Modalities of emotion regulation following negative life events in adulthood and old age

This study assessed the extent and efficacy of three regulatory modalities of the emotions elicited by negative life events: rumination, distraction and social sharing. Participants (n=400) were asked to describe either a very important negative life event or a not very important one and to assess on 7-point scales when the event occurred, its appraisal, its perceived importance, its impact upon their beliefs, its emotional intensity, the extent of rumination, distraction and social sharing – along with their relative frequency and duration – and their effectiveness to re-establish cognitive equilibrium and modulate the negative emotional burden. Finally, the recovery from the event was assessed. In brief, results showed that significant events produced a higher cognitive and emotional impact than not-so-significant ones. Such impact, in turn, elicited a greater use of rumination and social sharing, a more consistent sense of pervasiveness of rumination and a paradoxical effect of distraction. Recovery from the event was positively predicted by its temporal distance and by the perceived effectiveness of rumination, whereas it was negatively predicted by the use and extent of rumination, perceived event importance and event impact upon one’s beliefs. Females were more affected by the event impact and resorted to rumination and social sharing more than males. The event impact upon the two age groups was moderated by its relevance; besides, adults and the elderly differed regarding the use and the perceived effectiveness of the three regulatory modalities. The theoretical implications of these results were discussed.