Taking Control: Psychology Questionnaire Examines How People Manage Their Emotions

Stress, anxiety, even anger are all negative emotional challenges we experience in this fast-paced society, and how we cope with those emotions can impact both our emotional and physical health.  New research is underway to examine the specific strategies that people use to manage their emotions and how those strategies can either be beneficial or intensify their distress. Research on the questionnaire developed by Kristen Kraemer, a doctoral student in the University of Cincinnati’s Department of Psychology, will be presented Nov. 17, at the 46th annual convention of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) in National Harbor, Md.

The Response to Emotions Questionnaire explores maladaptive strategies used to manage emotion, such as emotional avoidance or suppression, and positive coping strategies, such as reappraising a situation. In addition, the questionnaire explored the effects of rumination – constantly and repetitively dwelling on the situation – as a maladaptive coping strategy.

Kraemer tested the questionnaire on 168 participants – undergraduate college students who were primarily female.

Kraemer found that greater use of emotional avoidance and rumination coping strategies was linked with increased symptoms of depression and anxiety, while positive strategies were significantly linked with lower depression and higher tolerance of emotional distress.

Kraemer says the questionnaire will be used in future studies to further examine how the use of these positive and negative emotion regulation strategies impact mental health.

The ABCT is a multidisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of scientific approaches to the understanding and improvement of human functioning through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive and other evidence-based principles to the assessment, prevention, treatment of human problems and enhancement of health and well-being.

The UC Department of Psychology is recognized nationally for the quality of its undergraduate major and the excellence of its graduate training programs in clinical and experimental psychology.