Sex differences in the indirect effects of cognitive processes on anxiety through emotion regulation difficulties |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 W. Harrison St. Room 3066, Chicago, IL 60607, United States;2. Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, 1023 Millmont St. Charlottesville, VA 22903, United States;1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA;2. Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA;3. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA;4. Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA;5. Department of Psychology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA;1. Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St., Toronto M5B 2K3, ON, Canada;2. Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic, St. Joseph''s Healthcare, 100 West 5th Street, Hamilton L9C 0E3, ON, Canada;3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, L8S4L8, ON, Canada |
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| Abstract: | Drawing on a gender roles theory of emotion regulation, we examined the specific facets of emotion regulation difficulties through which higher-order cognitive abilities may be related to anxiety. Participants (N = 225) completed self-report measures of emotion regulation difficulties and anxiety, and were administered neuropsychological tests assessing abstract reasoning and inhibition. PROCESS (Hayes, 2012) was used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of both inhibition and abstract reasoning on anxiety symptoms, with six dimensions of emotion regulation difficulties serving as multiple mediators operating in parallel. Results suggest that the relation between higher-order cognitive abilities and anxiety operate through distinct, sex-dependent emotion dysregulation mechanisms. For females, higher levels of inhibition and abstract thinking were associated with poorer clarity of emotions, which in turn, was associated with higher levels of anxiety symptoms. As such, over-attentiveness to, or over-analysis of, emotions may be particularly detrimental among females who have relatively higher abstract reasoning abilities. For males, higher inhibition was associated with greater perceived effectiveness in regulating negative emotions, which in turn, was associated with lower levels of anxiety symptoms. This finding suggests that mood regulation expectancies may be particularly important in understanding the pathogenesis of anxiety in males. |
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| Keywords: | Anxiety Emotion regulation Cognitive abilities Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Sex differences |
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