Waizman Yael H, Sedykin Anna E, Guassi Moreira João F, Saragosa-Harris Natalie M, Silvers Jennifer A, Peris Tara S
Los Angeles, CA USA Department of Psychology, University of Southern California.
Seattle, WA USA Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington.
Affect Sci. 2023 May 8;4(2):275-290. doi: 10.1007/s42761-023-00187-0. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Emotion regulation (ER) strategies and beliefs about emotions (implicit theories of emotions; ITE) may shape psychosocial outcomes during turbulent times, including the transition to adulthood and college while encountering stressors. The normative stressors associated with these transitions were compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a novel opportunity to examine how emerging adults (EAs) cope with sustained stressors. Stress exposures can heighten existing individual differences and serve as "turning points" that predict psychosocial trajectories. This pre-registered study (https://osf.io/k8mes) of 101 EAs (18-19 years old) examined whether ITE (believing emotions can change or not; incremental vs. entity beliefs) and ER strategy usage (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression usage) predicted changes in anxiety symptomatology and feelings of loneliness across five longitudinal assessments (across a 6-month period) before and during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. On average, EAs' anxiety decreased after the pandemic outbreak but returned to baseline over time, while loneliness remained relatively unchanged across time. ITE explained variance in anxiety across time over and above reappraisal use. Conversely, reappraisal use explained variance in loneliness over and above ITE. For both anxiety and loneliness, suppression use resulted in maladaptive psychosocial outcomes across time. Thus, interventions that target ER strategies and ITE may ameliorate risk and promote resilience in EAs who experience increased instability.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-023-00187-0.
情绪调节（ER）策略以及对情绪的信念（情绪内隐理论；ITE）可能会在动荡时期塑造心理社会结果，包括在向成年期和大学过渡并遭遇压力源时。与这些过渡相关的规范性压力源因新冠疫情而更加复杂，这为研究新兴成年人（EAs）如何应对持续的压力源提供了一个新机会。压力暴露会加剧现有的个体差异，并成为预测心理社会轨迹的“转折点”。这项对101名新兴成年人（18 - 19岁）进行的预先注册研究（https://osf.io/k8mes）考察了ITE（相信情绪能否改变；渐变信念与实体信念）和ER策略使用情况（认知重评和表达抑制的使用）是否能预测在新冠疫情初期之前及期间的五个纵向评估（在6个月期间）中焦虑症状和孤独感的变化。平均而言，疫情爆发后新兴成年人的焦虑有所下降，但随着时间推移又回到了基线水平，而孤独感在整个时间段内相对保持不变。ITE在重评使用之外解释了焦虑随时间变化的方差。相反，重评使用在ITE之外解释了孤独感的方差。对于焦虑和孤独感而言，表达抑制的使用在整个时间段内都导致了适应不良的心理社会结果。因此，针对ER策略和ITE的干预措施可能会降低风险，并促进经历更多不稳定情况的新兴成年人的复原力。
在线版本包含可在10.1 / s42761 - 023 - 00187 - 0获取的补充材料。
