Rapid emotion regulation after mood induction: age and individual differences
Previous research has suggested that emotion regulation improves with age. This study examined both age and individual differences in online emotion regulation after a negative mood induction. We found evidence that older adults were more likely to rapidly regulate their emotions than were younger a...
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Published in | The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Vol. 64; no. 6; pp. 733 - 741 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Oxford University Press for Gerontological Society of America
01.11.2009
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Series | Journals of Gerontology: Series B |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get more information |
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Summary: | Previous research has suggested that emotion regulation improves with age. This study examined both age and individual differences in online emotion regulation after a negative mood induction. We found evidence that older adults were more likely to rapidly regulate their emotions than were younger adults. Moreover, older adults who rapidly regulated had lower trait anxiety and depressive symptoms and higher levels of optimism than their same-age peers who did not rapidly regulate. Measuring mood change over an extended time revealed that older rapid regulators still reported increased levels of positive affect over 20 min later, whereas young adult rapid regulators' moods had declined. These results highlight the importance of considering individual differences when examining age differences in online emotion regulation. |
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ISSN: | 1079-5014 1758-5368 |
DOI: | 10.1093/geronb/gbp077 |