Data Extravaganza Presentation - 7 minutes International Positive Psychology Association 7th IPPA World Congress 2021

Emotion Regulation Strategies that Best Predict Subjective Wellbeing and Post-Traumatic Growth during the COVID-19 Pandemic (#81)

Jahnvi Jain 1 , James Floman 1 , Annette Ponnock 1 , Marc Brackett 1
  1. Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a significant physical and psychological toll on the nation. As of July 2020, approximately 40% of the United States population reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, compared to 11% reporting such symptoms in 2019 (CDC, 2020). Deploying ‘adaptive’ emotion regulation (ER) strategies during times of heightened stress can foster emotional resilience and wellbeing (Hu et al., 2014).

Hypotheses/Research Questions: This longitudinal study investigated which ER strategies traditionally thought to be adaptive best predicted subjective wellbeing and post-traumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sample Characteristics and Sample Size: Participants consisted of a large (N=3630) sample of U.S. school-based professionals. Gender (84% female) and race (77% white) were largely representative of this population.

Design: We administered an online survey assessing 16 ER strategies and measures of wellbeing in June (T1) and August (T2) of 2020.

Results: As predicted, greater reported use of adaptive ER strategies at T1 in almost all cases predicted higher subjective wellbeing (i.e., higher positive affect and life satisfaction, and lower negative affect) and more post-traumatic growth at T2 (rs=.05 to .48, p<.05).  We also calculated mean effect sizes for each ER strategy to determine which were most predictive of psychological health across all indicators; the most effective strategies were self-compassion (r=.31), gratitude (r=.30), positive reappraisal (r=.27), positive self-talk (r=.27), and labeling emotions (r=.22). This pattern largely held for white and non-white participants alike (sample size limitations required dichotomizing race), suggesting these ER strategies confer broad-spectrum utility.

Scientific Contribution: Self-compassion, gratitude, positive reappraisal, positive self-talk, and labeling emotions are skills that can be developed with intentional practice (Gross, 2014). Although causation cannot be inferred from observational data, these findings may inform public health efforts to bolster psychological resilience during the pandemic by highlighting the most beneficial ER strategies that all citizens can cultivate.

  1. CDC. (2020, October 21). Mental Health—Household Pulse Survey—COVID-19. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm
  2. Gross, J. J., & Thompson, R. (2007). Handbook of emotion regulation. Emotion regulation: Conceptual foundations, 3–26.
  3. Hu, T., Zhang, D., Wang, J., Mistry, R., Ran, G., & Wang, X. (2014). Relation between emotion regulation and mental health: A meta-analysis review. Psychological Reports, 114, 341–362. doi: 10.2466/03.20.PR0.114k22w4.
  • Keywords: Coping and Emotion Regulation, Positive emotions, Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth