Citation

Urano Y, Ikeda T, Mearns J. Pers. Individ. Dif. 2022; 188: e111445.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.paid.2021.111445

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Studies have shown that interpersonal factors moderate the association between emotion regulation strategies and mental health. Although, there are limited studies on the effect of receiving social support for emotion regulation on mental health. We conducted three studies to examine the effects of assistance from others with emotion regulation on mental health. In Studies 1 and 2, we developed the Received Assistance in Regulating Emotions Questionnaire (RAREQ), a measure of assistance that individuals received when in distress, and reported preliminary validity data. Factor analysis confirmed attentional assistance and cognitive assistance as independent dimensions. In Study 3, we examined the RAREQ's concurrent and predictive validity for mental health. Concurrently, RAREQ scores moderated the relationship between maladaptive regulation strategies and happiness: the relationship was weaker for participants who received high levels of attentional assistance. Prospectively, RAREQ cognitive assistance significantly predicted happiness at Time 2.

RESULTS support the differential effects of receiving emotion regulatory assistance for improving emotion regulation and mental health. The RAREQ appears useful for examining of the role of social support in the emotion regulation process. Future research should examine how social context influences the effects of emotion regulatory assistance.

Language: en

Keywords

Attentional assistance; Cognitive assistance; Emotion regulation; Mental health; Prospective study; Social Support