and adolescent suicide-related behaviour (SRB). Data from the Millennium Cohort Study (N = 13,853 children; 49.07% female, M = 3.13 years at baseline, SD = 0.2) were used to identify the emotional dysregulation trajectories from 3 to 8 years old, using growth mixture modelling. Moreover, 1992 participants (52.86% female) from the initial sample were used to study the relationship between childhood emotional dysregulation trajectory and engagement in both self-harm and suicide attempt at age 17, using logistic regression. Some other time-invariant and proximal (adolescent) risk factors were incorporated into this analysis. Six emotional dysregulation trajectories were identified. Self-harm at age 17 was significantly associated with the history of self-harm and other proximal factors, but not with emotional dysregulation trajectory membership. Childhood trajectories featured by earlier emotional dysregulation were associated with higher risk of lifetime suicide attempt, as well as other proximal factors (concurrent self-harm). This study found differential risk profiles involved in both SRB forms. A relationship between early emotional dysregulation and suicide attempt engagement in adolescence was identified. Early interventions should be developed to deal with SRB risk factors from childhood.

A normative model of brain responses to social scenarios reflects the maturity of children and adolescents' social-emotional abilities

The rapid brain maturation in childhood and adolescence accompanies the development of socio-emotional functioning. However, it is unclear how the maturation of the neural activity drives the development of socio-emotional functioning and individual differences. This study aimed to reflect the age dependence of inter-individual differences in brain responses to socio-emotional scenarios and to develop naturalistic imaging indicators to assess the maturity of socio-emotional ability at the individual level. Using three independent naturalistic imaging datasets containing healthy participants (n = 111, 21 and 122), we found and validated that age-modulated inter-individual concordance of brain responses to socio-emotional movies in specific brain regions. The similarity of an individual's brain response to the average response of older participants was defined as response typicality, which predicted an individual's emotion regulation strategies in adolescence and theory of mind (ToM) in childhood. Its predictive power was not superseded by age, sex, cognitive performance or executive function. We further showed that the movie's valence and arousal ratings grounded the response typicality. The findings highlight that forming typical brain response patterns may be a neural phenotype underlying the maturation of socio-emotional ability. The proposed response typicality represents a neuroimaging approach to measure individuals' maturity of cognitive reappraisal and ToM.

Adolescent help-seeking: an exploration of associations with perceived cause of emotional distress

Background

Help-seeking is intrinsic to efforts to manage the onset, maintenance, or escalation of mental health difficulties during adolescence. However, our understanding of adolescent help-seeking remains somewhat nebulous. A greater comprehension of help-seeking behavior from the perspective of adolescents is needed. It is also prudent to explore help-seeking behavior in the context of perceived cause for emotional distress, particularly as causal beliefs have been found to influence help-seeking behavior in adults.

Objectives

The present study sought to categorize adolescents' experiences of help-seeking, and to examine the extent to which these categories (or "types") of help-seeking behavior are associated with their perceptions of causal factors for emotional distress.

Methods

The data for this study were drawn from interviews conducted as part of the HeadStart Learning Programme. The sample comprised of 32 young people aged 11-12 years. Ideal-type analysis, a qualitative form of person-centered analysis, was used to construct a typology of adolescent help-seeking. Participants' help-seeking "type" was then compared with their perceived cause for emotional distress "type."

Findings

We developed four distinct categories of help-seeking: (1) guided by others who have taken notice; (2) skeptical with unmet needs; (3) motivated and solution focused; and (4) preference for self-regulation. Simultaneously, we identified principal associations between perceived cause of emotional distress-(1) perceived lack of control; (2) unfair treatment; (3) others: their actions and judgements as the catalyst; (4) concern for self and others; and (5) self as cause-and help-seeking approaches. "Perceived lack of control" was most likely to be associated with "others who have taken notice"; "Unfair treatment" with "skeptical with unmet needs"; "others: their actions and judgements as the catalyst" with "motivated and solution focused"; "concern for self and others' with 'guided by others who have taken notice"; finally, "self as cause" was most likely to be associated with "preference for self-regulation."

Conclusions

This study demonstrates meaningful and distinct categories of adolescent help-seeking and offers empirical evidence to support the assertion that perceived cause for emotional distress may influence the help-seeking approaches of adolescents.

Emotion regulation difficulties and sleep quality in adolescence during the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdown

INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a period of vulnerability for emotion regulation and sleep difficulties, risks that might be compounded by intense COVID-19 lockdowns and challenges. The aim of this study was to investigate how sleep quality related to emotion regulation difficulties in adolescents during lockdown in Perú.

METHODS

Participants were 2563 adolescents enrolled in Innova school in Perú (11 - -17 years) in May 2020. Hypotheses were derived from exploring one half of the sample, preregistered at https://osf.io/fuetz/, and then confirmed in the second half of the sample. Participants completed subjective surveys of sleep quality (short PSQI) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form (DERS-SF).

RESULTS

Worse sleep quality was robustly associated with more difficulties in emotion regulation across both samples. The association was found particularly for emotion regulation subscales related to the ability to engage in goal directed behavior in the face of distress, emotional clarity and strategies to deal with feeling distressed. In contrast, there was no robust association between sleep and the ability to regulate impulses in the context of negative emotions, and no association with the ability to accept emotions. Girls and older adolescents robustly endorsed worse sleep quality and more difficulties in emotion regulation.

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional nature of this study prevents us from determining the direction of the association. Data were collected using adolescent self-report which, while informative of adolescent perceptions, might diverge from objective measures of sleep or emotion regulation difficulties.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings with adolescents in Perú contribute to our understanding of the association between sleep and emotion regulation at a broader global scale.

Parental warmth, adolescent emotion regulation, and adolescents' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction

The United States (U.S.) Surgeon General Advisory has characterized the COVID-19 pandemic as a youth mental health crisis. Thus, elucidating factors affecting adolescents' mental health during the pandemic is important for supporting youth through current and future challenges. Parenting influences adolescents' ability to cope with stressors, and emotion regulation strategy use may underlie these effects.

Methods

This longitudinal study of 206 adolescents (49% female; 46.6% Latine) from the U.S. evaluated pathways from perceived parental warmth and affection at age 12 to changes in adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems from before the pandemic (age 14) to the initial phase of the U.S COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020 (age 15) through adolescents' pre-pandemic cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression emotion regulation strategy use at age 14.

Results

Parental warmth and affection predicted decreased internalizing, but not externalizing, problems during the initial phase of the pandemic, and this effect was explained by adolescents' reduced reliance on expressive suppression as an emotion regulation strategy.

Conclusion

These findings illuminate parenting and emotion regulation strategy selection as modifiable processes to support adolescents' mental health in this crisis and beyond.

