title: Reappraisal and suppression mediate the contribution of regulatory focus to anxiety in healthy adults.
abstract: Theory and research link regulatory focus (RF) in the form of promotion and prevention goal orientation with internalizing symptoms (e.g., anxiety), but the relevant mechanisms are not well understood. This study investigated the role of two emotion regulation (ER) strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) as possible mediators. Path analysis using data from 179 healthy young participants (110 women, 69 men) revealed that stronger promotion orientation was significantly associated with less anxiety, and that the use of reappraisal and suppression partially mediated this association. Prevention was associated with more suppression but was not directly associated with anxiety. There were no gender differences in these effects. Collectively, these findings suggest that effective ER, through heightened use of reappraisal and dampened use of suppression, serves as a mechanism through which promotion confers protection against anxiety. This research provides empirical support to initiatives aimed at promoting healthy psychological adjustment and preventing anxiety, by optimizing ER strategies with respect to RF goal orientations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois-Champaign.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Llewellyn
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois-Champaign.
authors.forename: Sanda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dolcos
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Program, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: Alexandru D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Iordan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois-Champaign.
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Program, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: Florin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dolcos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult