Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T05:40:23.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Interpersonal Emotion Regulation: A Review of Social and Developmental Components

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2018

Abigail L. Barthel ,
Aleena Hay ,
Stacey N. Doan  and
Stefan G. Hofmann
Abigail L. Barthel
Affiliation:
Boston University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Aleena Hay
Affiliation:
Boston University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Stacey N. Doan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California, USA
Stefan G. Hofmann*
Affiliation:
Boston University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Stefan G. Hofmann, Boston University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 900 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

A staple theme in clinical psychology, emotion regulation, or the ability to manage one's emotions, is directly linked with personal wellbeing and the ability to effectively navigate the social world. Until recently, this concept has been limited to a focus on intrapersonal processes, such as suppression. Less emphasis has been placed on developmental, social, and cultural aspects of emotion regulation. We argue here that as social beings, our engagement in emotion regulation may often occur interpersonally, with trusted others helping us to regulate our emotions. This review will highlight recent research on interpersonal emotion regulation processes.

Keywords

emotionemotion regulationsocial processesinterpersonal interactionanxietydepressionmoodpsychotherapy
Type
Standard Paper
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 203 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, M.D.S., & Bell, S.M. (1970). Attachment, exploration, and separation: Illustrated by the behavior of one-year-olds in a strange situation. Child Development, 41, 49–67. doi:10.2307/1127388Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M.D., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate.Google Scholar
Aldao, A., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2010). Specificity of cognitive emotion regulation strategies: A transdiagnostic examination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 974–983. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2010.06.0 02Google Scholar
Aldao, A., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Schweizer, S. (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 217–237. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2009.11.004Google Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1993). The average expectable environment is not good enough: A response to Scarr. Child Development, 64, 1299–1317. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1993.tb02954.xGoogle Scholar
Beckes, L., & Coan, J.A. (2011). Social baseline theory: The role of social proximity in emotion and economy of action. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5, 976–988. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00400.xGoogle Scholar
Beckes, L., Coan, J.A., & Hasselmo, K. (2012). Familiarity promotes the blurring of self and other in the neural representation of threat. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 8, 670–677. doi:10.1093/scan/nss046Google Scholar
Bedford, V.H., & Avioli, P.S. (2001). Variations on sibling intimacy in old age. Generations, 25, 34–40.Google Scholar
Bedford, V.H., & Volling, B.L. (2004). A dynamic ecological systems perspective on emotion regulation development within the sibling relationship context. In Lang, F.R. & Fingerman, K.L. (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships. Growing together: Personal relationships across the lifespan (pp. 76–102). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Blanchard-Fields, F., Mienaltowski, A., & Seay, R.B. (2007). Age differences in everyday problem-solving effectiveness: Older adults select more effective strategies for interpersonal problems. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 62, 61–64. doi:10.1093/geronb/62.1.P61Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (2005). Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Burleson, B.R., & Kunkel, A. (2002). Parental and peer contributions to the emotional support skills of the child: From whom do children learn to express support? Journal of Family Communication, 2, 81–97. doi:10.1207/S15327698JFC0202_02Google Scholar
Campo, M., Sanchez, X., Ferrand, C., Rosnet, E., Friesen, A., & Lane, A.M. (2017). Interpersonal emotion regulation in team sport: Mechanisms and reasons to regulate teammates’ emotions examined. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 15, 379–394. doi:10.1080/1612197X.2015.1114501Google Scholar
Carrère, S., & Bowie, B.H. (2012). Like parent, like child: Parent and child emotion dysregulation. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 26, e23–e30. doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2011.12.008Google Scholar
