Emotion Regulation Strategies in Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Youth: A Meta-Analytic Review.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Meta-analysis of observational/correlational studies
PubMed 27734198 · doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0585-0
What was done
The authors conducted a meta-analytic review of 35 studies (68 effect sizes) evaluating associations between habitual use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal, problem solving, acceptance) and maladaptive strategies (avoidance, suppression, rumination) with depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents. Random-effects models were used to calculate overall and symptom-specific associations, and meta-regression evaluated age as a continuous moderator.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical effect sizes, confidence intervals, or p-values. Habitual use of all tested emotion regulation strategies was significantly associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms: adaptive strategies showed negative associations and maladaptive strategies showed positive associations. Depressive and anxiety symptoms displayed similar patterns, with acceptance showing the strongest negative associations and avoidance and rumination showing the strongest positive associations.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that specific emotion regulation habits, particularly acceptance, avoidance, and rumination, serve as shared transdiagnostic correlates of both anxiety and depressive symptoms during adolescence.
Limits
The abstract provides no numerical effect estimates, confidence intervals, or total participant sample size. Because the underlying evidence comprises observational and cross-sectional associations, the analysis cannot establish whether emotion regulation habits cause, maintain, or result from youth affective symptoms.