Coping with stressful life events: Cognitive emotion regulation profiles and depressive symptoms in adolescents

Abstract

Cognitive strategies that adolescents use to cope with negative emotions might show distinct profiles of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, which could be differentially associated with depressive symptoms. In total, 411 Dutch adolescents who had experienced at least one stressful life event that required some coping strategy participated in this study, including 334 nonclinical and 77 clinically depressed adolescents (12–21 years). A person-centered approach with Latent Profile Analysis was used to identify underlying profiles of cognitive emotion regulation based on the adolescents’ reports of their use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies when they were confronted with stressful life events. Nine different strategies, five adaptive and four maladaptive, were used as indicators. Four profiles with distinct features were found in the nonclinical sample, as well as in the combined sample of nonclinical and clinically depressed adolescents: Low Regulators, High Regulators, Maladaptive Regulators, and Adaptive Regulators. In both samples, the High Regulators profile was most commonly used, followed by the Adaptive, Maladaptive, and Low Regulators profile. Maladaptive Regulators endorsed higher levels of depressive symptoms relative to Low, High, and Adaptive Regulators. The findings underscore the utility of using a person-centered approach in order to identify patterns of cognitive emotion regulation deficits in psychopathology.

The structure of emotion regulation strategies in adolescence: Differential links to internalizing and externalizing problems

“…At the same time, adolescents with comorbid internalizing and externalizing symptoms reported using a mixed "maladaptive regulation style", and adolescents who did not experience clinical levels of these symptoms reported using a mixed "adaptive regulation style". These results are in accordance with research demonstrating that adolescents with internalizing problems employ a variety of cognitive maladaptive strategies (Garnefski et al, 2005;van den Heuvel et al, 2020) and that in adolescence, cognitive strategies (i.e., rumination) might be critically important for internalizing problems (Schäfer et al, 2017). Moreover, children with externalizing problems have been characterized by low levels of behavioral control and high levels of impulsivity (Eisenberg et al, 2001), thus highlighting the role of behavioral predictors of externalizing problems.…”

Young Patients With Persistent and Complex Care Needs Require an Integrated Care Approach: Baseline Findings From the Multicenter Youth Flexible ACT Study

“…However, there are no current national figures that outlines the number of children and adolescents from either migrant or Dutch origin in specialized youth mental health care. Yet, the percentage of migrants in the Youth Flexible ACT sample is comparable with that of other studies with young patients from clinical populations in the Netherlands (46,50,54).…”

Interventions Under the Microscope: Emotionregulation training as a treatment element for externalizing problems in adolescence

“…At the same time, adolescents with comorbid internalizing and externalizing symptoms reported to use a mixed 'maladaptive regulation style', and adolescents who did not experience clinical levels of these symptoms reported to use a mixed 'adaptive regulation style'. These results are in accordance with previous research showing that adolescents with internalizing problems employ a variety of cognitive maladaptive strategies (Garnefski et al, 2005;van den Heuvel et al, 2020) and research indicating that in adolescence, cognitive strategies (i.e., rumination) might be critically important for internalizing problems (Schäfer et al, 2017). Moreover, children with externalizing problems have been characterized by low levels of behavioral control and high levels of impulsivity (Eisenberg et al, 2001), thus highlighting the role of behavioral predictors of externalizing problems.…”