Emotion Regulation Strategies as a Mediator of the Relationship of Beliefs About Emotion and Emotion Regulation Self-efficacy, and Social Anxiety

According to cognitive models, maladaptive beliefs play a major role in social anxiety disorder (SAD) and can lead to dysfunctional behavioral reactions and emotion dysregulation. This study aims to examine emotion regulation strategies as a mediator in the relationship of beliefs about emotions and emotion regulation self-efficacy and social anxiety.

A total of 650 college students from Yazd University (Iran) were selected by cluster sampling and filled out the implicit theories of emotion scale (ITES; 2007), regulatory emotional self-efficacy scale (RESE; 1999), social interaction anxiety scale (SIAS; 1992), and the short-form cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire (CERQ; 2002).

The initial hypothesized model had a poor fit. By merging the manifest variables of refocus on planning with reappraisal, refocusing with putting into perspective (for adaptive emotion regulation), and combining rumination and catastrophizing (for maladaptive emotion regulation), the model fit was optimized, and all the direct paths became significant. The final model was a partial mediation model, confirming the adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies as a mediating role in the relationship of beliefs about emotions and emotion regulation self-efficacy and social anxiety.

The results showed that beliefs about emotions affect the utilization of efficient emotion regulation strategies and can be a risk factor for social anxiety.