Emotion controllability beliefs and young people’s anxiety and depression symptoms: A systematic review
Year: 2022
Type: preprint
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: BackgroundEmerging research and theorizing suggest that emotion controllability beliefs (ECBs: beliefs about the extent to which emotions can be controlled) play a major role in youth depression and anxiety, via their influence on emotion regulation. This model has critical implications for basic science and practice. Yet, no systematic review of this emergent body of research has been undertaken. We provide such a review, focusing on the extent to which ECBs are associated with youth anxiety and depression, and the underlying mechanisms accounting for these links. MethodsA systematic search of the affective and clinical sciences literature identified 19 peer-reviewed publications that met our inclusion criteria. In addition, two panels were established to provide expert input on the different stages of the review: a panel of young people with lived experience of anxiety or depression and a clinician panel. FindingsThe reviewed studies indicated that greater ECBs were associated with fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, in part because these beliefs were associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in adaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., reappraisal). ConclusionThe findings of this systematic review support current theoretical models linking ECBs with anxiety and depression via emotion regulation strategies that target emotional experience, such as reappraisal. In contrast, and also consistent with theory, there was little support for strategies that target emotion expression (e.g., suppression) as a mediator. Although there is evidence consistent with the view that ECBs exert a causal influence on anxiety and depression in young people, experimental and intervention studies are needed to more robustly test causal hypotheses. Future work is also needed to fully understand the influence of age, gender, and culture.
Authors: Matthew Peter Somerville, Helen MacIntyre, Amy Harrison, Iris Mauss
Institutions: University College London, University of California, Berkeley
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Wellcome Trust
OpenAlex ID: W4285731251