Daily use of digital technologies to feel better: Adolescents' digital emotion regulation, emotions, loneliness, and recovery, considering prior emotional problems.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents report using digital technologies for emotion regulation (digital ER), with the aim of feeling better (i.e., improving emotions and reducing loneliness). In this 7-day diary study, we investigated associations of digital ER, emotions, and loneliness, and tested whether prior emotional problems moderated these associations. METHOD: Participants were 312 Australian adolescents (Mage = 13.91, SD = 1.52; 44% boys). Daily surveys measured digital ER; end-of-day happiness, sadness, worry, anger, and loneliness; and peak sadness, worry, and anger. End-of day emotions were subtracted from peak emotions to calculate emotion recovery for sadness, worry, and anger. Participants were randomly selected from two symptom strata (high/low) defined by depression and social anxiety measures collected before the diary. Data were analyzed using multilevel path modeling. Cross-level interactions tested whether symptom strata moderated associations. RESULTS: Digital ER was associated with more recovery from peak to end-of-day sadness and worry, but also with increased sadness, worry, anger, and loneliness by the next end-of-day. Higher end-of-day loneliness was associated with increased next-day digital ER. Prior emotional symptoms were not a significant moderator of daily digital ER and emotion associations. CONCLUSION: Adolescents who report more digital ER in a day show more recovery from the peak of negative emotion that day, but this recovery dissipates, with digital ER also associated with increased negative emotion and loneliness by the next day for all adolescents, regardless of prior symptom status. Lonelier adolescents use more digital ER by the next day, suggesting they need support to make social connections-online or offline.

Parental Support and Adolescents' Coping with Academic Stressors: A Longitudinal Study of Parents' Influence Beyond Academic Pressure and Achievement.

Adolescents face many academic pressures that require good coping skills, but coping skills can also depend on social resources, such as parental support and fewer negative interactions. The aim of this study was to determine if parental support and parental negative interactions concurrently and longitudinally relate to adolescents' ways of academic coping, above and beyond the impact of three types of academic stress, students' achievement at school (i.e., grades in school), and age. Survey data were collected from 839 Australian students in grades 5 to 10 (Mage = 12.2, SD = 1.72; 50% girls). Students completed measures of support and negative interactions with parents; academic stress from workload, external pressure (teachers/parents) to achieve, and intrapsychic pressure for high achievement; and ways of academic coping that were grouped into two positive and two negative types. Hypothesized associations were tested concurrently and from one year to the next using path modeling. Beyond the numerous significant influences of academic stress and achievement on coping, and control for age and COVID-19 timing, adolescents with more parental support reported more use of engagement coping (e.g., strategizing) and comfort-seeking, whereas those who reported more negative interactions with parents reported more use of disengagement coping (e.g., concealment) and escape. In the longitudinal model, parental support predicted an increase in engagement and comfort-seeking and a decrease in disengagement coping, whereas negative interaction with parents predicted an increase in disengagement coping. Overall, the findings support the view that coping with academic stressors will continue to depend on parent-adolescent relationships even into the teen years.

A pattern-centered analysis of adolescents' concerns and hopes about future crises: Differences in ways of coping and personal adjustment.

INTRODUCTION: Many adolescents are concerned about global and future crises, such as the health of the planet or terrorism/safety. Yet, adolescents can also express hope about the future. Thus, asking adolescents about their concern and hope could yield subgroups with different ways of coping and personal adjustment. METHOD: Australian adolescents (N = 863; age 10-16) completed surveys to report their concern (worry and anger) and hope about the planet, safety, jobs, income, housing, and technology, as well as their active and avoidant coping, depression, and life satisfaction. RESULTS: Four distinct subgroups were identified using cluster analysis: Hopeful (low on concern and high on hope across all issues, 32%), Uninvolved (low in concern and hope; 26%), Concerned about the Planet (CP, 27%), and Concerned about Future Life (CFL, 15%). When compared (adjusting for age, sex, and COVID timing), the CP subgroup was highest in active coping (e.g., taking action) but moderate in personal adjustment. Hopeful had the most positive adjustment, whereas CFL had the poorest adjustment. Uninvolved were lowest in coping but moderate in adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest ways of coping and adjustment may not always align, in that CP is connected with more active coping but also some cost to personal adjustment, whereas Hopeful is associated with optimal adjustment but perhaps at the cost of active coping. In addition, although CFL adolescents emerged as the at-risk group, the low levels of hope and coping in Uninvolved adolescents raise the possibility that they are at risk of future problems.