Carstensen, L.L. (1993). Motivation for social contact across the life span: A theory of socioemotional selectivity. In Jacobs, J.E. (Ed.), Current theory and research in motivation, Vol. 40. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1992: Developmental perspectives on motivation (pp. 209–254). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Carstensen, L.L., Pasupathi, M., Mayr, U., & Nesselroade, J.R. (2000). Emotional experience in everyday life across the adult life span. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 644–655. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.4.644Google Scholar
Cassidy, J. (1994). Emotion regulation: Influences of attachment relationships. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59, 228–249. doi:10.2307/1166148Google Scholar
Cloitre, M., Miranda, R., Stovall-McClough, K.C., & Han, H. (2005). Beyond PTSD: Emotion regulation and interpersonal problems as predictors of functional impairment in survivors of childhood abuse. Behavior Therapy, 36, 119–124. doi:10.1016/S0005-7894(05)80060-7Google Scholar
Coan, J.A., Beckes, L., & Allen, J.P. (2013). Childhood maternal support and social capital moderate the regulatory impact of social relationships in adulthood. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 88, 224–231. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.04.006Google Scholar
Coan, J.A., & Maresh, E.L. (2013). Social baseline theory and the social regulation of emotion. In Gross, J.J. (Ed.), The science of the couple (pp. 231–236). New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Coan, J.A., Schaefer, H.S., & Davidson, R.J. (2006). Lending a hand: Social regulation of the neural response to threat. Psychological Science, 17, 1032–1039. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01832.xGoogle Scholar
Debrot, A., Schoebi, D., Perrez, M., & Horn, A. (2013). Touch as an interpersonal emotion regulation process in couples’ daily lives: The mediating role of psychological intimacy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 1373–1385. doi:10.1177/0146167213497592Google Scholar
DeLongis, A., & Holtzman, S. (2005). Coping in context: The role of stress, social support, and personality in coping. Journal of Personality, 73, 1633–1656. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00361.xGoogle Scholar
Dennis, T.A. (2007). Interactions between emotion regulation strategies and affective style: Implications for trait anxiety versus depressed mood. Motivation and Emotion, 31, 200–207. doi:10.1007/s11031-007-9069-6Google Scholar
Derryberry, D., & Rothbart, M.K. (1997). Reactive and effortful processes in the organization of temperament. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 633–652. doi:10.1017/S0954579497001375Google Scholar
Dingle, G.A., Neves, D.D.C., Alhadad, S.S., & Hides, L. (2018). Individual and interpersonal emotion regulation among adults with substance use disorders and matched controls. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57, 186–202. doi:10.1111/bjc.12168Google Scholar
Dixon-Gordon, K.L., Haliczer, L.A., Conkey, L.C., & Whalen, D.J. (2018). Difficulties in interpersonal emotion regulation: Initial development and validation of a self-report measure. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 40, 528–549. doi:10.1007/s10862-018-9647-9Google Scholar
Dixon-Gordon, K.L., Whalen, D.J., Scott, L.N., Cummins, N.D., & Stepp, S.D. (2016). The main and interactive effects of maternal interpersonal emotion regulation and negative affect on adolescent girls’ borderline personality disorder symptoms. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 40, 381–393. doi:10.1007/s10608-015-9706-4Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R.A., & Murphy, B.C. (1996). Parents’ reactions to children's negative emotions: Relations to children's social competence and comforting behavior. Child Development, 67, 2227–2247. doi:10.2307/1131620Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R.A., Shepard, S.A., Guthrie, I.K., Murphy, B.C., & Reiser, M. (1999). Parental reactions to children's negative emotions: longitudinal relations to quality of children's social functioning. Child Development, 70, 513–534. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00037Google Scholar
Field, T., Diego, M., & Hernandez-Reif, M. (2006). Prenatal depression effects on the fetus and newborn: A review. Infant Behavior and Development, 29, 445–455. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2006.03.003Google Scholar
Gable, S.L., Reis, H.T., Impett, E.A., & Asher, E.R. (2004). What do you do when things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 228–245. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.2.228Google Scholar
Grolnick, W.S., & Ryan, R.M. (1989). Parent styles associated with children's self-regulation and competence in school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 143–154. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.81.2.143Google Scholar
Gross, J.J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271–299. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271Google Scholar
