scholarly journals Social Support Predicts Differential Use, But Not Differential Effectiveness, of Expressive Suppression and Social Sharing in Daily Life

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisanne Sarah Pauw ◽  
Hayley Medland ◽  
Sarah Paling ◽  
Ella Moeck ◽  
Katharine Helen Greenaway ◽  
...  

While emotion regulation often happens in the presence of others, little is known about how social context shapes regulatory efforts and outcomes. One key element of the social context is social support. In two experience sampling studies (Ns = 179 and 123), we examined how the use and affective consequences of two fundamentally social emotion regulation strategies—social sharing and expressive suppression—vary as a function of perceived social support. Across both studies, we found evidence that perceived social support predicted variation in people’s use of these strategies, such that higher levels of social support predicted more sharing and less suppression. However, we found only limited and inconsistent support for context-dependent affective outcomes of suppression and sharing: suppression was associated with better affective consequences in the context of higher perceived social support in Study 1, but this effect did not replicate in Study 2. Taken together, these findings suggest that the use of social emotion regulation strategies appears to depend on contextual variability in social support, whereas their effectiveness does not. Future research is needed to better understand the circumstances in which context-dependent use of emotion regulation may have emotional benefits, accounting for personal, situational, and cultural factors.

Author(s):  
Laura Antonia Lucia Parolin ◽  
Ilaria Maria Antonietta Benzi ◽  
Erika Fanti ◽  
Alberto Milesi ◽  
Pietro Cipresso ◽  
...  

The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted individuals’ psychological wellbeing resulting in heightened perceived stress, anxiety, and depression. However, a significant issue in accessing psychological care during a lockdown is the lack of access to in-person interventions. In this regard, research has shown the efficacy and utility of psychological app-based interventions. ‘Italia Ti Ascolto’ (ITA) has been developed as a population tailored internet-based intervention to offer an online professional solution for psychological support needs. The ITA app is available on iOS and Android systems. Users completed a baseline assessment on emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), psychological stress, anxiety, depression, and perceived social support. Participants could select among several one-hour long clinical groups held by expert psychotherapists. After every session, people were asked to complete a quick users’ satisfaction survey. Our contribution presents ITA’s intervention protocol and discusses preliminary data on psychological variables collected at baseline. Data showed significant associations between emotion regulation strategies, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and level of stress. Moreover, the role of perceived social support is considered. Future developments and implications for clinical practice and treatment are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edita Kristofora ◽  
Agustina Hendriati

Adolescents are prone to emotional turmoil. Feedback received from the environment, as a form of support, is required in the process of emotion regulation. Thus, it can be assumed that perceived social support will be associated with emotion regulation. However, research linking both variables has so far included only the relationship between quality social support and a single one of the emotion regulation strategies in late adolescence. This study fills the gap, and aims to examine the relationship between quantity and quality of perceived social support with emotion regulation strategies across the entire adolescent age range in Jakarta. The measuring tool used was the Social Support Questionnaire 6 (quantity of perceived social support and perceived social support satisfaction) and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies). The sample comprised  adolescents in Jakarta who had achieved formal educational levels, and who came from families with middle to lower level Status Ekonomi Social (SES; Socio-Economic Status; N = 427). The authors used Pearson Product Correlation and linear regression data analysis techniques. The results showed that thequantity of perceived social support was not significantly associated witheither dimension of emotion regulation. Perceived social support satisfaction was significantly associated with both dimensions of emotional regulation.   Teenagers are prone to emotional turmoil. Feedback received from the environment as a form of support is required in the process of emotional regulation. Thus, it can be assumed that perceived social support will be associated to emotion regulation. But researches linking both variables so far only included the relationship of quality social support and one of the emotion regulation strategies in late adolescence. This study fills the gap and aims to examine the relationship between quantity and quality of perceived social support with emotion regulation strategies across the entire adolescence age range in Jakarta. The measuring tool used was Social Support Questionnaire 6 (number of perceived social support and perceived social support satisfaction) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies). The sample was adolescents who have formal education in Jakarta and come from families with middle to lower Status Ekonomi Social (SES; Socio-Economic Status; N = 427). The authors used Pearson Product Correlation and linear regression data analysis techniques. The results showed that the number of perceived social support was not significantly associated with both dimensions of emotion regulation. Perceived social support satisfaction was significantly associated with both dimensions of emotional regulation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji ◽  
Charity Ngozi Uzuegbu ◽  
Comfort Victoria Chukwu ◽  
Chuka Mike Ifeagwazi ◽  
Chinedu Ugwu