Are you looking at me? A longitudinal vignette study of adolescent appearance rejection sensitivity and coping with peer evaluation.

Appearance rejection sensitivity (ARS) refers to anxiously over-expecting rejection because of perceived appearance flaws. ARS has been associated with poorer mental health, which suggests coping with stress may be negatively affected by ARS. In this study, we investigated if ARS was related to adolescents' emotions and ways of coping with negative appearance evaluation two years later (T2). Other potential correlates of emotions and ways of coping were also tested, including peer appearance teasing, social anxiety, and gender, as well as reports of victimization, social status, and attractiveness gathered from peers. At Time 1 (T1), 329 adolescents (M = 13.9 years, 54% girls) self-reported their ARS, experience of appearance teasing, and social anxiety. T1 appearance victimization, popularity, and attractiveness were measured using peer nominations, and peer likeability was measured with peer ratings. At T2, participants' emotions and coping were measured using vignettes portraying appearance evaluation by peers. In regression models, T1 ARS, appearance teasing, social anxiety and female gender were associated with more T2 negative emotions, social withdrawal, rumination, and (except for social anxiety) thoughts about appearance change. ARS was not significantly associated with T2 positive thinking or support seeking. No peer-report measure was significantly associated with T2 outcomes.

Emotion regulation and support from others: Buffering of body dysmorphic symptoms in adolescent and young adult men but not women.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents and young adults who overemphasize the social values placed on an attractive appearance may develop body dysmorphic symptoms (BDS), defined as over-preoccupation with perceived appearance flaws and repetitive behaviors to conceal the flaws. Further, research has found that a heightened expectation of judgement and rejection by others because of appearance (i.e., appearance-based rejection sensitivity [appearance-RS]) is both a maintaining and an aggravating factor in BDS. This study focused on emotion regulation (ER), appearance-related support from others and self-acceptance, expecting they would buffer the negative impact of appearance-RS on BDS. METHODS: Participants included 782 Australian high school and young university students, aged 14-28 years (M = 17.94 years, 40% male) who completed a survey to report their BDS, appearance-RS, ER, appearance-related support from others and self-acceptance. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses revealed that youth reported more BDS when they were higher in appearance-RS but reported less self-acceptance, ER, and support from others. Further, the association between appearance-RS and BDS was weaker when young people reported higher (relative to lower) ER and support from others. However, when three-way interactions with gender were tested, these buffering effects were only significant for young men. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that ER and appearance-related support from important others are promising targets for intervention, given they could mitigate the risk of appearance-RS in young men. However, further research is needed to consider additional factors that buffer against the negative effects of appearance-RS on BDS for young women.

A longitudinal model of rejection sensitivity and internalizing symptoms: Testing emotion regulation deficits as a mechanism and outcome of symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals who experience heightened rejection sensitivity (RS) are at greater risk of increased internalizing symptoms over time. This is especially so for adolescents and young adults, as this is a time of many social transitions and an average increase in such symptoms. Yet, little longitudinal research has explored specific mechanisms that may help explain how RS lends itself to increased symptomology during adolescence and young adulthood. In this study, we tested the summative effect of emotion dysregulation, expressive suppression, and social avoidance (i.e., ER-deficits) as mechanisms. Moreover, we estimated bidirectional temporal associations between ER-deficits and symptoms. METHOD: Participants included 402 adolescents and young adults aged 17 to 27 years (M = 19.9 years, 66% female) who completed two assessments over a 1-year period. RESULTS: In a path model, participants who reported more RS increased in anxious symptoms, and RS was indirectly associated with increased anxious and depressive symptoms via the three ER-deficits. Additionally, cross-lagged panel analyses showed that dysregulation and suppression predicted increased symptoms over time, while anxious symptoms predicted increased social avoidance over time. CONCLUSION: These findings expand understanding of the role of RS in young people's increasing internalizing symptoms, implicating ER-deficits in these processes.

