Abstract
Objectives: Identify the five families of emotion regulation strategies outlined in Gross’ (1998) Process Model of Emotion Regulation.; Explain how socio-emotional theories of development relate to potential age differences in the use of emotion regulation strategies.; Identify how the use of a micro-longitudinal design may contribute to the study of emotion regulation across the adult lifespan in a natural, day-to-day context.
Abstract Body: Socio-emotional theories of development suggest that younger and older adults differ in their use of emotion regulation strategies. However, despite growing interest in the field of emotion regulation, few comprehensive studies have examined how age may affect adults’ abilities to regulate their emotions. Moreover, research regarding the use of emotion regulation strategies in the natural, day-to-day lives of younger and older adults is scarce. This poster outlines the methodological approach used in a new, ongoing study of developmental differences in emotion regulation strategy use (e.g., situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, reappraisal, and response modulation). A micro-longitudinal design was employed in which younger (aged 17–25) and older (aged 65 and over) adults completed questionnaires regarding their personality and emotion regulation strategy use at an initial baseline assessment, then daily, over a period of 20 consecutive days. Preliminary analyses point to age differences in the use of both habitual (e.g., reappraisal) and daily (e.g., situation selection, counterfactual thinking, rumination) emotion regulation strategies. Additionally, individual difference variables including extraversion, mastery, and optimism were found to be related to the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies. Given problems with emotion regulation are believed to play a key role in the development and maintenance of a number of psychological disorders, the results of the present study may ultimately be informative for promoting good mental health across the adult lifespan
Abstract Body: Socio-emotional theories of development suggest that younger and older adults differ in their use of emotion regulation strategies. However, despite growing interest in the field of emotion regulation, few comprehensive studies have examined how age may affect adults’ abilities to regulate their emotions. Moreover, research regarding the use of emotion regulation strategies in the natural, day-to-day lives of younger and older adults is scarce. This poster outlines the methodological approach used in a new, ongoing study of developmental differences in emotion regulation strategy use (e.g., situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, reappraisal, and response modulation). A micro-longitudinal design was employed in which younger (aged 17–25) and older (aged 65 and over) adults completed questionnaires regarding their personality and emotion regulation strategy use at an initial baseline assessment, then daily, over a period of 20 consecutive days. Preliminary analyses point to age differences in the use of both habitual (e.g., reappraisal) and daily (e.g., situation selection, counterfactual thinking, rumination) emotion regulation strategies. Additionally, individual difference variables including extraversion, mastery, and optimism were found to be related to the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies. Given problems with emotion regulation are believed to play a key role in the development and maintenance of a number of psychological disorders, the results of the present study may ultimately be informative for promoting good mental health across the adult lifespan
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 359 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Journal | The Gerontologist |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | Supp 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2015 |
| Event | Gerontological Society of America 68th Annual Scientific Meeting - Orlando, United States Duration: 18 Nov 2015 → 22 Nov 2015 |
