Specificity of relations between adolescents’ cognitive emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of depression and anxiety

Figures & data

Table 1. Means, standard deviation, ranges, and reliabilities of the study variables.

Study variables	Mean (SD) Total group	Mean (SD) Boys	Mean (SD) Girls	Observed range	Alpha reliability
Symptoms of depression^a	22.76 (10.45)	20.51 (8.89	25.17 (11.43)***	15–75	.94
Symptoms of anxiety^a	13.67 (5.61)	12.73 (4.78)	14.68 (6.28)***	10–50	.90
Self-blame	7.51 (3.02)	6.92 (2.80)	8.14 (3.12)***	4–19	.74
Acceptance	8.73 (3.39)	8.22 (3.44)	9.27 (3.25)***	4–20	.72
Rumination	7.89 (3.52)	7.11 (3.18)	8.71 (3.69)***	4–20	.82
Positive refocusing	9.83 (4.10)	9.31 (4.05)	10.37 (4.08)**	4–20	.80
Refocus on planning	9.68 (3.78)	9.49 (3.98)	9.87 (3.54)	4–20	.82
Positive reappraisal	9.23 (3.57)	9.08 (3.73)	9.39 (3.40)	4–20	.72
Putting into perspective	9.72 (3.90)	9.13 (3.89)	10.34 (3.81)***	4–20	.77
Catastrophising	6.33 (2.88)	5.98 (2.58)	6.69 (3.14)**	4–20	.74
Blaming others	6.28 (2.47)	6.27 (2.69)	6.29 (2.22)	4–20	.71

^aThe means for symptoms of depression and anxiety corresponded to the means of the Dutch adolescent general population sample as reported in Arrindell and Ettema (1986) which were 22.4 and 13.5 for symptoms of depression and anxiety, respectively.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 2. Pearson correlations study variables.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1. Depression	–
2. Anxiety	.87***	–
3. Self-blame	.52***	.45***	–
4. Acceptance	.37***	.31***	.64***	–
5. Rumination	.63***	.55***	.68***	.62***	–
6. Positive refocusing	−.03	−.01	.24***	.45***	.21***	–
7. Refocus on planning	.17***	.14*	.51***	.58***	.52***	.54***	–
8. Positive reappraisal	.05	.04	.41***	.56***	.36***	.60***	.70***	–
9. Putting into perspective	.06	.04	.38***	.53***	.28***	.57***	.56***	.67***	–
10. Catastrophising	.54***	.52***	.53***	.49***	.63***	.18***	.35***	.30***	.23***	–
11. Blaming others	.32***	.33***	.36***	.38***	.47***	.26***	.46***	.35***	.31***	.50***

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 3. MRA on symptoms of depression, with and without controlling for symptoms of anxiety.

	Depression		Depression – controlled for anxiety
	ß	t	ß	t
Symptoms of anxiety	–	–	.71	29.22***
Gender	−.13	1.52	−.06	−1.23
Cognitive strategies
Self-blame	−.06	−0.55	−.06	−0.86
Acceptance	.04	0.82	.03	1.77
Rumination	.41	8.36***	.18	5.49***
Positive refocusing	−.07	−1.80	−.05	−2.15*
Refocus on planning	−.11	−2.29*	−.01	−0.44
Positive reappraisal	−.15	−3.05**	−.06	−1.98*
Putting into perspective	−.02	−0.46	.02	0.54
Catastrophising	.21	5.08***	.03	1.27
Blaming others	.07	1.97*	−.01	−0.28
Significant interactions with gender
Gender × Self-blame	.37	2.72**	0.19	2.23*
Model Explained variance (R^2)	F(11, 565) = 53.94; p < .001; R^2 = .51		F(12, 564) = 195.17; p < .001; R^2 = .81

***p < .001.

**p < .01.

*p < .05.

Table 4. MRA on symptoms of anxiety, with and without controlling for symptoms of depression.

	Anxiety		Anxiety – controlled for depression
	ß	t	ß	t
Symptoms of depression	–	–	.85	29.35
Gender	.05	1.56	−.02	−0.71
Cognitive strategies
Self-blame	.18	3.63***	.00	0.16
Acceptance	.01	0.21	−.02	−0.72
Rumination	.34	6.24***	−.02	−.49
Positive refocusing	−.03	0.61	.04	1.30
Refocus on planning	−.14	2.66**	−.04	−1.26
Positive reappraisal	−.13	−2.42*	.00	0.12
Putting into perspective	−.05	−1.07	−.03	−1.05
Catastrophising	.24	5.44***	.11	2.52*
Blaming others	.11	2.69**	.07	2.00*
Significant interactions with gender
None	–	–	–	–
Model Explained variance (R^2)	F(10, 566) = 39.63; p < .001; R^2 = .41		F(11, 565) = 169.07; p < .001; R^2 = .77

***p < .001.

**p < .01.

*p < .05.

Arrindell, W. A., & Ettema, J. H. M. (1986). SCL-90. Handleiding bij een multidimensionele psychopathologie-indicator [Manual for a multidimensional psychopathology-indicator/Dutch translation and adaptation]. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.

 Google Scholar