Primary and Secondary Variants of Callous-Unemotional Traits in Early and Middle Childhood: Distinction, Evaluation and Empathic Differences

Current literature demonstrates the relevance of considering two variants of CU traits based on high or low levels of anxiety. However, there is limited information about these variants in young community samples. The current study used cluster analyses to investigate the primary and the secondary variants of CU traits in two samples of children: preschool (N = 107; Mage = 4.95, SD = 0.62) and school-age (N = 153; Mage = 7.49, SD = 1.11). The identified clusters were compared on empathic dimensions, aggressive behavior and criteria from the "with limited prosocial emotions" specifier from the DSM-V. The primary variant was identified as early as preschool age while the secondary variant was only identified in the school-age sample. In this latter sample, the two variants did not differ on assessed variables, except for aggressive behavior. Despite the similarities between the two variants, these results suggest distinct developmental trajectories.

Peer facilitation of emotion regulation in adolescence

Emotion regulation is particularly important for adolescents as they undergo normative developmental changes in affective systems and experience heightened risk for psychopathology. Despite a high need for emotion regulation during adolescence, commonly studied emotion regulation strategies like cognitive reappraisal are less beneficial for adolescents than adults because they rely on neural regions that are still developing during this period (i.e., lateral prefrontal cortex). However, adolescence is also marked by increased valuation of peer relationships and sensitivity to social information and cues. In the present review, we synthesize research examining emotion regulation and peer influence across development to suggest that sensitivity to peers during adolescence could be leveraged to improve emotion regulation for this population. We first discuss developmental trends related to emotion regulation at the level of behavior and brain in adolescents, using cognitive reappraisal as an exemplar emotion regulation strategy. Next, we discuss social influences on adolescent brain development, describing caregiver influence and increasing susceptibility to peer influence, to describe how adolescent sensitivity to social inputs represents both a window of vulnerability and opportunity. Finally, we conclude by describing the promise of social (i.e., peer-based) interventions for enhancing emotion regulation in adolescence.

Conceptualizing Callous-Unemotional Traits in Chinese Preschoolers: Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance

With the increasing use of the Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU) to examine callous-unemotional traits, few studies have explicitly tested the most appropriate ICU factor structures and measurement invariance in Chinese children at preschool age. This study was conducted with a large community sample of 2055 Chinese preschoolers (53.6% male, M age = 62.23 months, SD = 9.91) to test the most appropriate model of ICU and the measurement invariance across parent gender, child gender, as well as age. The confirmatory factor model suggested that the two-factor model with 11 items (ICU-11) is the best-fitting model for a Chinese preschool sample, which includes a callousness and an unemotional factor. The results from measurement invariance revealed that the factor structures were invariant across child gender, as well as child age and parental gender. The finding suggested that the ICU-11 may be a useful tool for evaluating CU traits in Chinese preschoolers.

Association between emotional abuse and depressive symptoms in Chinese children: The mediating role of emotion regulation

BACKGROUND

Emotional abuse has been identified as a risk factor for children's depressive symptoms. However, the specific psychological mechanisms mediating this relation are not well understood.

OBJECTIVE

This longitudinal study examined the relation of emotional abuse to subsequent depressive symptoms and the possible mediating role of emotion regulation among Chinese children.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The sample included 3633 children (45.5 % girls) with an average age of 9.96 years from a large city in southern China.

METHOD

Participants completed multiple measurements of emotional abuse, emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms on five occasions at six-month intervals, controlling for sex, age, and physical abuse and emotional neglect at Time 1. Latent growth curve modeling was applied to examine the longitudinal relations among the variables.

RESULTS

Results showed (a) emotional abuse was significantly positively associated with subsequent depressive symptoms; (b) cognitive reappraisal mediated the relation between emotional abuse and depressive symptoms, but expressive suppression did not.

CONCLUSIONS

The results highlighted the mediating role of cognitive reappraisal in the relation between emotional abuse and depressive symptoms, suggesting that intervention programs targeting cognitive reappraisal may be effective to reduce the likelihood of depressive symptoms among Chinese children.

Relationship between borderline personality features, emotion regulation, and non-suicidal self-injury in depressed adolescents: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is common among adolescents and has been linked to mental disorders and suicide in addition to physical injuries. According to the empirical avoidance model, adolescents with NSSI have stronger emotional affect and poorer emotional regulation than those without NSSI, and these constitute core features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). The relationship between borderline personality features, emotional regulation, and NSSI in the population is unclear. This study explored these associations to provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of NSSI in the future.

METHODS

Depressed adolescents (n = 1192) were evaluated using Chinese versions of the Function Assessment of Self-mutilation Scale, Emotional Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents, and Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children.

RESULTS

The majority of depressed adolescents (71.3%, 850/1192) had demonstrated NSSI in the past year, with cutting or scratching being the most common form (57.4%). Pearson correlation analysis with NSSI as a fixed factor (NSSI = 1, no NSSI = 2) revealed a negative correlation between NSSI and borderline personality features (r = -0.314, P < 0.01) but a positive correlation between NSSI and emotional regulation capacity (r = 0.159, P < 0.01), which was positively correlated with the expression suppression dimension (r = 0.079, p < 0.01); however, there was no significant correlation between the cognitive reappraisal dimension and expression suppression (r = 0.022, p > 0.05). The occurrence of NSSI was also positively correlated with borderline personality features in general (r = 0.314, p < 0.01). These results were statistically significant. Emotional regulation played a mediating role between borderline personality traits and NSSI in adolescents with depression (effect value = 0.151).

CONCLUSION

Borderline personality features and emotional regulation ability were significantly correlated with NSSI in depressed adolescents. Borderline personality symptoms not only directly influenced NSSI risk in adolescents with depression, but also indirectly influenced NSSI risk through emotional regulation.

Sustained increase in depression and anxiety among psychiatrically healthy adolescents during late stage COVID-19 pandemic

Background

Adolescents have experienced increases in anxiety, depression, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and may be at particular risk for suffering from long-term mental health consequences because of their unique developmental stage. This study aimed to determine if initial increases in depression and anxiety in a small sample of healthy adolescents after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic were sustained at follow-up during a later stage of the pandemic.

Methods

Fifteen healthy adolescents completed self-report measures at three timepoints (pre-pandemic [T1], early pandemic [T2], and later pandemic [T3]). The sustained effect of COVID-19 on depression and anxiety was examined using linear mixed-effect analyses. An exploratory analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation during COVID-19 at T2 and increases in depression and anxiety at T3.