Gross, J.J., Carstensen, L.L., Pasupathi, M., Tsai, J., Götestam Skorpen, C., & Hsu, A.Y. (1997). Emotion and aging: Experience, expression, and control. Psychology and Aging, 12, 590–599. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.12.4.590Google Scholar
Gunnar, M.R., & Donzella, B. (2002). Social regulation of the cortisol levels in early human development. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 27, 199–220. doi:10.1016/S0306-4530(01)00045-2Google Scholar
Hofmann, S.G. (2014). Interpersonal emotion regulation model of mood and anxiety disorders. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 38, 483–492. doi:10.1007/s10608-014-9620-1Google Scholar
Hofmann, S.G., & Doan, S.N. (2018). The social foundations of emotion: Developmental, cultural, and clinical dimensions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Hofmann, S.G., Carpenter, J.K., & Curtiss, J. (2016). Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (IERQ): Scale development and pychometric characteristics. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 40, 341–356. doi:10.1007/s10608-016-9756-2Google Scholar
Hofmann, S.G., Heering, S., Sawyer, A.T., & Asnaani, A. (2009). How to handle anxiety: The effects of reappraisal, acceptance, and suppression strategies on anxious arousal. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 389–394. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.02.010Google Scholar
Holtzman, S., Newth, S., & Delongis, A. (2004). The role of social support in coping with daily pain among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Health Psychology, 9, 677–695. doi:10.1177/1359105304045381Google Scholar
Isaacowitz, D.M., Toner, K., Goren, D., & Wilson, H.R. (2008). Looking while unhappy: Mood-congruent gaze in young adults, positive gaze in older adults. Psychological Science, 19, 848–853. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02167.xGoogle Scholar
Isabella, R.A., & Belsky, J. (1991). Interactional synchrony and the origins of infant-mother attachment: A replication study. Child Development, 62, 373–384. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/Google Scholar
Jacob, T., & Johnson, S.L. (1997). Parent–child interaction among depressed fathers and mothers: Impact on child functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 391–409. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.11.4.391Google Scholar
King, C.A., & Merchant, C.R. (2008). Social and interpersonal factors relating to adolescent suicidality: A review of the literature. Archives of Suicide Research, 12, 181–196. doi:10.1080/13811110802101203Google Scholar
Klimes-Dougan, B., Brand, A.E., Zahn-Waxler, C., Usher, B., Hastings, P.D., Kendziora, K., & Garside, R.B. (2007). Parental emotion socialization in adolescence: Differences in sex, age and problem status. Social Development, 16, 326–342. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00387.xGoogle Scholar
Kullik, A., & Petermann, F. (2013). Attachment to parents and peers as a risk factor for adolescent depressive disorders: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 44, 537–548. doi:10.1007/s10578-012-0347-5Google Scholar
Laible, D.J., Carlo, G., & Raffaelli, M. (2000). The differential relations of parent and peer attachment to adolescent adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 45–59. doi:10.1023/A:1005169004882Google Scholar
Lakey, B., & Orehek, E. (2011). Relational regulation theory: A new approach to explain the link between perceived social support and mental health. Psychological Review, 118, 482–495. doi:10.1037/a0023477Google Scholar
Langston, C.A. (1994). Capitalizing on and coping with daily-life events: Expressive responses to positive events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1112–1125. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1112Google Scholar
LeDoux, J.E., & Brown, R. (2017). A higher-order theory of emotional consciousness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114, E2016–E2025.Google Scholar
Lepore, S.J., Fernandez-Berrocal, P., Ragan, J., & Ramos, N. (2004). It's not that bad: Social challenges to emotional disclosure enhance adjustment to stress. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 17, 341–361. doi:10.1080/10615800412331318625Google Scholar
Levy-Gigi, E., & Shamay-Tsoory, S.G. (2017). Help me if you can: Evaluating the effectiveness of interpersonal compared to intrapersonal emotion regulation in reducing distress. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 55, 33–40. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2016.11.008Google Scholar
Lopes, P.N., Salovey, P., Côté, S., Beers, M., & Petty, R.E. (2005). Emotion regulation abilities and the quality of social interaction. Emotion, 5, 113. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.5.1.113Google Scholar
Marroquín, B. (2011). Interpersonal emotion regulation as a mechanism of social support in depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 1276–1290. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.09.005Google Scholar
Malatesta, C.Z., Culver, C., Tesman, J.R., Shepard, B., Fogel, A., Reimers, M., & Zivin, G. (1989). The development of emotion expression during the first two years of life. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 54, i–136. doi:10.2307/1166153Google Scholar
