Context and dynamics_ The new frontier for developmental research on emotion regulation.docx

Context and dynamics_ The new frontier for developmental research on emotion regulation.docx

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ContextandDynamics:

TheNewFrontierforDevelopmentalResearchon

EmotionRegulation

JenniferS.Silk

UniversityofPittsburgh

Despitemuchresearchandprogressinunderstandingthedevelopmentofemotionregulationoverthepast3decades,thereisstillmuchtobeunderstoodabouthowdevelopingindividualsmodulatetheiraffectastheygoabouttheirdailylife.Thepapersinthisspecialissuehighlightcontextanddynamicsas2importantintersectingfociforfuturedevelopmentalresearchonemotionregulation.Ecologicalmomentaryassessment,passivesensing,andotherambulatorymethodsofferexcitingnewtoolsforcapturingcontextualfeaturesoftheenvironmentthatmayinfluencetheselectionofemotionregulationstrategiesandtheeffectivenessofspecificstrategiesindifferentcontexts.Newinterdisciplinary,methodological,andquantitativeapproachesalsooffernewtoolsforbettercharacterizingthetemporaldynamicsofemotionregulation,includingafocusonthecoregulationofaffectbetweenparentsandchildren.Thenextgenerationofemotionregulationresearcherswillrequireadvancedinterdisciplinary,quantitative,andtechnologicalskillstobeabletoleveragenewtoolsthatcanbettercharacterizethefine-graineddynamicsofemotionregulationprocessesandtheprecisewaysinwhichsocialcontextualfeaturesmodulatetheseprocesses.

Keywords:

emotionregulation,emotiondynamics,ecologicalmomentaryassessment,coregulation,passivesensing

Theimportanceofemotionregulationasacentralprocessunderlyingadaptivesocialandemotionaldevelopmenthasgainedwidespreadacceptanceoverthepast25years.Thepublicationofthe1994MonographoftheSocietyforResearchinChildDevelopmentonthetopicofemotionregulation（Fox,1994）,whichfeaturedasetofground-breakingpapersdefiningtheconstruct（Calkins,1994;Campos,Mumme,Kermoian,&Campos.1994;Cole,Michel,&Teti,1994;Kagan,1994;Thompson,1994）,markedthebeginningofaburgeoningfieldofresearch.Yetadecadelater,thefieldstillstruggledwithconceptualandmethodologicalchallengesinoperationalizingandinvestigatingthiscomplexandelusivetopic.In2004,Cole,Martin,andDennistackledthesechallengesinathought-provokingpaperthattaskedfutureemotionregulationresearcherswithimprovingthequalityofthisresearchbyanalyzingthetimecourseofemotionandmeasuringemotionregulationacrosscontrastingcontextsusingmultipleconvergingmeasures.

Inthe15yearssincethepublicationofColeetal.’s（2004）criticalanalysis,developmentalistshavemadesignificantstridesutilizingmultimethodapproachestostudyemotionregulation.Yetwestilllackanuancedunderstandingofhowemotionregulationismodulatedbycontextualfactorsandhowitunfoldsdynamicallyovertime.Asweenterafourthdecadeofactiveresearchonthisconstruct,newtechnologies,statisticalapproaches,andinterdisciplinaryadvancesmakeitpossibletobetterachievesomeofthe

CorrespondenceconcerningthisarticleshouldbeaddressedtoJenniferS.Silk.DepartmentofPsychology.UniversityofPittsburgh.210SouthBouquetStreet,Pittsburgh.PA15260.E-mail:

jss4@pitt.edugoalsoriginallyenvisionedbypioneeringemotionregulationresearchers.Thepapersinthisspecialissueexemplifyhowadeeperfocusonthecontextanddynamicsofemotionregulationcanmovethefieldforwardtowardamorecompleteunderstandingofhowthedevelopingindividualmodulateshisorheremotionsastheygoabouttheirdailylife.

Inherentinthisgoalisaneedtomovebeyondrelianceonquestionnairemeasuresofemotionregulationasatraitratherthanaprocess.Questionnairesrequirepeopletoretrospectivelyreportontypicalregulatorybehaviorscollapsedacrosstimeandplace,regardlessofcontextualfeaturessuchastheirgoalsinthesituationandtheresourcesavailabletothematthetime.Forexample,aretheywiththeirfriendsortheirfamily?

Aretheydealingwithaproblemthatcanbeeasilysolvedorasituationthatwouldbehardtochange?

Aretheyhavingagooddayorabadday?

Attestingtotheimportanceofthesecontextualfactors,Bensonetal.（2019）pointoutthatecologicalmomentaryassessmentstudieshavetypicallydemonstratedmorewithin-personvariationinemotionregulationstrategyuseacrosstimeandcontextthanbetween-subjectsvariability.Forthisreason,anestimatedaverageregulatoryresponsethatignoresthecontextualfeaturesthatgenerallyshapeemotionalrespondingmayhavelimitedvalueforunderstandingindividualdifferencesindevelopmentandpsychosocialadjustment.

