%0 Journal Article
%T Emotion regulation in action: Use, selection, and success of emotion regulation in adolescents¡¯ daily lives
%A Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff
%A Emmanuel Kuntsche
%A Hannah K. Lennarz
%A Isabela Granic
%A Tom Hollenstein
%J International Journal of Behavioral Development
%@ 1464-0651
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0165025418755540
%X Successful emotion regulation (ER) is a central aspect of psychosocial functioning and mental health and is thought to improve and be refined in adolescence. Past research on ER has mainly focused on one-time measurements of habitual ER. Linking regulatory strategies to emotions in daily lives is key to understanding adolescents¡¯ emotional lives. Using an Experience Sampling Method with 78 adolescents (Mage = 13.91, SDage = .95, 66% girls), we investigated the use, selection, and success in down-regulating negative emotions of eight ER strategies across 44 assessments. Acceptance was the strategy employed most often followed by problem-solving, rumination, distraction, avoidance, reappraisal, social support, and suppression. Interestingly, negativity of the event influenced the use of ER strategies: With low intensity negative emotions, acceptance was more likely to be used, and with high intensity negative emotions, suppression, problem-solving, distraction, avoidance, social support, and rumination were more likely to be used. With regard to success, multilevel models revealed that problem-solving, reappraisal, and acceptance were more successful in down-regulating negative emotions than rumination. Further, among girls, no relations between the momentary use of ER strategies and depressive symptoms was found. Among boys, a negative relation between acceptance and depressive symptoms emerged. Results from this study suggest that there is a reciprocal relationship between the intensity of negative emotions and ER strategies and that gender differences may exist. Taken together, this study showed which ER strategies are used by a healthy adolescent sample, and these results are discussed with regard to their theoretical and practical importance
%K adolescence
%K emotion regulation
%K experience sampling method
%K negative affectivity
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0165025418755540