Implicit Theories of Emotion and Disruptive Behaviors in Adolescence: Pathways Through Emotion Dysregulation
Location
Culp Center Rm. 303
Start Date
4-25-2023 2:00 PM
End Date
4-25-2023 2:20 PM
Faculty Sponsor’s Department
Psychology
Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor
Rachel Miller-Slough
Competition Type
Competitive
Type
Oral Presentation
Project's Category
Psychology
Abstract or Artist's Statement
Disruptive behavior, such as aggression and rule-breaking, tend to increase in adolescence and are linked to negative academic outcomes and psychosocial difficulties. Emotion dysregulation also increases from childhood to adolescence. An individual’s implicit beliefs about their emotions, such as whether they view emotions as changeable versus fixed, may relate to how they regulate their emotions. Adolescents who view emotions as fixed may be less likely to use adaptive emotion regulation strategies and experience emotion dysregulation. Viewing one’s anger as fixed may lead to more emotion dysregulation which may then contribute to aggression and violence towards others. Neurological studies show that emotion dysregulation and disruptive behavior activate similar brain structures, providing support that emotion dysregulation may be a possible pathway to disruptive behavior. There is evidence for implicit emotion theories impact on depression symptoms through emotion dysregulation, with little research on how it might impact disruptive behavior disorder symptoms. Therefore, we hypothesized that a fixed mindset towards emotions would relate to increased disruptive behavior symptoms, and this effect would be mediated by emotion dysregulation. Participants were 165 adolescents (M = 14.56 years; 33.7% female; 73.5% European American) and their parents, both of whom completed questionnaires via Qualtrics online platform. Adolescents reported on their implicit theories of emotion and emotion dysregulation. Parents reported on their adolescent’s disruptive behaviors, such as conduct problems and oppositionality. We tested the mediation models in SPSS using the Process macro v.4.2. There were no significant indirect effects of a fixed mindset on oppositionality. However, a fixed mindset had an indirect relation to conduct problems. There was a direct effect of a fixed mindset on conduct problems, which was no longer significant once emotion dysregulation was entered into the model. These results show that emotion dysregulation mediates the link between implicit emotion theories and conduct problems, but not oppositionality, in adolescence. There may have been no association with oppositionality behaviors because they typically occur at a younger age than conduct problems. Adolescents who view emotions as unchangeable may not attempt emotion regulation strategies as often, which leads to more conduct problems. In clinical settings, it might be advantageous to assess and address how youth view their emotions and support emotion regulation strategies. Although this study relied on cross-sectional self-report data, it provides an important first step to exploring risk factors and pathways for disruptive behaviors. Future research may benefit from experimental and longitudinal designs to investigate causality.
Implicit Theories of Emotion and Disruptive Behaviors in Adolescence: Pathways Through Emotion Dysregulation
Culp Center Rm. 303
Disruptive behavior, such as aggression and rule-breaking, tend to increase in adolescence and are linked to negative academic outcomes and psychosocial difficulties. Emotion dysregulation also increases from childhood to adolescence. An individual’s implicit beliefs about their emotions, such as whether they view emotions as changeable versus fixed, may relate to how they regulate their emotions. Adolescents who view emotions as fixed may be less likely to use adaptive emotion regulation strategies and experience emotion dysregulation. Viewing one’s anger as fixed may lead to more emotion dysregulation which may then contribute to aggression and violence towards others. Neurological studies show that emotion dysregulation and disruptive behavior activate similar brain structures, providing support that emotion dysregulation may be a possible pathway to disruptive behavior. There is evidence for implicit emotion theories impact on depression symptoms through emotion dysregulation, with little research on how it might impact disruptive behavior disorder symptoms. Therefore, we hypothesized that a fixed mindset towards emotions would relate to increased disruptive behavior symptoms, and this effect would be mediated by emotion dysregulation. Participants were 165 adolescents (M = 14.56 years; 33.7% female; 73.5% European American) and their parents, both of whom completed questionnaires via Qualtrics online platform. Adolescents reported on their implicit theories of emotion and emotion dysregulation. Parents reported on their adolescent’s disruptive behaviors, such as conduct problems and oppositionality. We tested the mediation models in SPSS using the Process macro v.4.2. There were no significant indirect effects of a fixed mindset on oppositionality. However, a fixed mindset had an indirect relation to conduct problems. There was a direct effect of a fixed mindset on conduct problems, which was no longer significant once emotion dysregulation was entered into the model. These results show that emotion dysregulation mediates the link between implicit emotion theories and conduct problems, but not oppositionality, in adolescence. There may have been no association with oppositionality behaviors because they typically occur at a younger age than conduct problems. Adolescents who view emotions as unchangeable may not attempt emotion regulation strategies as often, which leads to more conduct problems. In clinical settings, it might be advantageous to assess and address how youth view their emotions and support emotion regulation strategies. Although this study relied on cross-sectional self-report data, it provides an important first step to exploring risk factors and pathways for disruptive behaviors. Future research may benefit from experimental and longitudinal designs to investigate causality.