Broadening the scope of research on emotion regulation strategies and psychopathology

Abstract

Despite the increasing interest in the study of emotion regulation strategies and psychopathology, researchers have predominantly focused on covert emotion regulation strategies-that is, those strategies that occur within the individual (e.g., cognitive reappraisal, suppression). Conversely, less attention has been devoted to the examination of the relationship between psychopathology and overt emotion regulation strategies (e.g., drinking alcohol, seeking advice). This has resulted in a limited understanding of the complex repertoire of emotion regulation strategies that individuals possess, and how patterns in the use of strategies might relate to psychopathology. We asked 218 undergraduates to report on their habitual use of 15 covert and overt emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of seven different mental disorders. Overt strategies were associated with symptoms and, at times, they predicted psychopathology above and beyond the more frequently studied covert strategies. These findings have implications for developing a more sophisticated understanding of patterns of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation.