Affect and mental health across the lifespan during a year of the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of emotion regulation strategies and mental flexibility

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dc.contributor.authorMinihan, S.
dc.contributor.authorSongco, A.
dc.contributor.authorFox, E.
dc.contributor.authorLadouceur, C.D.
dc.contributor.authorMewton, L.
dc.contributor.authorMoulds, M.
dc.contributor.authorPfeifer, J.H.
dc.contributor.authorVan Harmelen, A.-L.
dc.contributor.authorSchweizer, S.
dc.date.issued2024
dc.descriptionThis article was published Online First May 18, 2023
dc.description.abstractDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in common mental health problems compared to prepandemic levels, especially in young people. Understanding the factors that place young people at risk is critical to guide the response to increased mental health problems. Here we examine whether age-related differences in mental flexibility and frequency of use of emotion regulation strategies partially account for the poorer affect and increased mental health problems reported by younger people during the pandemic. Participants (N= 2,367; 11–100 years) from Australia, the UK, and US were surveyed thrice at 3-month intervals between May 2020 and April 2021. Participants completed measures of emotion regulation, mental flexibility, affect, and mental health. Younger age was associated with less positive (b=0.008, p,.001) and more negative (b=−0.015, p,.001) affect across the first year of the pandemic. Maladaptive emotion regulation partially accounted for age-related variance in negative affect (β=−0.013, p=.020), whereby younger age was associated with more frequent use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, which, in turn, was associated with more negative affect at our third assessment point. More frequent use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies, and in turn, changes in negative affect from our first to our third assessment, partially accounted for age-related variance in mental health problems (β= 0.007, p=.023). Our findings add to the growing literature demonstrating the vulnerability of younger people during the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest that emotion regulation may be a promising target for intervention.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilitySavannah Minihan, Annabel Songco, Elaine Fox, Cecile D. Ladouceur, Louise Mewton, Michelle Moulds, Jennifer H. Pfeifer, Anne-Laura Van Harmelen, and Susanne Schweizer
dc.identifier.citationEmotion, 2024; 24(1):67-80
dc.identifier.doi10.1037/emo0001238
dc.identifier.issn1528-3542
dc.identifier.issn1931-1516
dc.identifier.orcidFox, E. [0000-0002-2464-0462]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/138642
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherAmerican Psychological Association
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1184136
dc.rights© 2023 The Author(s). Open Access funding provided by University of Cambridge: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). This license permits copying and redistributing the work in any medium or format, as well as adapting the material for any purpose, even commercially.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001238
dc.subjectCOVID-19; mental health; affect; emotion regulation; mental flexibility
dc.titleAffect and mental health across the lifespan during a year of the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of emotion regulation strategies and mental flexibility
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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