Attachment and emotion regulation: A person-centred examination and relations with coping with rejection, friendship closeness, and emotional adjustment.

Guided by attachment theory of emotion regulation (ER), the current study utilized a person-centred approach to identify clusters of individuals that differed in their attachment representations and ER, and further examined individual differences in socio-emotional functioning based on these profiles. Participants included 658 emerging adults (M = 19.9, SD = 2.7, 65.5% female) who completed surveys measuring responses to rejection, friendship closeness, and emotional maladjustment. Five clusters were identified: secure regulated (19%), disorganized unregulated (21%), anxious unregulated (16%), emotive (21%), and avoidant suppressor (22%). Each group displayed unique patterns, with the secure regulated group reporting significantly less withdrawal, retribution, rumination, and emotional maladjustment, and the disorganized unregulated group reporting the poorest functioning across all indicators. Significant cluster × sex effects were also found for friendship closeness. These findings suggest the importance of considering attachment and ER, and implications for attachment theory and development are discussed. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Insecure attachment representations are a significant risk factor for poorer outcomes across development. Hyperactivating and deactivating strategies are maladaptive responses to coping with emotional threat. These strategies are an extension of the internal working model and positive correlates of poorer functioning. What does this study add? Previous studies have over-relied on variable-centred approaches to replicate findings of attachment theory. A person-centred approach allowing for the joint consideration of patterns of both attachment and ER strategies. The identification of five novel profiles revealing unique differences in three important domains of functioning.

Improved Perceptions of Emotion Regulation and Reflective Functioning in Parents: Two Additional Positive Outcomes of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy.

The purpose of this study was to test whether Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a widely used effective therapy for children's externalizing behaviors and parenting problems, was associated with improvements in parents' emotion regulation and reflective functioning. We also investigated whether these improvements had unique associations with children's improvements in externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Participants were 139 Australian children aged 29 to 83 months and their caregivers; all were referred for child externalizing behavior problems coupled with parenting skill deficits or high parent stress. All data were gathered via a questionnaire completed prior to and after completion of PCIT. Significant improvements were found in parents' self-reported emotion dysregulation and capacity to use cognitive reappraisal for emotion regulation. There was also improvement in parents' self-report of children's symptoms, parenting practices, and reflective functioning in the form of prementalizing, which measured a low capacity to understand the emotional world of the child. Multiple regression showed that improvements in cognitive reappraisal, prementalizing, and negative parenting practices were associated with improvement in children's symptoms. The findings extend the existing evidence for PCIT as an effective parenting intervention, adding parents' perceived emotion regulation and reflective functioning to the list of positive outcomes from PCIT. Improved emotion regulation and reflective functioning, unique from changes in parenting practices, could be mechanisms that help explain why PCIT has been associated with improvements in children's externalizing behaviors.

Examining the interplay of self-esteem, trait-emotional intelligence, and age with depression across adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: While there has been much empirical work demonstrating the deleterious effects of low self-esteem on adolescent depression, very little of this has been conducted in low-to middle-income countries. Furthermore, one's trait-emotional intelligence (TEI) has rarely been examined in interaction with self-esteem to predict adolescent depression. To address these gaps, the current brief report examined the interacting effects of TEI on the associations of self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Age differences were also considered given developmental trends indicating significant variability in depression across adolescence. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 334 Jamaican adolescents aged 10-18 years (M = 14.74, SD = 1.95, 51% boys) completed surveys measuring self-esteem, TEI and depressive symptoms. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Older adolescents reported greater depressive symptoms and less self-esteem compared to younger adolescents, and correlations showed that less self-esteem and TEI associated with more depressive symptoms. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed a significant three-way interaction whereby the buffering effect of TEI on the association of self-esteem and depressive symptoms was different for younger vs older adolescents. The findings provide further support for the effects of self-esteem and TEI on depressive symptoms, and indicate the importance for future studies in the Caribbean to examine these associations over time given the significant age differences revealed.