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The Association of Emotion Regulation Flexibility and Negative and Positive Affect in Daily Life.

ABSTRACT: In contrast to traditional classifications of emotion regulation (ER) strategies as either uniformly maladaptive or adaptive, recent theoretical models emphasize that adaptability is determined by greater ER flexibility (i.e., the ability to flexibly implement and adjust ER strategies based on the context). This study is the first to empirically test the two central perspectives of ER flexibility on affect. A sample of 384 adults (M _age=38.58 years, SD=13.82) residing predominantly in North America completed daily diaries for 14 days. We found evidence that theoretical components of ER flexibility, as defined by greater context sensitivity in the selection of ER strategies, greater ER strategy repertoire, enhanced responsivity to affective feedback, and ER-environmental covariation, were associated with adaptive affective outcomes (i.e., reduced negative affect and/or increased positive affect). This study highlights the importance of examining ER flexibility and its consequences as a critical component of ER.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00132-7.

SUBMITTER: Battaglini AM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9398899 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Association of Emotion Regulation Flexibility and Negative and Positive Affect in Daily Life.

Battaglini Ashley M AM Rnic Katerina K Jameson Taylyn T Jopling Ellen E Albert Arianne Y AY LeMoult Joelle J

Affective science 20220824 3

In contrast to traditional classifications of emotion regulation (ER) strategies as either uniformly maladaptive or adaptive, recent theoretical models emphasize that adaptability is determined by greater ER flexibility (i.e., the ability to flexibly implement and adjust ER strategies based on the context). This study is the first to empirically test the two central perspectives of ER flexibility on affect. A sample of 384 adults (M age=38.58 years, SD=13.82) resi ...[more]

PMID: 36035623

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Project description:BackgroundWhile negative affect (NA) typically increases risk for binge eating, the ultimate impact of NA may depend on a person's ability to regulate their emotions. In this daily, longitudinal study, we examined whether emotion regulation (ER) modified the strength of NA-dysregulated eating associations.MethodsWomen (N = 311) from the Michigan State University Twin Registry first reported dimensional binge eating symptoms and broad ER difficulties (e.g., limited emotional awareness, difficulty controlling emotional impulses). Participants then rated use of adaptive (cognitive reappraisal, social sharing, situation modification, and acceptance) and maladaptive (rumination, expressive suppression, and self-criticism) ER strategies, emotional eating (EE), objective binge eating (OBE), and NA once daily for 49 consecutive days.ResultsThere were several main effects of ER on binge-eating pathology in both between-person (i.e., comparing women who differed on average) and within-person (i.e., examining fluctuations in variables day-to-day) analyses. Between-person, greater broad ER difficulties, greater maladaptive strategy use, and lower adaptive strategy use were all associated with greater binge-eating pathology. Within-person, greater maladaptive strategy use was associated with greater odds of OBE on that day and on the following day. However, neither broad ER difficulties nor use of specific strategies moderated associations between NA and dysregulated eating in between- or within-person analyses.ConclusionsWhile ER is independently associated with risk for dysregulated eating, it may not fully mitigate the impact of NA. Additional strategies (e.g., decreasing environmental stressors and increasing social support) may be needed to minimize NA and its impact on dysregulated eating.Public significanceNegative affect (NA; e.g., sadness, guilt) increases dysregulated eating risk. Because NA is sometimes unavoidable, we examined whether emotion regulation (ER; i.e., how a person responds to their emotions) might impact whether NA leads to dysregulated eating. Although more effective ER was associated with less dysregulated eating overall, ER did not impact the association between NA and dysregulated eating. Other approaches may therefore be needed to mitigate NA-dysregulated eating associations.

Dataset Information

The Association of Emotion Regulation Flexibility and Negative and Positive Affect in Daily Life.

Supplementary information

Publications

The Association of Emotion Regulation Flexibility and Negative and Positive Affect in Daily Life.

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