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Examining relationships between interpersonal emotion regulation, psychopathology, and relationship quality in female friend dyads

Christensen, Kara Alise

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
One way individuals can create social connections is through providing and receiving social support (i.e., enacted support). Although both social support and emotion regulation (ER) have been linked to mental health outcomes, the application of an ER framework to the construct of enacted support is relatively unexplored. The current study advances our understanding by examining dyadic reports of the use of ER strategies on symptoms of psychopathology, relationship closeness, and relationship influence in female friend pairs. 121 pairs of undergraduate female friends (Mage = 19 years, SD = 1.32) completed questionnaires assessing their perception of the habitual use of ER strategies with their friend and their friend’s habitual use of ER strategies with them (Gross & John, 2003; Treynor et al., 2003), symptoms of psychopathology (Fairburn & Beglin, 1994; Radloff, 1977; Mattick & Clarke, 1998; Spitzer et al., 2006), relationship closeness (Aron, Aron,& Smollan, 1992), and relationship influence (Berscheid et al., 1989). Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIM; Cook & Kenny, 2005) were conducted, entering provision and receipt of brooding rumination, expressive suppression, and reappraisal as predictors, and a composite psychopathology score, relationship closeness, and relationship influence as outcomes. I found that an individual’s perceptions of providing and receiving brooding rumination and suppression were positively associated with her symptoms of psychopathology (β = .14-.39, all ps < .03). Furthermore, an individual providing brooding rumination to her friend was positively associated with her friend’s level of psychopathology (β = .14, p =.02). An individual providing (β = -.17, p = .01) and receiving (β = -.21, p <.01) reappraisal was negatively associated with her friend’s level of psychopathology. There were significant positive actor and partner effects for receiving reappraisal when predicting relationship closeness (β = .16, p = .01; β =.14, p =.03). Additionally, I found that there were significant positive associations between an individual’s reports of providing (β = .21, p <.01) and receiving (β = .34, p <.01) rumination and her perception of relationship influence. Reappraisal showed similar positive actor effects (providing: β = .14, p = .03; receiving: β = .25, p <.01). There were also partner effects for reappraisal, such that a participant’s reports of providing (β = .14, p = .03) and receiving (β = .13, p = .03) reappraisal were associated with her friend’s perception of relationship influence. This study found evidence to suggest that there are relationships between the interpersonal use of emotion regulation and symptoms of psychopathology and perceptions of relationship influence. Interestingly, interpersonal ER appears to function similarly to intrapersonal ER use in predicting individual’s wellbeing, underscoring the importance of evaluating interpersonal factors in clinical research and practice.
Michael Vasey, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Jennifer Cheavens, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Dylan Wagner, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Katie Maguire-Jack, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
101 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Christensen, K. A. (2019). Examining relationships between interpersonal emotion regulation, psychopathology, and relationship quality in female friend dyads [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563803675071968

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Christensen, Kara. Examining relationships between interpersonal emotion regulation, psychopathology, and relationship quality in female friend dyads. 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563803675071968.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Christensen, Kara. "Examining relationships between interpersonal emotion regulation, psychopathology, and relationship quality in female friend dyads." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563803675071968

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)