Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Dev Psychobiol. 2021 Jul;63(5):1202-1209. doi: 10.1002/dev.22078. Epub 2020 Dec 28.
Early adversity, including institutional orphanage care, is associated with the development of internalizing disorders. Previous research suggests that institutionalization can disrupt emotion regulation processes, which contribute to internalizing symptoms. However, no prior work has investigated how early orphanage care shapes emotion regulation strategy usage (e.g., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) and whether the said strategy usage contributes to internalizing symptoms. This study probed emotion regulation strategy usage and internalizing symptoms in a sample of 36 previously institutionalized and 58 comparison youth. As hypothesized, previously institutionalized youth exhibited higher rates of internalizing symptoms than comparison youth, and more frequent use of suppression partially accounted for the relationship between early institutional care and elevated internalizing symptoms. Contrary to our initial hypotheses, reappraisal use did not buffer previously institutionalized or comparison youth against internalizing symptoms. Our findings highlight the potential utility of targeting emotion regulation strategy usage in adversity-exposed youth in future intervention work.
早期逆境，包括机构孤儿院照护，与内化障碍的发展有关。先前的研究表明，机构化会破坏情绪调节过程，从而导致内化症状。然而，之前的研究尚未探讨早期孤儿院照护如何塑造情绪调节策略的使用（例如，认知重评、表达抑制），以及所述策略的使用是否会导致内化症状。本研究在一个由 36 名曾被机构收养和 58 名对照组青年组成的样本中探究了情绪调节策略的使用和内化症状。正如假设的那样，曾被机构收养的青年比对照组青年表现出更高的内化症状发生率，而更频繁地使用抑制部分解释了早期机构照顾与内化症状升高之间的关系。与我们最初的假设相反，再评价的使用并不能缓冲曾被机构收养或对照组青年的内化症状。我们的研究结果强调了针对逆境暴露的青年情绪调节策略使用的潜在效用，这可能对未来的干预工作具有重要意义。
