A multisample investigation of links between individual differences in emotion dysregulation and perceived helpfulness of interpersonal emotion regulation interactions.

Abstract

Prior theory and research offer competing predictions for associations between intrapersonal emotion (dys)regulation and interpersonal emotion regulation (IER). One possibility is that difficulties recognizing, accepting, or managing one's emotions might tend to interfere with seeking or benefiting from IER. Alternatively, people who struggle to regulate their emotions by themselves might nevertheless be able to outsource regulatory functions or capitalize on regulatory support effectively, such that benefits of IER might be preserved or even amplified. We conducted secondary analyses of five samples (Ns = 90-381) collected between 2016 and 2020 to examine links between individual differences in intrapersonal emotion (dys)regulation and reported desire for, seeking of, and helpfulness of receiving IER. The samples consisted of students at a public university in California (Samples 1-3), romantic couples recruited predominantly from the Greater San Francisco Bay Area community (Sample 4), and adults reporting difficulties with emotion-related impulsivity enrolled in an online intervention to reduce aggression (Sample 5). Methods varied across samples, including questionnaires, autobiographical recall, nightly diaries, and ecological momentary assessment. Across samples, individual differences in emotion dysregulation, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression were more robustly tied to perceived helpfulness of IER than reported desire for IER. More specifically, emotion dysregulation and suppression use were negatively associated with helpfulness, whereas reappraisal use was positively associated with helpfulness; however, some results were inconsistent across samples. We examine these consistencies and inconsistencies considering differences in sample characteristics and methods. We discuss conceptual and practical implications of these findings alongside strengths, limitations, and future directions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).