Intra- versus interpersonal emotion regulation: Associations with affect, relationship quality and closeness, and biological markers of stress.

Abstract in brief

• This study compares intrapersonal emotion regulation (managing one's own emotions) with interpersonal emotion regulation (receiving support from others) by examining strategies like rumination, distraction, corumination, and codistraction, and how they affect mood, relationship closeness, and biological stress markers like cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA).
• Results show that distraction was most effective at reducing negative feelings quickly, and both interpersonal strategies increased sAA levels during stress but helped decrease these levels during recovery, while effects on relationship quality and closeness were minimal.
• Overall, the findings suggest that different emotion regulation strategies have specific impacts on emotional and biological stress responses, providing insights for managing stress and negative emotions in social contexts.]