Resilience as a moderator of the association between emotion regulation difficulties and depressive symptoms in late adolescence and young adulthood
Kaitlynn E. Ellis, Gabrielle E. Reimann, Camille Archer, E. Leighton Durham, Hee Jung Jeong, Amar Camara, Antonia N. KaczkurkinAbstract
Objectives
Difficulties in emotion regulation are well‐established correlates of depressive symptoms, yet the role of resilience in these associations remains unclear. This study examined whether the relationship between emotion regulation and depressive symptoms differs across levels of resilience and whether this pattern varies across specific domains of emotion regulation.
Design
Cross‐sectional study examining interactions between emotion regulation and resilience in relation to depressive symptoms during late adolescence and young adulthood.
Methods
2155 individuals (ages 17–23) completed measures of emotion regulation, resilience and depressive symptoms. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS‐SF) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were used to assess multiple domains of emotion regulation. Models controlled for age, sex and shared variance across emotion regulation constructs, with correction for multiple comparisons.
Results
Resilience was associated with differences in the strength of the relationship between emotion regulation and depressive symptoms. Across all DERS‐SF subscales and the total DERS‐SF score, the association between emotion regulation difficulties and depressive symptoms was stronger at lower levels of resilience. A similar pattern was observed for cognitive reappraisal, whereas expressive suppression did not show a significant interaction. Interaction effects across DERS‐SF domains were similar in magnitude, while cognitive reappraisal showed the strongest association.
Conclusions
Findings indicate that the association between emotion regulation and depressive symptoms varies across levels of resilience. These results highlight the importance of considering both general emotion regulation difficulties and broader adaptive capacities when examining variability in depressive symptoms during late adolescence and young adulthood.