Results

The severity of depression and anxiety was significantly increased at T2 and sustained at T3 (depression: Hedges' g [T1 to T2] = 1.04, g [T1 to T3] = 0.95; anxiety: g [T1 to T2] = 0.79, g [T1 to T3] = 0.80). This was accompanied by sustained reductions in positive affect, peer trust, and peer communication. Greater levels of difficulties in emotion regulation at T2 were related to greater symptoms of depression and anxiety at T3 (rho = 0.71 to 0.80).

Conclusion

Increased symptoms of depression and anxiety were sustained at the later stage of the pandemic in healthy adolescents. Replication of these findings with a larger sample size would be required to draw firm conclusions.

Emotion Regulation Strategies as Risk Factors for Developmental Psychopathology: a Meta-analytic Review of Longitudinal Studies based on Cross-lagged Correlations and Panel Models

Cross-sectional relationships between emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) and several psychopathological conditions among children and adolescents have been well-demonstrated. However, the longitudinal associations of ERSs on psychopathological manifestations during development remain unclear, especially considering their reciprocal influences over time. This meta-analytic review was based on a set of ERSs referring to a comprehensive evidence-based model of ER processes. Three hundred thirty-five studies were screened. The meta-analytic procedures were based on 60 studies (N = 20, 191; age: M [SD] = 10.27 [4.36]; years of follow-up: M [SD] = 2.23 [2.76]), which primarily assessed prospective associations between ER_t1 and internalizing/externalizing psychopathology (PSY)_t2. The cross-lagged correlations among these variables were also considered. Results showed: i) a small prospective association between ER_t1 and PSY _t2, which was independent of age and length of follow-up period. Adaptive and maladaptive domains of ER were significant moderators. Deficits in adaptive ER seemed more associated to externalizing PSY, whereas maladaptive ER was more associated to internalizing PSY; ii) cross-lagged correlations were comparable with ER_t1 - PSY _t2 associations. Nevertheless, the detrimental effects of PSY _t1 on levels of adaptive ER_t2 were larger than the protective effects of adaptive ER_t1 on PSY_t2. iii) When the other cross-lagged correlations were controlled for, the meta-analytic cross-lagged panel model demonstrated that maladaptive ER_t1 was a significant predictor of PSY_t2. ER processes should be considered transdiagnostic risk factors for psychopathology during development. Homotypic and heterotypic continuity of psychopathological conditions might reflect the stability or dynamic organization of adaptive and maladaptive ERSs over time.

Managing fear and anxiety in development: A framework for understanding the neurodevelopment of emotion regulation capacity and tendency

How we manage emotional responses to environmental threats is central to mental health, as difficulties regulating threat-related distress can blossom into symptoms of anxiety disorders. Given that anxiety disorders emerge early in the lifespan, it is crucial we understand the multi-level processes that support effective regulation of distress. Scholars have given increased attention to behavioral and neural development of emotion regulation abilities, particularly cognitive reappraisal capacity (i.e., how strongly one can down-regulate negative affect by reinterpreting a situation to change one's emotions). However, this work has not been well integrated with research on regulatory tendency (i.e., how often one spontaneously regulates emotion in daily life). Here, we review research on the development of both emotion regulation capacity and tendency. We then propose a framework for testing hypotheses and eventually constructing a neurodevelopmental model of both dimensions of emotion regulation. Clarifying how the brain supports both effective and frequent regulation of threat-related distress across development is crucial to identifying multi-level signs of dysregulation and developing interventions that support youth mental health.

The Role of Pre-Treatment Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Adolescent Substance Use Treatment Outcomes

Background: Prominent theories suggest that individuals with co-occurring traumatic stress symptoms (TSS) and substance use (SU) may be less responsive to SU treatment compared to those with SU only. However, empirical findings in adult samples are mixed, and there has been limited work among adolescents. This study assesses the association between TSS and SU treatment outcomes among trauma-exposed adolescents, using statistical methods to reduce potential confounding from important factors such as baseline SU severity. Method: 2,963 adolescents with lifetime history of victimization received evidence-based SU treatment in outpatient community settings. At baseline, 3- and 6-months, youth were assessed using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs Traumatic Stress Scale and the Substance Frequency Scale. Propensity score weighting was used to mitigate potential confounding due to baseline differences in sociodemographic characteristics and SU across youth with varying levels of TSS. Results: Propensity score weighting successfully balanced baseline differences in sociodemographic factors and baseline SU across youth. Among all youth, mean SU was lower at both 3- and 6- month follow-up relative to baseline, indicating declining use. After adjusting for potential confounders, we observed no statistically significant relationship between TSS and SU at either 3- or 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: Based on this investigation, conducted among a large sample of trauma-exposed youth receiving evidence-based outpatient SU treatment, baseline TSS do not appear to be negatively associated with SU treatment outcomes. However, future research should examine whether youth with TSS achieve better outcomes through integrative treatment for both SU and TSS.

Adolescents suppress emotional expression more with peers compared to parents and less when they feel close to others

Adolescence is characterized by frequent emotional challenges, intense emotions, and higher levels of expressive suppression use than found in older populations. While evidence suggests that contingent expressive suppression use based on context is the most functional, it remains unclear whether adolescents use expressive suppression differentially based on social context. Because the peer relationship is highly salient in adolescence, the current study was designed to assess whether adolescents use expressive suppression differentially based on their social context. Adolescents (N = 179, M_age  = 13.94, 49.2% female) reported emotional events using experience sampling via a smartphone application for 14 days. Multilevel modeling revealed that adolescents used less expressive suppression when they were alone compared with when they were with people, and used more expressive suppression when they were with their peers compared with when they were with family. In addition, more closeness with family predicted less overall expressive suppression use, while closeness with peers did not influence the level of expressive suppression use within the peer context. We discuss the importance of peer relations in adolescence and the relationship between closeness and emotional expression.

Relationship between Job Burnout, Depressive Symptoms, and Career Choice Regret among Chinese Postgraduates of Stomatology

A qualified Chinese dental postgraduate requires at least eight years of training. The huge academic burden, strict clinical requirements, and high workload increases the risk of job burnout, depression symptoms, and career choice regret of dental postgraduates, which may cause one to waver in their choice of a career as a doctor. Therefore, we aimed at assessing the relationship between job burnout, depressive symptoms, and career choice regret among Chinese dental postgraduates. The Chongqing Stomatological Association conducted an online cross-sectional study among 558 dental postgraduates in China, with an average age of 22.54 ± 2.44. Demographic information, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the 2-item Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders scale, and career choice regret scale were included in the questionnaire. About 41.0% of dental postgraduates experienced job burnout, 44.1% had depressive symptoms, and 41.6% reported career choice regret. Logistic regression analysis indicated the risk factors for job burnout were time worked/studied per week, depressive symptoms, and career choice regret. Job burnout and career choice regret was significantly related to depressive symptoms (p < 0.001). Risk factors for career choice regret were gender, postgraduate entrance examination score, daily hours of sleep, job burnout, and depressive symptoms. Such results suggest that job burnout, depressive symptoms, and career choice regrets are prevalent among dental postgraduates. Accurate measures should be taken to change this situation.

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

Background

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).

Methods

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).

Results

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.

Conclusion

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.

The impact of strain, constraints, and morality on different cyberbullying roles: A partial test of Agnew's general strain theory

The strain has been well studied in traditional bullying, and recent research has begun to explore it in cyberbullying behavior. Drawing from General Strain Theory, the current study empirically examined the relationship between strain and the cyberbullying behavior of perpetrators and bully-victims, respectively. Meanwhile, this study also considered the influences of the protective variables (e.g., constraints and morality) on the strain, which may potentially reduce the risks of participating in cyberbullying. The sample comprised 928 Chinese internet users (Male = 490, Female = 438) aged between 16 to 50. We identified the prevalence of cyberbullying in China, in which the percentages of cyberbullying perpetrators, cyberbullying victims, and cyber bully-victims were 23.40, 23.20, and 37.40%, respectively. This study mentioned a noteworthy phenomenon: cyberbullying victims quickly became cyberbullying perpetrators when they were cyberbullied. Secondly, according to the binary logistic regression, we hold that the strain was significantly related to cyberbullying behaviors, as individuals with low levels of self-control showed a higher tendency to participate in cyberbullying. As for protective factors, the results showed that constraints and morality can reduce the negative consequences of strain and then against cyberbullying, exploring the possibilities of using constraints and morality as variables to decrease strain and prevent cyberbullying. Thus, the unique values of this study are using the GST theory to investigate the empirical link between strain and cyberbullying between different roles in a new cultural and social background, demonstrating that negative emotion and low self-control had influences on strain and cyberbullying behaviors. Meanwhile, this study also contributes by discussing the implications for future research and practicing efforts targeting how to decrease the risks of cyberbullying engagement, for example, we suggest that the prevention and intervention of cyberbullying should adopt a cross-sectoral response to help individuals to view cyberbullying, vent dissatisfaction and relieve strain in the right way.

Emotion Regulation Scale and Mindfulness Scale in School Aged Children: Construction and Validation of French Versions

Few measuring scales seem to evaluate Mindfulness and emotion regulation in school aged children. This article aims to present four studies describing the construction and validation of two French measuring scales for children: French Emotion Regulation Scale for Children (FERS-C) and Mindfulness Scale for Children French version (MSC-F). We discuss the elaboration and choice of the items for each measure, examine their phrasing and comprehensibility from the children's standpoint. The main sample consisted of 421 non-clinical, 6 to 12 years old children, who consented to fill out the measuring scales in order to test the factor structure. Additionally, we assessed and confirmed temporal stability and determined convergent validity. Results support that both scales appear to be reliable emotion regulation and mindfulness measures for school aged children. Results also reveal a relevant factor structure for both measures. The results of these studies support that the two scales are appropriate and useful measures of mindfulness and emotion regulation capacities for school aged children. In conclusion, we call for further research to improve and develop measures assessing child mindfulness skills in both clinical and research contexts.

Development and validation of a prediction model for depression in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome: A study protocol

Introduction

The high prevalence and severity of depression in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a critical health threat that must be taken seriously. The identification of high-risk groups for depression in adolescents with PCOS is essential to preventing its development and improving its prognosis. At present, the routine screening of depression in adolescents with PCOS is mainly performed using scales, and there is no early identification method for high-risk groups of PCOS depression in adolescents. It is necessary to use a warning model to identify high-risk groups for depression with PCOS in adolescents.

Methods and analysis

Model development and validation will be conducted using a retrospective study. The study will involve normal adolescent girls as the control group and adolescent PCOS patients as the experimental group. We will collect not only general factors such as individual susceptibility factors, biological factors, and psychosocial environmental factors of depression in adolescence, but will also examine the pathological factors, illness perception factors, diagnosis and treatment factors, and symptom-related factors of PCOS, as well as the outcome of depression. LASSO will be used to fit a multivariate warning model of depression risk. Data collected between January 2022 and August 2022 will be used to develop and validate the model internally, and data collected between September 2022 and December 2022 will be used for external validation. We will use the C-statistic to measure the model's discrimination, the calibration plot to measure the model's risk prediction ability for depression, and the nomogram to visualize the model.

Discussion

The ability to calculate the absolute risk of depression outcomes in adolescents with PCOS would enable early and accurate predictions of depression risk among adolescents with PCOS, and provide the basis for the formulation of depression prevention and control strategies, which have important theoretical and practical implications.

Trial registration number

[ChiCTR2100050123]; Pre-results.

Association of parental characteristics and emotion regulation in children and adolescents with and without psychopathology: A case-control study

This study explores the difference in child emotion regulation (ER) and parenting between a heterogeneous clinical sample (ClinS) and a community sample (ComS). We hypothesized that parents of the ClinS would report more dysfunctional child ER and more dysfunctional parenting regarding the child’s negative emotions than parents of the ComS. Further, we aimed to predict child ER by parenting behavior, parents’ ER, and mental health. Parents of children and adolescents (aged 6–18 years) seeking treatment at an outpatient clinic were compared to a matched sample of parents in a ComS (n = 57 each group). As predicted, the children in the clinical group were reported to use less reappraisal and more suppression than ComS children. No difference was found in dysfunctional emotion parenting between the groups. Reappraisal in parents and supportive reactions to negative emotions predicted reappraisal in children. No predictor was found for child suppression. Child emotion regulation and parents’ psychopathology were not associated. These results could suggest new elements for prevention and intervention programs with parents concerning their own emotion regulation and their reaction to negative emotions in children.

Factorial Structure of the Parent-Reported Version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits Among Belgian Children: A Theory-Based Model

The factorial structure of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional traits (ICU) is still under debate in the current literature and the published models are predominantly based on the empirical results of the statistical analyses rather than on a strong theoretical background. Aimed at overcoming these limits, the current study examined a factorial structure initiated by a theoretical framework for the parent-version of the ICU, based on a community sample of Belgian children aged 3–9 (N = 437; M age = 5.59; 54.7% boys). Further, the current study investigated measurement invariance across age and gender, and the external validity of this structure. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that empirical factor models from the current literature demonstrated a relatively poor fit to the data. Alternative models were built based on theory, specifically criteria from the DSM-V specifier “with limited prosocial emotions.” CFA supported an 18-item second order model with three first order factors (Lack of conscience, Unconcern about performance, Lack of emotional expression), a second order latent factor (General dimension of CU traits) and a methodological factor encompassing negatively worded items. Results supported measurement invariance across child gender, and to a lesser extent across age. As expected, the general dimension correlated with measures of aggressive behavior, attention problems, internalizing behavior and empathy. The Lack of emotional expression subfactor showed a different pattern of associations in comparison to the two other subfactors. The implications of these findings are discussed, specifically in relation to the DSM-V LPE specifier.

