(PS2-A20) The Indirect Effect of Emotion Regulation on the Association Between Distress Tolerance and Anxiety Symptoms

Distress tolerance is negatively associated with anxiety symptoms (McHugh et al., 2010). However, the way in which individuals regulate their emotions can influence this relationship. Cognitive reappraisal involves reframing the meaning of a situation to change its emotional impact (Gross & John, 2003). In contrast, expressive suppression involves inhibiting the outward expression of emotions (Gross & John, 2003). Each of these emotion regulation strategies may be important variables to consider in the association between distress tolerance and anxiety symptoms. The current study examined the hypothesis that the application of emotion regulation would indirectly account for the association between distress tolerance and anxiety/depressive symptoms.

Five-hundred and twenty-seven adult (306 females) between the ages of eighteen and eighty-three years (Mage = 48.84, SD = 18.43) were recruited from the United States using Qualtrics (Provo, UT). The Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS; Simons & Gaher, 2005) was used to measure distress tolerance. The Generalized Anxiety Scale-7 (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006) was used to assess anxiety symptoms. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003) was used to assess the ways in which participants regulate their emotions in two ways: (1) cognitive reappraisal and (2) expressive suppression.

Results indicated that when cognitive reappraisal was entered as a mediator of the relationship between distress tolerance and anxiety symptoms, cognitive reappraisal was not a significant predictor of anxiety, b = -.002, SE=.01, p = .86, CI: -.03 to .02; Model: F(2, 524) = 95.34, p < .001, R2 = .27. The indirect path from distress tolerance to cognitive reappraisal to anxiety was insignificant, indicating that cognitive reappraisal is not a significant mediator of the relationship between distress tolerance and anxiety, b = .0005, SE=.003, CI: -.006 to .006. This suggests that cognitive reappraisal does not exert an indirect effect on the association between distress tolerance and anxiety symptoms.

When expressive suppression was entered as a mediator of the relationship between distress tolerance and anxiety symptoms, Expressive suppression was a significant predictor of anxiety, b = .07, SE=.02, p < .001, CI: .04 to .11; Model: F(2, 524) = 108.06, p < .001, R2 = .29. The indirect path from distress tolerance to expressive suppression to anxiety was also significant, indicating that expressive suppression is a significant mediator of the relationship between distress tolerance and anxiety, b = -.02, SE=.01, CI: -.03 to -.01. This suggests that expressive suppression exerts an indirect effect on the association between distress tolerance and anxiety symptoms.

These findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences in emotion regulation when exploring the relationship between distress tolerance and anxiety, and may have implications for the development of interventions aimed at reducing anxiety symptoms.