Poster #216 - The Underlying Emotion Processes of Adolescent Risk Behaviors

• In Event: 2-055 - Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

As a developmental period, adolescence confers vulnerabilities for engagement in risk behaviors as a result of gaps in brain maturation (Steinberg, 2007), higher levels of emotional reactivity (Silvers et al., 2012), and the social context of peers (Steinberg, 2005). While, there is a vast amount of research on adolescents’ risk behaviors and associated outcomes, we know little about the underlying processes that shape such behavior. One important underlying process associated with adolescent risk and behavioral outcomes is the expression and regulation of emotion. Adolescents who have difficulty expressing emotion and those with particular emotion regulation profiles show deficits in social functioning, as well as an increase in risk-taking and problem behaviors (Zeman, Cassano, Perry-Parrish, & Stegall, 2006). Therefore, emotional development—related to both expression and regulation—has important implications for how adolescents adapt to and behave in social contexts (Hare et al., 2008; Hessler & Katz, 2010; Vorbach & Foster, 2003).

The current study examines whether the relation between adolescent emotion expression and engagement in risk behaviors is specific to the type of emotion expressed (i.e., positive or negative expression), and if the use of an adaptive emotion regulation strategy—reappraisal—has further influence. One-hundred and eight adolescents (92% African American, 50% male, Mage = 14.34 years old) provided self-report of emotion expression, emotion regulation, and frequency of engagement in risk behaviors such as smoking, underage drinking, and leaving school. Two moderation models were conducted in SPSS using a regression method to assess whether expression of positive and negative emotions predicted engagement in risk behaviors, and whether this is moderated by the use of reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy.

Controlling for adolescent age, gender, and pubertal status the model examining the relation between negative emotion expression and risk behaviors did not yield a significant interaction. However, the model examining the relation between positive emotion expression and risk behaviors was significant, F (6, 100) = 3.46, p < .01. Use of reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy significantly moderated the relation between positive emotion expression and risk behaviors such that, less risk was associated with greater expression of positive emotions at higher levels of reappraisal. Both models (negative and positive emotion expression) yielded a significant main effect of emotion regulation on risk behaviors. Specifically, greater self-report of reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy was associated with less engagement in risk behaviors.

Results of the current study has implications for our understanding of the overlapping roles of emotion and cognition in shaping the decisions adolescents make about whether or not to engage in risky behavior. Importantly, these results suggest that to promote positive development; interventions should focus on strategies that aid the development and deployment of emotion regulation skills as adapted to fit within contexts of risk specific to adolescents.

Authors

• Tennisha N Riley, Indiana University
  Presenting Author

• Marian Shenoda, Virginia Commonwealth University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica Antiskay, Virginia Commonwealth University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Zewelanji Serpell, Virginia Commonwealth University
  Non-Presenting Author