EcologicalMomentaryAssessmentApproachesto

MeasuringtheSocialContextofEmotionRegulation

Ambulatoryassessmentapproachesofferincreasinglyfeasiblemethodsformeasuringhowcontextualfeaturesoftheenvironmentshapeemotionregulationbehaviors.Forexample,experiencesam-phngorecologicalmomentaryassessment（EMA）studies,whichincluderepeatedintensivemeasurementsindailylife,arewellsuitedtohelpusunderstandthespecificconditionsunderwhichyouthenactcertainemotionregulationstrategies.EMAisanecologicallyvalidmethodofgatheringreal-timedataonaffectandbehaviorinnaturalenvironmentsthroughtheuseofsignalingdevices,suchassmartphones.EMAoffersadvantagesovertraditionalquestionnaireandobservationalmethodsinmeasuringemotionregulationbecauseitallowsresearcherstocapturenaturallyoccurringdynamicchangesinaffectexperiencedduringdevelopmentallyandsociallyrelevantevents.Silkandcolleagues（Morganetal.,2017;Oppenheimeretal.,2016;Silketal.,2011;Silk,Steinberg,&Morris,2003;Tanetal.,2012;Waller,Silk,Stone,&Dahl,2014）haveconductedaseriesofEMAstudiesinwhichyoutharequeriedtwotofivetimesadayforupto5weeksabouttheirmostpositiveandnegativeexperiencesovertheprecedinghour.Thisworkhasrevealedthatnegativeandpositiveaffectcanvaryasafunctionofcontextualfeaturessuchassocialcompanions.Forexample,Silketal.（2011）foundthatchildrenandadolescentsarethemostsadandangrywhenalonecomparedtowhentheyarewithfriendsorfamily.Theyalsofoundthattheratioofpositivetonegativeaffectwashighestwhenyouthweresocializingwithfriendsorfamilythanwhenengaginginothertypesofactivitiesorspendingtimealonebut,surprisingly,didnotdifferwhensocializingwithfriendscomparedwithfamily.Thesefindingsdemonstratethat,contrarytopopularbelief,beingaroundaparentmayhaveapositiveimpactonanadolescent’saffect.

InoneofthefirstEMAstudiesinyouthtoexplicitlyexaminethesocialcontextofemotionregulation,Walleretal.（2014）usedEMAtoinvestigatehowoftenparentsengageactivelywithadolescents（aged11-17years）inspecificemotionregulationstrategies,focusingonruminationandproblemsolving（Walleretal.,2014）.Adolescentswereaskedtoreportonnegativeeventsorproblemsthattheywereexperiencinginrealtimeandtoindicatewhetheranyindividuals（parents,peers,etc.）helpedthemtodealwiththeiraffect.Resultsshowedthatbothdepressedandhealthyadolescentsreportedthattheirparentshelpedthemtomanagetheiraffectinabouthalfofthenegativeeventsthattheyencountered.Thisshowsthatyouthcontinuetorelyontheirparentsforguidanceandassistanceinemotionregulationthroughouttheteenyears.Intermsofthespecificstrategiesused,theyfoundthathealthyadolescentsengagedinproblemsolvingwithparentsandpeersatsimilarrates（46-48%ofproblemtalkconversations）,whereasadolescentswithdepressionengagedinlowratesofproblemsolvingwithpeers（21%ofproblemtalkconversations）comparedwithproblemsolvingwithparents（49%ofproblemtalkconversations）.Similarly,forthelessadaptivestrategyofcorumination,healthyyouthengagedinsimilarratesofcoruminationwithparentsandpeers,whereasdepressedadolescentsweretwiceaslikelytoengageincoruminationwithaparentcomparedwithhealthyyouthand3timesmorelikelytoengageincoruminationwithapeercomparedwithhealthyyouth.Thesefindingsrevealthattheinfluenceofsocialcontextonemotionregulationstrategyusemaybemoderatedbyindividualdifferences,suchasyouths’symptomsofpsychopathology.

EmotionRegulationFlexibility

Inthisspecialissue,Bensonetal.（2019）andGrossandCassidy（2019）bothdiscusstheimportanceofmatchingemotionregulationstrategiestosocialcontextasanindicatorofemotionregulationflexibility.Forexample,Grossetal.（2019）pointoutthatexpressivesuppressioncouldbeanadaptivestrategyinsomecontexts,suchasmaintainingagoodimpressioninfrontofpeers,butlessadaptiveinothers,suchasseekingsupportfromaparent.HohensteinandLewis（2006）havediscussedtheimportanceofemotionalflexibilityindyadicinteractions,buttheconstructofflexibilityhasrarelybeenappliedtoemotionregulationstrategiesinyouth.Totrulyunderstandwhethertheuseofparticularstrategiesismoreeffectiveinonecontextcomparedwithanother,researcherswillneedtomakebetteruseoftoolstoassesscontextaswellasdynamicchangesinaffectovertime.Oneapproachthatwehaveusedtoassesstheeffectivenessofspecificstrategiesindailylifehasbeentousemixed-effectsmodelingtoexaminewithin-personchangesinaffectovertimesasafunctionoftheemotionregulationstrategyselectedateachtimepoint（Silketal.,2003;Tanetal.,2012）.Forexample,Silketal.（2003）showedthatwhenadolescentsreportedregulatingsadnessorangerinrealtimebydisengaging（e.g.,usingdenial,avoidance,escape,orwishfulthinking）orruminatingonthenegativeem