Cognitive reappraisal attenuates the association between depressive symptoms and emotional response to stress during adolescence

Abstract

Depression is associated with increased emotional response to stress. This is especially the case during the developmental period of adolescence. Cognitive reappraisal is an effective emotion regulation strategy that has been shown to reduce the impact of emotional response on psychopathology. However, less is known about whether cognitive reappraisal impacts the relationship between depressive symptoms and emotional responses, and whether its effects are specific to emotional reactivity or emotional recovery. The current study examined whether cognitive reappraisal moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and trait or state measures of emotional reactivity and recovery. A community sample of 127 adolescents (M-age = 15.28; 49% female, 47% Caucasian), at an age of risk for depression, completed self-report measures of trait emotional responding and depressive symptoms. In addition, they completed an in vivo social stress task and were assessed on state emotional reactivity and recovery from the stressor. Findings suggested that cognitive reappraisal was associated with an attenuated impact of depressive symptoms on trait and state emotional recovery. These results provide evidence that cognitive reappraisal may be an effective strategy for improving some aspects of emotional responding in relation to depressive symptoms among adolescents.

Associations of social and emotional competencies, academic efficacy beliefs, and emotional distress among students in lower secondary school

“…Students' perceived ability to regulate emotions was also moderately linked to lower ED in the present study. The result is in accordance with the notion that ability to reappraise negative emotions more positively may help individuals to perceive stressful encounters from a more resilient perspective (Shapero et al, 2019). This also aligns with a recent study suggesting that positive reappraisals allowed for greater adaptability in emotional situations, and thereby counteracted experiences of ED (De France and Hollenstein, 2019).…”

Positive and Negative Emotion Regulation in Adolescence: Links to Anxiety and Depression

“…Observational approaches can be used to examine responses, for example: during in vivo stress inductions (e.g., Trier Social Stress Task [77] or mock job interviews [46,59]); between pairs of individuals in spontaneous interactions; or during prescribed stress-inducing or rewarding situations [65,66,78]. Participants’ behavioral and verbal responses are coded and classified according to regulatory strategy and subjective affect ratings can be collected to measure emotional recovery.…”

“…In one study examining this effect, adolescents completed a social stress task (a mock job interview), provided distress ratings before and after the task, and completed self-report measures of cognitive reappraisal (using the ERQ) and depressive symptoms. Among those reporting higher levels of depressive symptoms, greater self-reported tendency to use cognitive reappraisal was associated with faster ‘emotional recovery’ (difference in distress ratings from before to 30 min after the task [59]). These findings indirectly suggest that the ability to use cognitive reappraisal in the face of social stressors may buffer the impact of depressive symptoms on emotional reactivity and recovery.…”

Gender Differences in Generating Cognitive Reappraisals for Threatening Situations: Reappraisal Capacity Shields Against Depressive Symptoms in Men, but Not Women

“…These findings are, however, challenged by others that report no gender differences in the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal ( Gross and John, 2003 ; Haga et al, 2009 ; Zlomke and Hahn, 2010 ), or even endorse more positive re-interpretations in men ( Öngen, 2010 ). Research on gender-specific effects of cognitive reappraisal use on depressive symptoms during adolescence yielded disparate results as well, either denoting cognitive reappraisal equally effective in attenuating depressive symptoms in both men and women ( Shapero et al, 2018 ) or suggesting that greater habitual use of cognitive reappraisal more strongly decreases depressive symptoms in adolescent girls than boys ( Duarte et al, 2015 ).…”