Several studies have reported the independent roles of social support and emotion regulation in death anxiety. However, there is sparse literature on mediating role of emotion regulatory mechanisms in the link between social support and death anxiety. This study examined whether social support predicts multidimensional death anxiety as a function of emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) among people living with HIV/AIDS. Participants were 186 people living with HIV/AIDS (mean age = 34.16 years, standard deviation = 11.16; 56.5% women) drawn from the HIV/AIDS care unit of a tertiary health care institution in south-eastern Nigeria. Data were obtained by means of self-report measures of death anxiety, social support, and emotion regulation. A serial mediation analysis was conducted using Model 6 of the Hayes PROCESS macro for SPSS® which applies two mediators for each single analysis in a regression-based, path-analytical framework. The results showed that emotion regulation strategies, especially expressive suppression, was the indirect pathway through which social support from friends and significant others reduces death anxiety in aspects of death acceptance and death thoughts, but not for externally generated death anxiety and death finality. The mediation mechanism through family support was found for only death acceptance. Findings support existing mental health research and theories elucidating core social mechanisms of emotion regulation in relation to mental health and highlight the recognition of functional roles of multidimensional support in comprehensive case management services for helping people living with HIV/AIDS maintain their health. The study endorses improved social networks as part of the overall care for people living with HIV/AIDS.


Psych ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Ana F. Trueba ◽  
Graham Pluck

Adolescents in foster care are exposed to maltreatment and inadequate social support which can have lasting repercussions on their emotional development. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of social support on the use of emotional regulation strategies in Ecuadorian adolescents in foster care and non-foster peers. This study recruited 181 adolescents, 56 in foster care and 123 non-foster peers, from various locations in Quito, Ecuador. Participants completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Using linear regression, we found that being in foster care was related to lower perceived social support. The non-foster care control group reported using more emotion regulation strategies, both adaptive and maladaptive (acceptance, rumination, refocusing to planning, and self-blaming), than the foster care group. Greater social support was associated with the use of more positive strategies (reappraisal, positive refocusing, and refocusing to planning) and less maladaptive strategies (catastrophizing). Youth in foster care have less social support than their non-foster peers. This puts them at risk, as social support has an important role in the use of healthy emotion regulation skills in adolescents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Zhao ◽  
Zongmei Fu ◽  
Xi Lian ◽  
Linning Ye ◽  
Wei Huang

Maintaining the emotional well-being of learners during a pandemic is important. This study explored the effects of two emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) and perceived control on full remote learners' anxiety during Covid-19, and their relationship to perceived learning. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze 239 questionnaires completed by Chinese graduate students taking a course remotely from home for 13 weeks. This study showed that reappraisal was positively related to perceived control, whereas suppression was negatively related to perceived control. Reappraisers perceived more learning, whereas suppressors experienced more anxiety. Anxiety was significantly and negatively related to perceived learning. Mediation analyses showed the existence of different patterns of mediation in the pathways from the two types of emotion regulation to perceived learning. These findings are discussed in relation to relevant studies conducted during non-pandemic periods and Covid-19, and based on the results we highlight the need for interventions aimed at developing adaptive emotion regulation strategies and reducing anxiety in emergency remote learning.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine Helen Greenaway ◽  
Elise Katherine Kalokerinos ◽  
Sienna Hinton ◽  
Guy Hawkins

Research has begun to investigate how goals for emotion experience—how people want to feel—influence the selection of emotion regulation strategies to achieve these goals. We make the case that it is not only how people want to feel that affects strategy selection, but also how they want to be seen to feel. Incorporating this expressive dimension distinguishes four unique emotion goals: (1) to experience and express emotion; (2) to experience but not express emotion; (3) to express but not experience emotion; and (4) to neither experience nor express emotion. In six experiments, we investigated whether these goals influenced choices between six common emotion regulation strategies. Rumination and amplification were selected most often to meet Goal 1—to experience and express emotion. Expressive suppression was chosen most often to meet Goal 2—to experience but not express emotion. Amplification was chosen most often to meet Goal 3—to express but not experience emotion. Finally, distraction was chosen most often to meet Goal 4—to neither experience nor express emotion. Despite not being chosen most for any specific goal, reappraisal was the most commonly selected strategy overall. Our findings introduce a new concept to the emotion goals literature and reveal new insights into the process of emotion regulation strategy selection.


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