The Role of Emotion Regulation in the Relationship between Empathy and Internalizing Symptoms in College Students

This study aimed to examine difficulties in emotion regulation as one possible mediator of the relationship between empathy and internalizing symptoms in a large sample of college students. Six hundred and sixteen male and female college students completed a series of self-report questionnaires measuring empathy, difficulties in emotion regulation, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Findings revealed that difficulties in emotion regulation indirectly affected the relationship between affective empathy and internalizing symptoms, after controlling for participants’ year in college and gender. These results suggest that the development and practice of emotion regulation skills in college students may represent one important component of skill-oriented preventive interventions and health promotion programs buffering against the development of internalizing symptoms in those young adults who tend to demonstrate high levels of affective empathy.
Source: Mental Health and Prevention - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research