Efecto del uso de estrategias cognitivas de regulación emocional sobre la ansiedad en adolescentes españoles

The way in which people regulate their e motions is related to the appearance, course and development of a broad spectrum of psychopathologies. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the use of cognitive emotional regulation strategies on high school students’ anxiety level. To this end, the Spanish adaptation of the CER-Q and the Spanish adaptation of the STAI were applied to a sample of 266 high school students. A multiple linear regression model was proposed, where anxiety level was the dependent variable, and the use frequencies of emotional regulation strategies were the independent variables. Gender was also considered as an independent variable since the data showed differences in anxiety level and in the use of emotional regulation strategies between male and female subjects. The model explained 46.3% of the variance, and the predictive variables were Self-blame, Positive Reinterpretation, Catastrophizing, Rumination and gender. Based on the findings and the previous literature, it is suggested that the use of adaptive strategies of emotional regulation promotes lower levels of anxiety, and the use of maladaptive strategies results in higher levels of anxiety.