Meta-mood knowledge moderates the relationship between neuroticism and depression but not between neuroticism and anxiety in a sample of nonclinical adolescents

Abstract

Research shows a strong link between neuroticism and internalizing psychopathology, such as depression and anxiety. However, it is unclear to what extent meta-mood knowledge (i.e., attention to emotion and emotional clarity) plays a role as a moderator in this relationship. To investigate this, we collected data on meta-mood knowledge, personality traits, depression, and anxiety in a sample of adolescents (N = 244; 53.7% girls) aged 12 to 18 years (M = 14.6, SD = 1.7) from Catalonia, Spain. Regarding the relationship between neuroticism and depression, results showed that emotional clarity buffered this relationship. Although attention to emotion did not, the joint moderating effect of attention to emotion and emotional clarity was significant. The results on the four different combinations of attention to emotion and emotional clarity showed that the relationship between neuroticism and depression was strongest for high attention and low clarity, less strong for low attention and low clarity, and even lower for high attention and high clarity. And importantly, these similar patterns of association disappeared at low attention and high clarity. In contrast to the relationship between neuroticism and depression, we found no statistically significant moderating effects for the relationship between neuroticism and anxiety. Based on these results, we argue the importance of examining individual differences in emotion-based cognition and understanding when the benefits of emotional clarity are associated with fewer disadvantages of excessive attention. These results provide preliminary evidence that the combination of low attention and high clarity may be an adaptive version of emotional self-awareness in relation to neuroticism and depression.

Neuroticism and Emotional Intelligence in Adolescence: A Mediation Model Moderate by Negative Affect and Self-Esteem

“…Other studies, more focused on the relationship between emotional intelligence and emotional distress [ 28 ], showed that high levels of emotional attention have been related to greater emotional distress [ 28 ]. Regarding the dimension of emotional repair, the results obtained by different researchers are in the same direction as those found in the present investigation [ 27 , 32 ], although these studies do not analyze the role mediator of negative affect in the relationship between neuroticism and emotional intelligence, so our results are revealing at an explanatory and empirical level in this sense. This work probably supports the results of Aluja [ 49 ] on the neuroticism construct, allowing us to know how its components operate psychologically (mediating or moderating) in our case, in the explanation of the relationship between neuroticism and emotional intelligence.…”

“…With these data, we partially confirm our second hypothesis. In this regard, the findings of Yildirim et al [ 27 ] in their study on the relationship between neuroticism and depression, showed that low levels of emotional attention, in combination with high levels of emotional clarity, facilitated emotional self-awareness, a finding that should be further explored. Regarding emotional clarity, in our opinion, we hypothesize that perhaps emotional clarity responds to different psychological mechanisms, which may involve other combinations of the variables studied, to the mechanisms of attention and emotional repair, an assumption that requires the realization of new research studies in this regard.…”

“…If we analyze each of the branches of emotional intelligence (attention, Clarity and emotional Regulation), there are numerous studies that have tried to analyze the role of emotional intelligence as a protective factor for different psychological pathologies [ 26 ]. However, there are few studies that have aimed to analyze the relationship between each of the dimensions of emotional intelligence and neuroticism [ 27 ], moreover, the results found are sometimes somewhat contradictory. Some studies indicate that high levels of emotional Clarity, and not only emotional attention, can hinder recovery in situations of emotional distress [ 28 ].…”

“…Regarding emotional regulation, we must highlight that it has proven to be one of the most important tools both to reduce and control negative emotions [ 32 ]. The recent study by Yildirim et al [ 27 ] with a sample of non-clinical adolescents shows that both attention and emotional clarity play a very important role in emotional regulation. Specifically, the results of this work show that, in the relationship between neuroticism and depression, it is the combination of low attention and high emotional clarity that adaptively contributes to emotional self-awareness.…”

Regional gray matter volume mediates the relationship between neuroticism and depressed emotion

“…Similarly, longitudinal studies have also found that neuroticism is still predictive of depressive symptoms 2 years later ( Van Loey et al, 2014 ). Additionally, some studies reported that depression scores are positively and significantly associated with neuroticism among healthy subjects ( Yoon et al, 2013 ; Yildirim et al, 2022 ). Another longitudinal study found that neuroticism is consistently associated with depressed emotion in a sample of healthy college students ( Yao et al, 2009 ).…”