Mennin, D.S., Heimberg, R.G., Turk, C.L., & Fresco, D.M. (2005). Preliminary evidence for an emotion dysregulation model of generalized anxiety disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 1281–1310. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2004.08.008Google Scholar
Morris, A.S., Silk, J.S., Steinberg, L., Myers, S.S., & Robinson, L.R. (2007). The role of the family context in the development of emotion regulation. Social Development, 16, 361–388. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00389.xGoogle Scholar
Mroczek, D.K., & Kolarz, C.M. (1998). The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A developmental perspective on happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1333–1349. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.5.1333Google Scholar
Niven, K., Garcia, D., van der Löwe, I., Holman, D., & Mansell, W. (2015). Becoming popular: Interpersonal emotion regulation predicts relationship formation in real life social networks. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1452. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01452Google Scholar
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2000). The role of rumination in depressive disorders and mixed anxiety/depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 504–511. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.109.3.504Google Scholar
Ochsner, K.N., & Gross, J.J. (2008). Cognitive emotion regulation: Insights from social cognitive and affective neuroscience. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 153–158. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00566.xGoogle Scholar
Posner, M.I., Rothbart, M.K., & Sheese, B.E. (2007). Attention genes. Developmental Science, 10, 24–29. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00559.xGoogle Scholar
Rehman, U.S., Gollan, J., & Mortimer, A.R. (2008). The marital context of depression: Research, limitations, and new directions. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 179–198. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2007.04.007Google Scholar
Rehman, U.S., Ginting, J., Karimiha, G., & Goodnight, J.A. (2010). Revisiting the relationship between depressive symptoms and marital communication using an experimental paradigm: The moderating effect of acute sad mood. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 97–105. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.09.013Google Scholar
Renken, B., Egeland, B., Marvinney, D., Mangelsdorf, S., & Sroufe, L.A. (1989). Early childhood antecedents of aggression and passive-withdrawal in early elementary school. Journal of Personality, 57, 257–281. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1989.tb00483.xGoogle Scholar
Rimé, B. (2009). Emotion elicits the social sharing of emotion: Theory and empirical review. Emotion Review, 1, 60–85. doi:10.1177/1754073908097189Google Scholar
Rose, A.J. (2002). Co-rumination in the friendships of girls and boys. Child Development, 73, 1830–1843. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00509Google Scholar
Rubin, K.H., Hastings, P., Chen, X., Stewart, S., & McNichol, K. (1998). Intrapersonal and maternal correlates of aggression, conflict, and externalizing problems in toddlers. Child Development, 69, 1614–1629. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06180.xGoogle Scholar
Sanders, W., Zeman, J., Poon, J., & Miller, R. (2015). Child regulation of negative emotions and depressive symptoms: The moderating role of parental emotion socialization. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 402–415. doi:10.1007/s10826-013-9850-yGoogle Scholar
Shiota, M.N., & Levenson, R.W. (2009). Effects of aging on experimentally instructed detached reappraisal, positive reappraisal, and emotional behavior suppression. Psychology and Aging, 24, 890–900. doi:10.1037/a0017896Google Scholar
Wegner, D.M., & Gold, D.B. (1995). Fanning old flames: Emotional and cognitive effects of suppressing thoughts of a past relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 782–792. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.68.5.782Google Scholar
Wegner, D.M., Broome, A., & Blumberg, S.J. (1997). Ironic effects of trying to relax under stress. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 11–21. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(96)00078-2Google Scholar
Williams, W.C., Morelli, S.A., Ong, D.C., & Zaki, J. (2018). Interpersonal emotion regulation: Implications for affiliation, perceived support, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115, 224–254. doi:10.1037/pspi0000132Google Scholar
Yap, M.B.H., Allen, N.B., & Ladouceur, C.D. (2008). Maternal socialization of positive affect: The impact of invalidation on adolescent emotion regulation and depressive symptomatology. Child Development, 79, 1415–1431. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01196.xGoogle Scholar
Zaki, J., & Williams, W.C. (2013). Interpersonal emotion regulation. Emotion, 13, 803–810. doi:10.1037/a0033839Google Scholar