Emotion regulation and psychological health across adulthood

描述（由申请人提供）：压力生活事件（SLEs），如失去工作或亲人的死亡，会增加个人出现使人衰弱的心理健康问题的风险（增加心理健康问题，如抑郁症，幸福感下降）。然而，一些个体表现出令人印象深刻的恢复能力，这可以从面对SLEs时保持甚至增强的心理健康得到证明。了解导致成人对SLEs反应的巨大个体差异的因素，对于预防和治疗心理健康问题以及促进福祉具有明确的意义。在年轻人和中年人中，一个关键的恢复因素是情绪调节，它指的是人们用来改变情绪的过程。然而，老年人似乎在执行一些最有效的情绪调节类型（例如，超然重新评估）的能力方面表现出下降。因此，我们必须探索其他类型的情绪调节，以确定那些对个人年龄增长最有用的类型。理论表明，在这方面，这些类型的情绪调节是有希望的，要么不依赖于可能随着年龄增长而下降的资源（例如，执行功能），要么依赖于随着年龄增长而提高的资源（例如，产生积极情绪，情绪理解）。三种类型的情绪调节符合这些标准：

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Stressful life events (SLEs) such as losing one's job or the death of a loved one increase an individual's risk for debilitating psychological-health problems (increased mental-health problems such as depression, decreased well-being). However, some individuals exhibit impressive resilience, as evidenced by maintained or even increased psychological health in the face of SLEs. Understanding the factors that contribute to the vast individual variation in responses to SLEs across adulthood has clear implications for the prevention and treatment of mental-health problems as well as the promotion of well-being. A pivotal resilience factor in younger and middle-aged adults is emotion regulation, which refers to the processes people use to alter their emotions. However, older adults appear to exhibit declines in the ability to implement some of the most effective types of emotion regulation (e.g., detached reappraisal). Therefore, we must explore other types of emotion regulation to identify those most useful to individuals as they age. Theories suggest those types of emotion regulation are promising in this regard that either do not rely on resources that may decline with age (e.g., executive functions) or that rely on resources that improve with age (e.g., generating positive emotion, emotion understanding). Three types of emotion regulation fulfill these criteria: First, highly practiced and thus automatized emotion regulation (automatic emotion regulation); second, generating positive emotion (positive reappraisal); and, third, acknowledging negative emotional experiences without judgment (acceptance). These theoretical considerations together with preliminary evidence lead to the promising hypothesis that these three types of emotion regulation abilities (ERAs) may promote resilience and, more generally, enhance well-being in individuals as they age. Research is needed now to clarify whether these three ERAs indeed improve with age and whether and how they protect people in high-stress contexts across adulthood. We will use a multi-method approach to address three specific aims. In Aim 1, we will assess changes in these three ERAs across adulthood. In Aim 2, we will determine the three ERA's role in promoting psychological health across adulthood. In Aim 3, we will identify mechanisms by which they translate into better psychological health. We will address these aims in a diverse community sample of individuals aged 21 to 80 who have recently experienced a SLE, as well as a matched, no-stress sample. Addressing these aims is innovative because it will contribute to our understanding of how ERAs change across adulthood, and whether and how three particularly promising types of ERA protect adults from adverse psychological-health effects of SLEs and promote well-being. This research will make a significant contribution to the development of scientific models of emotion regulation, stress, and healthy aging, as well as to effective interventions that promote resilience in adults.