Network analysis of emotion regulation and reactivity in adolescents: identifying central components and implications for anxiety and depression interventions.

Difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) and emotion reactivity (ER) are important causes and consequences of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety, and previous research suggests that there are many interactions between them. Understanding the structure of their relationship, and which components may play a key role, will help provide insight into emotion disorders in adolescents and provide guidance for clinical interventions. In this study, we collected data from 483 adolescents and used network analysis methods to explore the relationship between DER and ER, specifically looking for core nodes. The results showed that "limited access to emotion regulation strategies" was the most central node in the network. Furthermore, by adding nodes for depression and anxiety to this network, we found that anxiety had the strongest relationship with ER, while depression had a stronger relationship with DER. Thus, our findings suggest that for anxiety disorders, the strong association with ER highlights a potentially promising area for intervention development, whereas for depression, the association with DER points to the possibility of clarifying emotions and exploring coping strategies, acknowledging the complex interplay between depressive and anxious symptoms.

The interplay of self-acceptance, social comparison and attributional style in adolescent mental health: cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a pivotal stage vulnerable to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Although self-acceptance and social comparison are known to affect adolescent mental health, their interactive and moderating roles are not fully understood. AIMS: To explore the role of self-acceptance, social comparison and attributional style in predicting these mental health outcomes among adolescents in clinical settings. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 242 adolescents. Participants completed measures assessing self-acceptance, social comparison, attributional style and mental health outcomes (depression and anxiety). Mediation models and multi-group analysis were used to examine the relationships among these variables. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrated a significant relationship between self-acceptance, social comparison, depression and anxiety (rs = 0.32-0.88). Specifically, lower self-acceptance and higher social comparison were associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. Additionally, individuals with external attributional tendencies reported higher depression (Cohen's d = 0.61) and anxiety (d = 0.58) compared with those with internal tendencies. Mediation modelling showed that social comparison is a mediator between self-acceptance and depression (effect size -0.04, 95% CI -0.08 to -0.01) and anxiety (effect size -0.06, 95% CI -0.10 to -0.02). Crucially, multi-group analysis showed that the impact of social comparison on mental health outcomes varied significantly based on attributional style. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the importance of considering self-acceptance, social comparison and attributional style in understanding and addressing mental health challenges during adolescence. This could inform the development of targeted interventions to promote mental health and well-being among adolescents. However, further research is needed to confirm these findings in diverse populations and to explore the underlying mechanisms in greater detail.