Elevated emotion reactivity and emotion regulation in individuals at clinical high risk for developing psychosis and those diagnosed with a psychotic disorder

AIMS

Disrupted affective processes are core features of psychosis; yet emotion reactivity and emotion regulation impairments have not been fully characterized in individuals at clinical high-risk for developing psychosis (CHR) or adolescents diagnosed with a psychotic disorder (AOP). Characterizing these impairments may provide a fuller understanding of factors contributing to psychosis risk and psychosis onset. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we evaluated (1) group-level effects of emotion reactivity and regulation, (2) stability of group-level effects over time and age, (3) relationships between emotion reactivity and regulation, and (4) associations between these measures and psychosocial functioning and clinical symptomatology.

METHODS

Eighty-seven participants (CHR = 32, TD = 42, AOP = 13; 12-25 years, 1-5 visits) completed the Emotion Reactivity Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. We assessed psychotic symptoms with the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes and measured real-world functioning with the Global Functioning: Social and Role Scales. We used analysis of variance to assess Aim 1 and linear mixed models to address Aims 2-4.

RESULTS

CHR and AOP endorsed experiencing heightened levels of emotion reactivity and greater difficulty utilizing emotion regulation strategies compared to TD. These impairments were stable across time and adolescent development. Greater levels of emotion reactivity were associated with greater emotion regulation impairments. Greater impairments in emotion regulation were associated with lower social functioning and greater negative symptom severity.

CONCLUSION

Therapeutic interventions designed to reduce emotion reactivity and improve one's ability to utilize emotion regulation strategies may be effective in reducing clinical symptomatology and improving real-world functioning in CHR and AOP.

The Development of Cognitive Reappraisal From Early Childhood Through Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Methodological Recommendations

Cognitive reappraisal is an important emotion regulation strategy that shows considerable developmental change in its use and effectiveness. This paper presents a systematic review of the evidence base regarding the development of cognitive reappraisal from early childhood through adolescence and provides methodological recommendations for future research. We searched Scopus, PsycINFO, and ERIC for empirical papers measuring cognitive reappraisal in normative samples of children and youth between the ages of 3 and 18 years published in peer-reviewed journals through August 9th, 2018. We identified 118 studies that met our inclusion criteria. We first present a quantitative review of the methodologies used to investigate cognitive reappraisal in children and adolescents, with attention to variations in methodologies by the sample age range. We then present a qualitative review of findings with attention to: (1) the age at which children begin to effectively use cognitive reappraisal to regulate their emotions, and (2) developmental changes in cognitive reappraisal from early childhood through adolescence. We consider how methodological differences may contribute to inconsistencies in findings, highlight gaps in the literature that remain to be addressed, and make recommendations for future directions.

Examining a Conceptual Model of Maternal and Paternal Warmth, Emotion Regulation and Social Competence among Preadolescent Children in Malaysia

Although parental warmth has been shown to be related to children's social competence, the mediating role of preadolescent children's emotion regulation in this context has been less explored, particularly in Asian cultures. Thus, this study examined the role of emotion regulation as a mediator in the relationship between parental warmth (i.e., paternal and maternal warmth) and social competence among preadolescent children in Malaysia. Preadolescent children (N = 720; Mage = 10.95; SD = 0.59; 58.8% female) completed self-administered questionnaires. Results of correlation analysis showed that higher levels of paternal and maternal warmth were associated with greater emotion regulation in preadolescent children and a greater level of social competence. However, analysis of structural equation modeling revealed that emotion regulation significantly mediated only the relationship between maternal warmth and social competence. These findings underscored the importance of maternal warmth in promoting Malaysian preadolescent children's social competence as well as their emotion regulation as a mediating pathway. This study also highlights the direct effect of paternal warmth on preadolescents' social competence. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Role of Youth Emotion Regulation in Mentoring Relationships

Youth mentoring programs have grown in popularity, both within the United States (U.S.) and abroad, as an intervention to support youth with common behavioral and emotional difficulties. However, it is unclear whether certain dimensions of youth risk may diminish the positive impact of formalized mentoring relationships. The current study therefore examined whether youth emotion regulation, a transdiagnostic risk factor for both externalizing and internalizing behavioral difficulties, predicted mentoring relationship quality and the likelihood of early match closure. Participants included 1,298 randomized mentor-youth dyads from two nationwide mentoring programs, one with chapters across the U.S. (youth: 56% female; 37% White), and another with chapters across Mexico (youth: 49% female; 100% non-Indigenous). At baseline, youth completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA). At program completion, youth and mentors completed measures of mentoring relationship quality. Multigroup structural equation models of youth outcomes revealed that greater youth use of cognitive reappraisal predicted better mentoring relationship quality in both countries when co-varying for sex, and that this relationship was stronger for mentor-youth pairs in the U.S. compared to those in Mexico. These findings have important implications for understanding the ways in which youth characteristics might shape the quality and impact of mentoring relationships across different cultural settings.

Understanding the association between reappraisal use and depressive symptoms during adolescence: the moderating influence of regulatory success

Higher levels of reliance on cognitive reappraisal to manage daily emotional events are commonly associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. However, reappraisal is a cognitively demanding regulation strategy, and its efficacy may depend on how successfully an individual is able to employ it. Individual differences in the association between reappraisal use and depressive symptoms may be particularly evident during adolescence, when the cognitive skills required to implement this complex strategy are still in development. The current study sought to determine whether the association between reappraisal use and subsequent depressive symptom development is contingent on perceived regulatory success when using reappraisal. At Wave 1, adolescents (n =  178, mean age = 13.92, 49.7% female) used an experience-sampling smartphone app to report on their reappraisal use and perceptions of regulatory success over the course of two weeks. Six, 12, and 18 months later, adolescents completed a self-report measure of their depressive symptoms. Results showed that a) reappraisal use was associated with both subsequent depressive symptoms and trajectories of depressive symptoms over time, b) these associations were moderated by perceptions of regulatory success. Higher levels of reappraisal use were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms only for those who reported higher than average between-subject regulatory success when reappraisal was enacted.

