Inadequate emotion regulation may underlie the development of psychopathology as well as worsened physical health, particularly in the context of life stress. Cognitive reappraisal is typically considered an adaptive strategy to manage negative emotions. However, the extent to which reappraisal is beneficial may hinge upon contextual and individual differences. Specifically, it is unclear whether and how the ability to reappraise effectively (i.e., reappraisal ability) and exposure to stressful life events moderate the association between habitual reappraisal and health. Using a series of questionnaires and an experimental task designed to measure the ability to effectively down-regulate sad emotions using reappraisal, the present study examined the interactive effects of habitual reappraisal, reappraisal ability, and exposure to stressful life events on depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as self-reported physical health in 400 young adults (62.5% women; mean age = 19.8 ± 2.5). Results indicated that habitual reappraisal may protect against elevated depressive symptoms and worsened self-reported physical health for people exposed to more stressful life events. Moreover, reappraising often appeared to be particularly beneficial for those who were less effective in their attempts. Results for anxiety symptoms were not significant, although habitual reappraisal remained significantly associated with anxiety symptoms as a lower-order term. These findings provide novel contributions to the field of emotion regulation and health by clarifying that exposure to stressful life events is a key moderator in the association between reappraisal and some areas of health and by elucidating the important roles of both habitual reappraisal and reappraisal ability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

We examined age group differences in hedonic adaptation trajectories of positive and negative affect (PA/NA) at different arousal levels during the severe societal restrictions that governments implemented to contain the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (March to June 2020). Data from 10,509 participants from 33 countries and 12 weekly assessments were used (67% women, aged 18 to 85 +, on average 318 participants per country (SD = 434) and 5.6 assessments (SD = 2.5) per participant). Multilevel models (level 1: assessments, level 2: participants, level 3: countries) were fit to examine trajectories of low to high arousal PA and NA during the phase of tightening societal restrictions, the phase of stable peak restrictions, and the phase of easing restrictions separately. During the entire study period mean levels of PA were lower in emerging and young adults (aged 18-44) than older adults, whereas mean NA levels were higher. During peak societal restrictions, participants reported increasingly more PA, especially high-arousal emotions (d = .36 per month vs. .19 unaroused). NA levels decreased over time, especially high-arousal emotions (d = .35 vs. .14 p/month). These hedonic adaptation trajectories were largely similar across age groups. Nevertheless, up to 30% of the participants increased in NA and up to 6% decreased in PA, against the general trend, demonstrating substantial individual differences in emotional adaptation. Finally, heterogeneity in the effects of time on affect was larger on the individual level than the country level. Emotional recovery trajectories during the first lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic were virtually similar across age groups in 33 countries, across valence and arousal levels, suggesting age advantages in emotional well-being remain restricted to mean-level differences rather than emotion dynamics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).