(PS7-75) From Shame to Aggression: Difficulty in Emotion Regulation

Background

Copious amounts of research have demonstrated the role of dysfunctional emotion regulation in the maintenance of psychological disorders and the importance of functional emotion regulation processes for mental health. When individuals experience negative emotions, such as shame, they often rely on maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Indeed, extant research suggests that aggression can be understood as an emotion regulation response to feelings of shame. This indicates that difficulty in emotion regulation may impact the relationship between shame and aggression if aggression is understood as an emotion regulation strategy. Though shame, difficulties in emotion regulation, and aggression have been independently associated with one another, the interconnected relationship between these variables is not clearly understood. Thus, the present study aims to explore the role of emotion dysregulation in the relationship between shame and aggression.

Methods

The data from the current study comes from a larger study that examined shame, borderline personality disorder, and theory of mind functioning. This study includes 142 participants who completed several measures including assessments on aggression (Brief Aggression Questionnaire; BAQ), shame (Test of Self-Conscious Affect; TOSCA), and emotion dysregulation (Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale; DERS).

Results

A mediation analysis was run to assess whether difficulty in emotion regulation mediates the relation between shame and aggression. Shame and aggression were found to be significantly associated and difficulty in emotion regulation was found to mediate this relation. Furthermore, once emotion regulation is added to the model, the effect of shame on aggression is no longer significant. Follow-up analyses examining the DERS subscales as mediators indicated that all subscales (non-acceptance of emotional response; difficulty in setting goals; impulse control; lack of emotional awareness; emotion regulation strategies; and lack of emotional clarity) mediate the relationship between shame and aggression.

Discussion

These results suggest that challenges with regulating emotions may be one reason that individuals prone to shame may have higher levels of aggression. The findings have pertinent clinical implications that may inform therapeutic interventions, such that, those with higher levels of emotion dysregulation and shame may be more likely to experience aggression as a maladaptive emotion regulation response.