Evaluation of Happy Sport, an Emotional Education Program for Assertive Conflict Resolution in Sports

Background: Interpersonal conflicts occur in any kind of social relation, including the field of sports. Proper emotional management can improve athletes’ well-being, coexistence, and performance. This study presents the initial results of the gamified emotional education program Happy Sport in a sample of athletes in the field of non-formal education. Methods: The study sample consists of 194 athletes from the benjamín and alevín categories (3rd- to 6th-grade primary school children). A quasi-experimental pre-intervention and post-intervention design with a control group is followed using the Games and Emotions Scale (GES), Social Support Scale, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA), and Bullying in Sports Questionnaire. Results: Statistically significant differences were found across participants in the experimental group between the pre- and post-intervention evaluations for the variables satisfaction and bullying. An analysis of the competencies related to emotion regulation revealed significant results for the experimental group for both scales (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression). Conclusions: The results show that after a training session with the gamified software Happy Sport, children’s satisfaction increased and bullying levels decreased. Changes in cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression may also be explained by the training received.

Latent profiles of emotion regulation strategies associated with alexithymia, nonsuicidal self-injury and resilience among nursing students

The present study sought to better understand the complex nature of emotion regulation in nursing students by exploring patterns of emotion regulation strategies (ERSs), and to examine the relationships between these unique profiles with alexithymia, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and resilience. A total of 1960 nursing students (M_age  = 19.56, SD = 1.13 years) were recruited. Using latent profile analysis, nursing students were classified into four profiles based on their ERS use: high reaction profile (HRP; 11.53%), medium reaction profile (MRP; 55.46%), adaptive reaction profile (ARP; 22.86%) and low reaction profile (LRP; 10.15%). This study found that relative to HRP and MRP, ARP and LRP showed a lower incidence of NSSI and alexithymia; HRP and ARP showed a higher level of resilience than MRP and LRP. Furthermore, LRP had the lowest level of resilience. This study highlights the importance of identifying the different ERS profiles among nursing students. Targeted programs are needed to enhance adaptive strategies and reduce maladaptive strategies to improve nursing students' psychological and behavioural performance.

Emotion regulation in adolescents with anorexia and bulimia nervosa: Differential use of adaptive and maladaptive strategies compared to healthy adolescents

OBJECTIVE

Adolescents with anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) often struggle with emotion regulation (ER). These difficulties have predominantly been assessed across emotions, without considering adaptive and maladaptive ER separately. We compared adolescents with AN or BN to healthy adolescents (HCs) regarding the adaptive and maladaptive ER of three emotions.

METHOD

A treatment-seeking sample of 197 adolescents (atypical/full-threshold AN: N = 118, atypical/full-threshold BN: N = 32; HC: N = 47) reported emotion-specific ER with the FEEL-KJ questionnaire. Mixed models were calculated for adaptive and maladaptive ER to assess differences between emotions (anxiety, anger, and sadness) and groups (AN, BN, and HC).

RESULTS

Main effects of emotion (p < .001) and group (p < .001) were found, but no interaction effects were found (p > .05). Post hoc tests showed lower maladaptive and higher adaptive ER for anxiety than anger or sadness (p < .001). AN and BN reported lower adaptive (p < .001) and higher maladaptive ER than HCs (p < .001). BN showed the highest levels of maladaptive ER (p = .009).

DISCUSSION

The differences between AN and BN in adaptive and maladaptive ER should be considered. Furthermore, investigating differences in ER of other emotions in eating disorders might be promising.

The relationship between habitual use and real-time emotion regulation strategies in adolescents: Evidence from frontal EEG asymmetry

Past research on emotion regulation has shown that cognitive reappraisal is a healthier and more effective emotion regulation strategy than expressive suppression. However, there are few studies in this field that combine real-time emotion regulation with the use of habitual emotion regulation strategies to observe the patterns of brain activity, and fewer studies focusing on adolescents. Frontal electroencephalography (EEG) asymmetry reflects the difference between brain activation in left and right frontal areas and is widely viewed as an effective biomarker of emotional reactivity and regulation. The present study investigated the asymmetry of the frontal EEG activity during adolescents' emotional regulation, and explored its relationship with adolescents' habitual use of emotional regulation strategies. Habitual use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression was measured with the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ). EEG was recorded from 54 adolescents (24 boys & 30 girls, M_age = 12.59), during the Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task. Results showed that adolescents who used cognitive reappraisal strategies more habitually exhibited greater left frontal asymmetry during real-time enhancement or reduction of negative emotions. In contrast, no significant correlation was found between habitual use of suppression and frontal alpha asymmetry. The results provide neurological evidence that, for adolescents, the use of habitual emotion regulation strategies may affect real-time emotion regulation, adolescents who use cognitive reappraisal more frequently are more capable or more prone to recruit appropriate brain regions in situations that need to regulate negative emotions. This reinforces the importance of the formation and use of correct emotion regulation habits for adolescents.

Assessing Emotion Regulation Ability for Negative and Positive Emotions: Psychometrics of the Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory in United States Adults

People regulate both negative and positive emotions, and their ability to do this successfully is a cornerstone of adaptive psychological functioning. However, few measures have been available to assess emotion regulation ability across both valence domains. The Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory (PERCI) was recently developed for this purpose. Here we present the first psychometric study of the PERCI in the United States (N = 508). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the intended eight-factor structure, which was invariant across age, gender, and education. PERCI scores had high internal consistency, and were associated with measures of psychopathology, emotional reactivity, and emotion regulation strategies in expected ways. These observed relationships between the PERCI and various regulation strategies may serve to establish a profile of what strategy patterns characterize differences in emotion regulation ability. Overall, the PERCI had strong psychometrics. Its capacity to assess both valence domains should enable more comprehensive assessments of emotion regulation ability.

Age related sex differences in maladaptive regulatory responses to sadness: A study of youths at high and low familial risk for depression

Offspring of parents with depression histories are at increased risk of developing depression and also report maladaptive ways of self-regulating sadness. Maladaptive regulation of sadness tends to be more prevalent among females than males and has been proposed as one explanation of sex differences in depression rates that emerge around mid-adolescence. However, there is scant information about the age at which the sex differences in maladaptive regulatory responses become evident and whether such age-related sex differences vary depending on depression risk. The present study examined two samples aged 8-18 years: 86 offspring of emotionally healthy parents and 98 offspring of parents with depression histories. Subjects were clinically assessed and provided self-reports of maladaptive responses to sadness. In the combined samples, sex differences in maladaptive responses were significant at age 12.5 years and older ages (i.e., chronologically earlier than the documented emergence of sex differences in depression). While in the high-risk group, sex differences in maladaptive regulatory responses were significant at 12.11 years of age and older, in the low-risk group there was no age at which sex differences were significant. Our findings support the possible mechanistic role of maladaptive emotion regulation in the emergence of sex disparities in depression rates and have implications for prevention.

The correlation between mobile phone addiction and coping style among Chinese adolescents: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Mobile phone addiction has become a social problem that affects the healthy growth of adolescents, and it may be correlated with coping style. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mobile phone addiction and coping style and the influencing factors for adolescents.

