The Influence of Age on Emotion Regulation Strategies and Psychological Distress

Abstract

Background: To date there is promising, yet limited, evidence to suggest that differences exist between older and younger adults’ emotion regulation styles. Aims: The study aimed to explore emotion regulation style across the adult lifespan by assessing whether self-reported reappraisal, or suppression, differs across age groups, and how these emotion regulation strategies may impact upon psychological distress. Method: Three hundred and seventeen younger, 175 middle-aged and 85 older adults’ emotion regulation styles and levels of psychological distress were measured using self-report questionnaires and examined using a cross-sectional design. Results: The findings suggest that, compared to younger adults, older adults make greater use of suppression, the emotion regulation strategy. This greater use of suppression by older adults was not related to increased levels of psychological distress. By contrast, younger adults who reported high levels of suppression reported higher levels of psychological distress. In addition, older adults reported less anxiety and stress than younger adults, with no age differences in depression. Conclusions: 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.