Dimensions of Emotion Regulation as Mediators of the Relationship Between Emotion Controllability Beliefs With Stress and Well-Being

Although beliefs about the extent to which emotions are amenable versus immutable to control (i.e., implicit theories of emotion) have been linked to various mental health indices, mediators of this relationship remain unclear. This study extends prior research by examining dimensions of emotion regulation (ER) difficulties as parallel mediators in the relationship between emotion controllability beliefs and stress and well-being among university students ( n = 483). Higher emotion controllability beliefs were found to be associated with fewer difficulties in emotional clarity, emotional acceptance, effective ER strategy access, impulse control, and goal-directed behaviour. Moreover, the relationship between emotion controllability beliefs and stress and well-being was mediated by emotional clarity and strategy access. Results implicate difficulties understanding one’s own emotions and accessing effective ER strategies as key mechanisms through which lower emotion controllability beliefs may be associated with higher stress and lower well-being. Conversely, better emotional clarity and greater access to effective ER strategies may explain why higher emotion controllability beliefs are associated with better mental health. The present study provides support for the role of implicit theories of emotion in clarifying patterns of adaptive versus maladaptive emotional responding, and sheds light on the cognitive processes underlying individual differences in emotion regulation and mental health. Furthermore, findings offer novel insight regarding the specific emotion regulatory mechanisms through which emotion controllability beliefs may be associated with mental health.