METHODS

A meta-analysis was conducted by searching China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANFANG DATA and Chongqing VIP Information Co., Ltd. (VIP), PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and PsycINFO. Stata 16.0 was used to analyse the overall effect and test the moderating effect.

RESULTS

Thirty-three studies were included, involving a total of 20,349 subjects. There was no significant correlation between adolescents' mobile phone addiction and positive coping style (r =  - 0.02, 95% CI =  - 0.06 to 0.02, P > 0.05), but there was a moderate positive correlation between adolescents' mobile phone addiction and negative coping style (r = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.26 to 0.36, P < 0.001). The moderating effect analysis showed that the effect of dissertations on mobile phone addiction and positive coping style among adolescents was significantly larger than that of journal articles. The Smartphone Addiction Scale for College Students (SAS-C) showed the largest effect on mobile phone addiction and positive coping style among adolescents. The time of publication significantly positively moderated the relationship between mobile phone addiction and negative coping style among adolescents. The Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ) showed the largest effect on adolescents' mobile phone addiction and negative coping style. However, the correlation between adolescents' mobile phone addiction and coping style was not affected by age or gender.

CONCLUSIONS

There was a close relationship between mobile phone addiction and coping style among adolescents. In the future, longitudinal research should be carried out to better investigate the dynamic changes in the relationship between mobile phone addiction and coping style.

Adolescence as a pivotal period for emotion regulation development for consideration at current opinion in psychology

Adolescence is a dynamic period for the development of emotion regulation. For many individuals, emotion regulation skills improve dramatically during adolescence; however, for some youth, adolescence marks the beginning or worsening of psychopathology characterized by difficulties with emotion regulation. In the present review, I describe evidence that caregiving experiences play an outsized role in shaping interindividual variability in emotion regulation during adolescence. After describing work demonstrating links between caregiving - with an emphasis on parental socialization practices - and emotion regulation outcomes, I characterize our current understanding of how behavioral and neurobiological indices of emotion regulation develop normatively across adolescence. Using cognitive reappraisal as an exemplar emotion regulation strategy, I outline ways that caregiving might impact interindividual variability in emotion regulation neurodevelopment. I conclude by identifying two key future directions for adolescent emotion regulation research.

High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability and Emotion-Driven Impulse Control Difficulties During Adolescence: Examining Experienced and Expressed Negative Emotion as Moderators

Emotion-driven impulse control difficulties are associated with negative psychological outcomes. Extant research suggests that high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) may be indicative of emotion-driven impulse control difficulties and potentially moderated by negative emotion. In the current study, 248 eleven- to 14-year-olds and their parent engaged in a negatively emotionally arousing conflict task at Time 1. Adolescents' HF-HRV and negative emotional expression and experience were assessed before, during, and/or after the task. Adolescents reported on their levels of emotion-driven impulse control difficulties at Time 1 and one year later. Results revealed that higher levels of HF-HRV reactivity (i.e., higher HF-HRV augmentation) predicted higher levels of emotion-driven impulse control difficulties one year later among adolescents who experienced higher negative emotion. These findings suggest that negative emotional context should be considered when examining HF-HRV reactivity as a risk factor for emotion-driven impulse control difficulties and associated outcomes.

Evidence Base Update for Questionnaires of Emotion Regulation and Reactivity for Children and Adolescents

Objective: Emotion regulation (ER) is a multi-faceted and dynamic process relevant to both normative emotional development and transdiagnostic emotional dysfunction for a range of psychological disorders. There has been tremendous growth in ER research over the past decade, including the development of numerous new measures to assess ER. This Evidence Base Update included a systematic review to identify self- and informant-report questionnaire measures of ER for children and adolescents, including measures of ER strategies and effectiveness (or emotion dysregulation).Methods: PubMed, PsycInfo, and Health and Psychosocial Instruments databases were searched using the terms emotion OR affect AND regulation OR control OR reactivity OR response, as well as terms related to questionnaires and psychometrics, restricted to articles on youth (< 18 years old). Each measure's psychometrics was evaluated based on modified criteria by De Los Reyes and Langer (2018).Results: Nine-hundred ninety-seven papers were identified yielding 87 measures that met inclusion for review. Although the majority (60%) of identified ER measures could not be recommended based on these criteria, 8% were Excellent, 14% were Good, and 17% were Adequate. The recommended measures included: 11 general ER measures (5 focused on strategies, 5 focused on dysregulation/ effectiveness), 13 measures of ER as it relates to specific emotions or contexts such as irritability or peer stress (4 focused on strategies, 9 focused on dysregulation/effectiveness), and 11 measures of other constructs that include an ER subscale (all focused on dysregulation). Conclusions: The characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of the recommended ER measures are described in order to guide measure selection for clinical or research uses. A synthesis of themes identified during this review includes commonly observed areas of weakness and gaps in the literature to provide a foundation for future research and measure development.

Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Functions as Pathways to Future Self-Harm Repetition and Suicide Attempts

Background: Research has identified functions of non-suicidal self-harm/self-injury (NSSH) but whether functions change over time, from adolescence to early adulthood, or predict the continuation of the behavior prospectively remains unclear. This study aimed to prospectively explore whether intrapersonal and interpersonal NSSH functions in adolescence predict repetition of self-harm (regardless of suicidal intent) and incident suicide attempts in early adulthood.

Methods: Participants were 528 individuals with NSSH at age 16 years from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a population-based birth cohort in the UK. Descriptive statistics were used to explore changes in functions over time from age 16 to 21, and logistic regression used to examine associations between NSSH functions and repeat self-harm and suicide attempts at age 21, 24, and 25 years.

Findings: The majority of 16-year-olds with NSSH endorsed intrapersonal (e.g., affect regulatory) functions only (73% at 16 years and 64% at 21 years). Just under half of adolescents (42%) and three quarters of 21 years olds reported more than one function simultaneously. A greater number of intrapersonal functions at 16 years independently predicted future repetition of self-harm at ages 21–25 years, over and above interpersonal functions (OR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.06–2.01). Interpersonal functions during adolescence did not predict repeat self-harm or suicide attempts in adulthood.

Discussion: Our findings suggest that intrapersonal but not interpersonal NSSH functions are a prospective risk factor for future self-harm and might also predict incident suicide attempts. The results highlight the central role of underlying affective difficulties and motivations in self-harm maintenance.

