Loneliness and emotion regulation
Loneliness is a risk factor for mental disorders and is a significant and growing public health issue, but to date, loneliness interventions have had limited success. We propose that an emotion regulation perspective might be useful for understanding loneliness and for suggesting new treatment targe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173043 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93748 |
| _version_ | 1848765778501828608 |
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| author | Preece, David Goldenberg, A. Becerra, R. Boyes, Mark Hasking, Penelope Gross, J.J. |
| author_facet | Preece, David Goldenberg, A. Becerra, R. Boyes, Mark Hasking, Penelope Gross, J.J. |
| author_sort | Preece, David |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Loneliness is a risk factor for mental disorders and is a significant and growing public health issue, but to date, loneliness interventions have had limited success. We propose that an emotion regulation perspective might be useful for understanding loneliness and for suggesting new treatment targets. In this study, our aim was to test the basis for this proposal by examining whether individual differences in emotion regulation strategy use can explain significant variance in loneliness, and to establish what profile of strategy use might characterize loneliness. We administered a comprehensive battery of loneliness and emotion regulation questionnaires to 501 adults. In a regression model, emotion regulation strategy use accounted for over half (52.2%) the variance in loneliness. A latent profile analysis revealed four profiles, with the “high loneliness” profile characterized cognitively by greater use of rumination, catastrophising, blame-attribution, and lesser use of cognitive reappraisal type strategies. Behaviorally, loneliness was characterised by greater use of expressive suppression, and regulating emotions by actively rejecting or withdrawing from others. We conclude that individual differences in emotion regulation may play an important role in explaining loneliness, and could therefore represent a promising treatment target. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:40:39Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-93748 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:40:39Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-937482023-11-13T06:17:03Z Loneliness and emotion regulation Preece, David Goldenberg, A. Becerra, R. Boyes, Mark Hasking, Penelope Gross, J.J. Social Sciences Psychology, Social Psychology Loneliness Emotion regulation Strategies Profile REGULATION QUESTIONNAIRE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES NUMBER MODEL SUPPRESSION STRATEGIES SYMPTOMS ANXIETY Loneliness is a risk factor for mental disorders and is a significant and growing public health issue, but to date, loneliness interventions have had limited success. We propose that an emotion regulation perspective might be useful for understanding loneliness and for suggesting new treatment targets. In this study, our aim was to test the basis for this proposal by examining whether individual differences in emotion regulation strategy use can explain significant variance in loneliness, and to establish what profile of strategy use might characterize loneliness. We administered a comprehensive battery of loneliness and emotion regulation questionnaires to 501 adults. In a regression model, emotion regulation strategy use accounted for over half (52.2%) the variance in loneliness. A latent profile analysis revealed four profiles, with the “high loneliness” profile characterized cognitively by greater use of rumination, catastrophising, blame-attribution, and lesser use of cognitive reappraisal type strategies. Behaviorally, loneliness was characterised by greater use of expressive suppression, and regulating emotions by actively rejecting or withdrawing from others. We conclude that individual differences in emotion regulation may play an important role in explaining loneliness, and could therefore represent a promising treatment target. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93748 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110974 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173043 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Psychology, Social Psychology Loneliness Emotion regulation Strategies Profile REGULATION QUESTIONNAIRE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES NUMBER MODEL SUPPRESSION STRATEGIES SYMPTOMS ANXIETY Preece, David Goldenberg, A. Becerra, R. Boyes, Mark Hasking, Penelope Gross, J.J. Loneliness and emotion regulation |
| title | Loneliness and emotion regulation |
| title_full | Loneliness and emotion regulation |
| title_fullStr | Loneliness and emotion regulation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Loneliness and emotion regulation |
| title_short | Loneliness and emotion regulation |
| title_sort | loneliness and emotion regulation |
| topic | Social Sciences Psychology, Social Psychology Loneliness Emotion regulation Strategies Profile REGULATION QUESTIONNAIRE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES NUMBER MODEL SUPPRESSION STRATEGIES SYMPTOMS ANXIETY |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173043 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93748 |