(PS11-99) The Role of Suppressive Emotion Regulation Strategy Use in Reward Responsiveness

Suppression is a response-focused emotion regulation (ER) strategy involving attempts to stop or change any component of emotional responding (i.e., physiological, subjective, behavioral) once it has been initiated. Habitual use of emotional suppression has been associated with disorders marked by anhedonia, including depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia (Liverant et al., 2008; McLean & Foa, 2017; Moran et al., 2018). Anhedonia is linked to alterations in reward responsiveness, both in anticipation of (anticipatory) and following receipt of rewards (consummatory; Treadway & Zald, 2011). While habitual use of suppression and blunted reward responsiveness are both found in disorders marked by anhedonia, little is known about the specific effects of suppressive strategy use on reward system functioning. The current study aimed to fill this gap by examining associations between suppressive ER strategy use and daily anticipatory and consummatory reward responsiveness using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

73 undergraduate students completed baseline questionnaires assessing demographic information and trait use of suppressive strategies, including thought suppression (White Bear Suppression Inventory [WBSI]) and expressive suppression (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Expressive Suppression Subscale [ERQ-ES]). Participants then completed EMA questionnaires assessing anticipatory (ARR) and consummatory (CRR) reward responsiveness three times per day for seven consecutive days. Linear mixed models were conducted to explore whether baseline dispositional use of suppressive ER strategies predicted ARR, and CRR over the course of one week.

Baseline use of expressive suppression (ERQ-ES) significantly predicted lower ARR (β = -0.02, t (244.71) = -2.89, p = 0.004) and CRR (β = -0.02, t (273.54) = -3.73, p < 0.001) across one week. In contrast, baseline use of thought suppression (WBSI) significantly negatively predicted ARR (β = -0.006, t (238.94) = -2.63, p = 0.009), but not CRR.

Results demonstrate significant associations between habitual use of suppressive ER strategies and the two distinct temporal elements of reward responsiveness. Greater use of expressive suppression demonstrated a broad-based effect on reward responsiveness, showing significant inverse associations with both the ability to anticipate positive emotional reactivity to future rewards and experience pleasure in response to receipt of rewards. Thought suppression evidenced a more specific association with blunted anticipatory, but not consummatory reward responsiveness. Findings suggest that different forms of suppression may have unique impacts on distinct aspects of reward responsiveness. Results support emotion regulation strategy use as a novel treatment target to up-regulate reward system functioning in the prevention and treatment of disorders marked by the phenotype of anhedonia.