Biological signatures of emotion regulation flexibility in children: Parenting context and links with child adjustment

Emotion regulation (ER) is a key facet of positive adjustment throughout the lifespan. Recent theoretical and empirical innovations suggest that current methods for assessing ER are limited, because they measure discrete strategy use instead of ER flexibility and are insensitive to ecologically valid social contexts that influence ER. This is particularly important for studying the impact of parenting on ER development during childhood. The current study (N = 93; 47 females; M_age = 6.98, SD = 1.12) examined child ER flexibility during a directed reappraisal task (DRT) with two parenting contexts: passive parent presence or active scaffolding. Two biological signatures of ER flexibility were measured: respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of physiological flexibility; and the late positive potential (LPP), an index of neurocognitive flexibility. Emotion regulation behavior was observed during a frustrating wait, and parents reported on child ER and adjustment. Greater ER flexibility indexed via the LPP and RSA both predicted observed ER during the frustrating wait, but only RSA predicted parent-reported trait ER and fewer adjustment problems. Emotion regulation flexibility indexed by the LPP was bolstered by parent presence and scaffolding of child ER during the DRT, but RSA measures were not sensitive to parenting context. Taken together, the results provide converging evidence for the conceptualization of ER in terms of physiological and neurocognitive flexibility in childhood. Furthermore, among school-aged children, while physiological flexibility broadly predicted parent-reported child adjustment, neurocognitive flexibility may be context-sensitive and predictive of concurrent observed ER.

Maternal parenting behavior and functional connectivity development in children: A longitudinal fMRI study

Parenting behavior is associated with internalizing symptoms in children, and cross-sectional research suggests that this association may be mediated by the influence of parenting on the development of frontoamygdala circuitry. However, longitudinal studies are lacking. Moreover, there is a paucity of studies that have investigated parenting and large-scale networks implicated in affective functioning. In this longitudinal study, data from 95 (52 female) children and their mothers were included. Children underwent magnetic resonance imaging that included a 6 min resting state sequence at wave 1 (mean age = 8.4 years) and wave 2 (mean age = 9.9 years). At wave 1, observational measures of positive and negative maternal behavior were collected during mother-child interactions. Region-of-interest analysis of the amygdala, and independent component and dual-regression analyses of the Default Mode Network (DMN), Executive Control Network (ECN) and the Salience Network (SN) were carried out. We identified developmental effects as a function of parenting: positive parenting was associated with decreased coactivation of the superior parietal lobule with the ECN at wave 2 compared to wave 1. Thus our findings provide preliminary longitudinal evidence that positive maternal behavior is associated with maturation of the connectivity between higher-order control networks.

Boys with autism spectrum disorder have distinct cortical folding patterns underpinning impaired self-regulation: a surface-based morphometry study

Although impaired self-regulation (dysregulation) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) garnered increasing awareness, the neural mechanism of dysregulation in ASD are far from conclusive. To complement our previous voxel-based morphometry findings, we estimated the cortical thickness, surface area, and local gyrification index based on the surface-based morphometry from structural MRI images in 85 ASD and 65 typically developing control (TDC) boys, aged 7-17 years. Levels of dysregulation were measured by the sum of T-scores of Attention, Aggression, and Anxiety/Depression subscales on the Child Behavior Checklist. We found both ASD and TDC shared similar relationships between dysregulation and cortical folding patterns in the left superior and inferior temporal gyri and the left premotor cortex. Significant diagnosis by dysregulation interactions in cortical folding patterns were identified over the right middle frontal and right lateral orbitofrontal regions. The statistical significance of greater local gyrification index in ASD than TDC in several brain regions disappeared when the level of dysregulation was considered. The findings of shared and distinct neural correlates underpinning dysregulation between ASD and TDC may facilitate the development of targeted interventions in the future. The present work also demonstrates that inter-subject variations in self-regulation may explain some extents of ASD-associated brain morphometric differences, likely suggesting that dysregulation is one of the yardsticks for dissecting the heterogeneity of ASD.

Appetite self-regulation declines across childhood while general self-regulation improves: A narrative review of the origins and development of appetite self-regulation

This narrative review discusses the origins and development of appetite self-regulation (ASR) in childhood (from infancy to age 6 or 7 years). The origins, or foundations, are the biological infrastructure associated with appetite regulation and appetite self-regulation. Homeostatic regulation in infancy is examined and then evidence about developmental change in components of ASR. The main ASR-related components covered are: delay-of-gratification, caloric compensation, eating in the absence of hunger, food responsiveness/hedonics and fussy eating. The research included behavioral measures, parent-reports of appetitive traits and fMRI studies. There were two main trends in the evidence: a decline across childhood in the components of ASR associated with food approach (and therefore an increase in disinhibited eating), and wide individual differences. The decline in ASR contrasts with general self-regulation (GSR) where the evidence is of an improvement across childhood. For many children, bottom-up automatic reactive processes via food reward/hedonics or food avoidance as in fussy eating, appear not to be matched by improvements in top-down regulatory capacities. The prominence of bottom-up processes in ASR could be the main factor in possible differences in developmental paths for GSR and ASR. GSR research is situated in developmental science with its focus on developmental processes, theory and methodology. In contrast, the development of ASR at present does not have a strong developmental tradition to access and there is no unifying model of ASR and its development. We concluded (1) outside of mean-level or normative changes in the components of ASR, individual differences are prominent, and (2) there is a need to formulate models of developmental change in ASR together with appropriate measurement, research designs and data analysis strategies.

Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation in Adolescents and Emerging Adults: A Meta-analytic Study

BACKGROUND

The development of adaptive implicit and explicit emotion regulation skills is crucial for mental health. Adolescence and emerging adulthood are periods of heightened risk for psychopathology associated with emotion dysregulation, and neurodevelopmental mechanisms have been proposed to account for this increased risk. However, progress in understanding these mechanisms has been hampered by an incomplete knowledge of the neural underpinnings of emotion regulation during development.

METHODS

Using activation likelihood estimation, we conducted a quantitative analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in healthy developmental samples (i.e., adolescence [10-18 years of age] and emerging adulthood [19-30 years of age]) investigating emotion reactivity (N studies = 48), and implicit (N studies = 41) and explicit (N studies = 19) emotion regulation processes.

RESULTS

Explicit emotion regulation was associated with activation in frontal, temporal, and parietal regions, whereas both implicit regulation and emotion reactivity were associated with activation in the amygdala and posterior temporal regions. During implicit regulation, adolescents exhibited more consistent activation of the amygdala, fusiform gyrus, and thalamus than emerging adults, who showed more consistent activation in the posterior superior temporal sulcus.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that emotion reactivity and regulation in developmental samples engage a robust group of regions that are implicated in bottom-up and top-down emotional responding. Adolescents are also more likely to recruit regions involved in early stages of emotion processing during implicit regulation, while emerging adults recruit higher-order regions involved in the extraction of semantic meaning. Findings have implications for future research aiming to better understand the neurodevelopmental mechanisms underlying risk for psychopathology.