Affect regulation and allostatic load over time

Abstract

Objective: Emerging work suggests that affect regulation strategies (e.g., active coping, anger expression) predict disease and mortality risk, with sometimes divergent estimates by sex or education levels. However, few studies have examined potential underlying biological mechanisms. This study assessed the longitudinal association of affect regulation with future allostatic load.

Method: In 2004-2006, 574 participants from the Midlife in the United States study completed validated scales assessing use of nine general and emotion-specific regulatory strategies (e.g., denial, anger expression). As a proxy for how flexibly participants regulate their affect, variability in the use of regulatory strategies was operationalized using a standard deviation-based algorithm and considered categorically (i.e., lower, moderate, greater variability) to assess non-linear effects. Participants also provided data on relevant covariates and 24 allostatic load biomarkers (e.g., cortisol, blood pressure). In 2017-2021, these biomarkers were again collected. Linear regressions modeled betas (β) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) examining associations of affect regulatory constructs with future allostatic load.

Results: In fully-adjusted models including initial allostatic load, general regulatory strategies were unrelated to future allostatic load. Yet, greater versus moderate affect regulation variability levels predicted lower allostatic load (β=-0.14; 95 %CI: -0.27, -0.01). Only among more educated participants, greater use of anger expression predicted lower allostatic load, while the reverse was noted with anger control (β_expression=-0.12; 95 %CI: -0.20, -0.05; β_control=0.14; 95 %CI: 0.05, 0.24).

Conclusions: While general regulatory strategies appeared unrelated to allostatic load, greater variability in their use and anger-related strategies showed predictive value. Subsequent studies should examine these associations in larger, more diverse samples.

Keywords: Affect regulation; Allostatic load; Anger; Coping; Coping variability; Emotion regulation.

Figure 1.

Associations of emotion-specific regulatory strategies and allostatic load, stratified by highest level of education. Notes. Models are adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and health status (core Model 3). Stratified sample sizes do not add up to the total N=574 because one participant only had missing data on education level. Nonetheless, these analyses were computed after multiple imputation, on N=574.