Role of Emotion Regulation in Depression Among Adolescents

Emotion regulation strategies and difficulties in regulating one's emotions have been implicated in the study of depression in the past. The present study aims to extend the existing literature on the link between depression and emotion regulation among adolescents. The objective was to assess the relationship between different emotion regulation strategies and depression. At the same time the study examined emotion regulation strategies as the predictors of depression. The study was conducted on a sample of 400 adolescents with age ranging from 13 to 18 years. Significant correlations were found between depression and eight out of nine cognitive strategies self blame, blaming others, rumination, catastrophizing, positive refocusing, positive reappraisal, acceptance, and refocus on planning. Similarly, a robust positive correlation was found between depression and difficulties in emotion regulation subscales (non acceptance, goals, impulse, strategies, & clarity). The findings of the present study supported the stated hypotheses. Limited access to emotion regulation strategies, self blame, catastrophizing, positive reappraisal, lack of emotional clarity and impulse control difficulties were found to be the potent predictors of depression.