(PS2-20) Examining Components of Emotion Regulation Difficulties with Generalized Anxiety Symptoms

Emotion dysregulation has been considered a “hallmark of psychopathology”. Nonetheless, emotion dysregulation manifests differently across disorders (D’Agostino et al., 2017). Previous literature has provided preliminary support for an emotion dysregulation model of generalized anxiety disorder (Mennin et al., 2005). The purpose of the current study was to further establish which categories of emotion regulation difficulties best predicted symptoms of GAD. Thus, categories of emotion regulation difficulties were operationalized as 6 categories: emotional awareness, emotional clarity, impulse control, goal-directed behavior, non-acceptance, and limited regulation strategies, as measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004). The current study used an undergraduate sample (N­=705) ages 18-25 (M=19.21, SD=1.31; 67.5% females, 62.6% white). Participants completed an online survey that included the DERS and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006). We conducted a multiple regression analysis with the six subscales of the DERS as the independent variables and the GAD-7 total as the dependent variable. Emotion regulation difficulties explained 37.9% of the variance in GAD symptoms. Deficits in goal-directed behavior (β = .140, p < .001) and limited regulation strategies (β = .387, p < .001) were unique predictors. Moreover, individuals who experienced higher difficulty engaging in goal-directed cognitions and behaviors when distressed (deficits in goal-directed behavior) as well as a lack of access to strategies for feeling better when distressed (limited regulation strategies) was predictive of an individual’s endorsement of GAD symptoms. These predictors of GAD symptoms may inform treatment procedures by highlighting this specific population's deficits in emotion regulation. In the future, therapeutic interventions may seek to increase the total number of regulation strategies, while more specifically, targeting difficulties engaging in goal-directed activities. However, before therapeutic modalities add these specific emotion regulation considerations, these findings should be replicated with a clinical sample to further establish the validity of these specific emotion regulation difficulties.