Variations in Emotion Regulation

Primary Investigators: Nolan Zane and Helen Ku

A major issue in the provision of mental health care is the ability to provide effective treatments for different ethnic groups. Discovering the specific ways in which Asian Americans vary from White Americans in coping with and expressing their emotions may help mental health service providers be more aware of how they can effectively treat members of various ethnic groups. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine if there are cultural variations in emotion regulation, particularly in response to negative emotions. Since the magnitude of variation may depend on a specific target emotion, we examined four target emotions: depression, anxiety, anger, and shame. Findings from this study may better equip mental health service providers with the knowledge they need to apply more culturally-sensitive practices in psychotherapy.