Positive Emotion Regulation Strategy Use Profiles and Relations to Depression in Youth

• In Event: Novel Associations between Positive Affect Regulation and Mental Health in Adolescence

Abstract

Positive emotions are related to subjective well-being in youth (Martin-Krumm, 2018; Young et al., 2019) and positive emotion regulation (ER) may be critical in the development and maintenance of internalizing symptoms (Young et al., 2019). Most studies on positive ER have focused on savoring, but there are many ways that youth may regulate positive emotions, such as engaging in sensation seeking, relaxation, and positive thinking. Research with negative ER also suggests having a wider range of strategies in one's repertoire enhances success at regulation and ER flexibility across contexts (Lougheed & Hollenstein, 2012). However, we propose that it is not only how many strategies youth use (Kagan, 1994), but the pattern of strategies (or ER profiles) youth use to regulate positive emotions that promotes resilience or incurs risk for internalizing problems. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the number and type of latent profiles that emerged from youths’ use of 10 positive ER strategies (see Figure 1) and differences in anxiety and depression between latent profiles.

We recruited on Instagram a diverse sample of 349 English-speaking 13-17-year-old youth (50% females; 32% non-binary/other gender; Mage = 15.7, SD = 1.2; 51.9% European American, 16.3% Hispanic, 11.7% Black/African American, 8% Asian, and 13% either American Indian/Alaska Native or another ethnicity). Youth reported on the frequency of using strategies to maintain and increase happiness on the Positive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (PERQ; McCullen, 2021). They also reported anxiety symptoms using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006) and depressive symptoms using the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire - Adolescent (PHQ-A; Johnson et al., 2002).

Latent profile analysis results indicated a 6-profile model as the best fitting model (log likelihood ratio = -8454.15; adjusted BIC = 17109.50; entropy = .80) as compared to models with 2-5 profiles. As shown in Figure 1, most of the profiles were distinguished as varying in levels of strategy use (low to high) across all 10 strategies. However, two unique profiles that emerged were characterized by either mainly using personal growth strategies more frequently than other strategies (profile 3) or using more frequently sensation seeking and fantasizing as opposed to other strategies available to them (profile 4). ANOVA results indicated there was a significant difference in depression (but not anxiety) among profiles. Tukey HSD post hoc analyses revealed that depression was significantly lower for youth in profile 3 compared to profiles 1, 4, and 5. Further, depression was significantly higher for people in profile 4 compared to profiles 2, 3, and 6.

Our study makes an incremental contribution to the positive ER literature by showing unique patterns of positive ER strategy use. Our findings also extend prior research (Young et al., 2019) and suggests that certain positive ER profiles may indicate protective (high personal growth only) or risk (high sensation seeking and fantasizing) for experiencing depressive symptoms. We will further discuss implications of our findings to conceptualizing ER strategies categorially and possible relations to the tripartite model of anxiety and depression (Clark & Watson, 1991).

Authors

• Jennifer McCullen

• Ashleigh Hilton, Montana State University
  Presenting Author

• Brandon Glynn Scott, Montana State University