The Influence of Age on Emotion Regulation Strategies and Psychological Distress

Abstract

Findings suggest a possible decoupling of the use of emotional suppression and psychological distress with age. Suppression may be a useful form of emotion regulation for the stressors experienced in later life and, arguably, therefore may not be associated with the negative outcomes observed in younger adults.

Expressive suppression and enhancement during music-elicited emotions in younger and older adults

“…Accompanying these findings, we showed that older adults paradoxically reported using more expressive suppression and less cognitive reappraisal in daily life (i.e., Emotion Regulation Questionnaire) than their younger counterparts. Although in line with recent findings showing that older adults make greater use of suppression strategy (Nolen-Hoeksema and Aldao, 2011 ; Brummer et al, 2013 ), our data highlight the potential disconnection between what people reported on their emotion regulation skills and what they actually did. Thus, it will be useful to conduct additional experiments to give more insight into this inconsistency.…”

“…The examination of affective functioning indicated that older and younger adults did not significantly differ on depression (BDI-II; Beck et al, 1998 ), state anxiety (STAI-Y; Spielberger, 1993 ), trait anxiety (STAI-Y; Spielberger, 1993 ), PANAS positive affects (Watson et al, 1988 ), PANAS negative affects (Watson et al, 1988 ), BEQ positive expressivity, BEQ negative expressivity (Adapted from BEQ by Gross and John, 1997 ), and Reappraisal subscale of ERQ (Christophe et al, 2009 ) measures. As reported by previous findings (Nolen-Hoeksema and Aldao, 2011 ; Brummer et al, 2013 ), scores from the Suppression subscale of the ERQ (Christophe et al, 2009 ) showed that older adults reported using more expressive suppression as emotion regulation strategies then their younger counterparts. As stated by prior works showing age-related changes on the auditory system (e.g., Enrietto et al, 1999 ), the control of the auditory perception showed statistically significant difference of hearing thresholds (dB) between age groups for all the tested frequencies.…”

Perceived stress across the midlife: longitudinal changes among a diverse sample of women, the Study of Women’s health Across the Nation (SWAN)

“…Explanations for the observed decreases in perceived stress with age are suggestive yet incomplete. Research suggests that older adults show more maturity and regulation of emotion [ 42 , 43 ], leading to increased feelings of optimism and fewer symptoms of psychological distress than younger adults [ 44 , 45 ], however the cross-sectional nature of most extant studies can not rule out a cohort effect based on era of birth. Beyond changes in the appraisal and regulation of stress, changing life roles with age, such as retirement or the relinquishment of parenting, may lead to the occurrence of fewer stressful events even as individual health may be declining [ 46 ].…”

Emotional Intensity and Emotion Regulation in Response to Autobiographical Memories During Dysphoria

“…Specifically, there are documented age and gender differences in the employment of specific regulation strategies. For example, women ruminate more, whereas men employ more thought suppression (Brummer, Stopa, & Bucks, 2014;Zimmermann & Iwanski, 2014). Similarly, there are some gender differences in the physiological and neurological aspects of the emotional response to autobiographical memories (albeit to a lesser extent in self-reports; Labouvie-Vief, Lumley, Jain, & Heinze, 2003;St.…”