Abstract
Cognitive reappraisal reduces anxiety, but we know little about how socioeconomic status (SES) moderates this association. Drawing from developmental, affective, and health psychological frameworks, the present 2 studies investigated SES as a moderator of reappraisal and anxiety using performance-based (Study 1) and self-report (Study 1 and 2) measures of reappraisal; analyzing nonclinical (Study 1) and clinical (Study 2) symptoms of anxiety; and utilizing a small, laboratory-based study (Study 1) and a large-scale 9-year longitudinal study (Study 2). Across studies, findings showed that reappraisal predicted lower anxiety at low levels of SES but did not or less so at high levels of SES. These results were found for self-report measures of reappraisal; generalized across nonclinical and clinical symptoms of anxiety; and emerged both concurrently and prospectively across 9 years. Findings remained stable when controlling for a number of covariates, including age, gender, and race; were more robust for income than education; largely generalized across gender (except for a men-specific moderation effect for education in Study 2); and were directional such that SES did not moderate associations between anxiety and changes in reappraisal. These findings highlight the importance of considering socioeconomic context in the link between reappraisal and anxiety.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1478-1489 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Emotion |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2019 |
Funding
Policy and Department of Psychology, Northwestern University. We thank all study participants, undergraduate and graduate students of the Life-Span Development Laboratory, and the MIDUS research teams. Emily F. Hittner is funded through the Multidisciplinary Program in Education Sciences (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Multidisciplinary Program in Education Sciences, Grant Award R305B140042). Claudia M. Haase, Emily F. Hittner, and Katie L. Rim formed the project idea. Emily F. Hittner and Katie L. Rim performed data analysis for Study 1 and Emily F. Hittner performed data analysis for Study 2 in collaboration with Claudia M. Haase. Emily F. Hittner, Katie L. Rim, and Claudia M. Haase interpreted and discussed the results. Emily F. Hittner wrote the article and Katie L. Rim and Claudia M. Haase provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the article for submission. The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or the publication of this article. We thank all study participants, undergraduate and graduate students of the Life-Span Development Laboratory, and the MIDUS research teams. Emily F. Hittner is funded through the Multidisciplinary Program in Education Sciences (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Multidisciplinary Program in Education Sciences, Grant Award R305B140042). Claudia M. Haase, Emily F. Hittner, and Katie L. Rim formed the project idea. Emily F. Hittner and Katie L. Rim performed data analysis for Study 1 and Emily F. Hittner performed data analysis for Study 2 in collaboration with Claudia M. Haase. Emily F. Hittner, Katie L. Rim, and Claudia M. Haase interpreted and discussed the results. Emily F. Hittner wrote the article and Katie L. Rim and Claudia M. Haase provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the article for submission. The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or the publication of this article.
Keywords
- Anxiety
- Cognitive reappraisal
- Mental health
- Midlife in the United States (MIDUS)
- Socioeconomic status
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Psychology