The Moderating Role of Emotion Regulation on Longitudinal Associations between Stress and Mental Health in College Students

Emotion regulation is consistently linked to subsequent wellbeing, but little research has examined the moderating role of emotion regulation in associations between mental health and other relevant factors. Patterns of gender differences in emotion regulation also remain somewhat unclear. The present study targets these gaps by examining two specific emotion regulation strategies in interaction with stress and gender in predicting internalizing symptoms among college students, a population for whom emotion regulation may be particularly important given the high-stress nature of the college transition. A large sample of students (N = 1,130) provided self-report data at three time points over their first year of college. Results indicated that cognitive reappraisal functioned as a buffer against the negative effects of stress, whereas expressive suppression did not interact with stress in predicting subsequent symptoms but instead functioned as an independent risk factor for internalizing symptoms. Finally, assessments of gender differences indicated that men may engage in expressive suppression more often and cognitive reappraisal less often than do women. These findings underscore the importance of emotion regulation, both by identifying cognitive reappraisal as a protective factor against stress and highlighting the direct negative impacts of expressive suppression. Results also suggest that men tend to regulate their emotions in less healthy ways than do women, in turn suggesting that men may be a group for whom emotion regulation is an area of particular concern

The Functional Status Examination in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A TRACK-TBI Sub-Study.

OBJECTIVE: The Functional Status Examination (FSE) is a comprehensive measure of functional status post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) that has primarily been used in studies of moderate-to-severe TBI. The present observational study examines functional status using the FSE among patients who sustained mild TBIs (mTBIs; defined as Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] = 13-15 at admission) seen in a Level 1 trauma center. Study aims included examining the course of functional status following mTBI, as well as exploring relationships of the FSE and other relevant constructs among those with GCS = 13-15. METHOD: Participants were assessed at 2 weeks (n = 112), 3 months (n = 113), 6 months (n = 106), and 12 months (n = 88) post-injury for changes in functional status resulting both (a) from all injuries and (b) from TBI only. RESULTS: Among seven domains of day-to-day functioning, participants generally experienced the greatest disruption in their primary activity (work or school) and in leisure and recreation. Subjects overall functional status tended to improve over time, with sharpest increases in functionality occurring in the first 3 months post-injury. However, some subjects continued to report functional limitations even at 12 months post-injury. Functional status was largely unrelated to neurocognitive functioning, but related strongly to post-traumatic symptoms, life satisfaction, and emotional well-being, particularly at 3 months post-injury and beyond. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that functional impairments related to mTBI may be more likely to persist than widely believed, with those who experience lingering functional deficits at particular risk for emotional health difficulties

The Temporal Relationship of Mental Health Problems and Functional Limitations following mTBI: A TRACK-TBI and TED Study

Mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, are often associated with functional limitations after traumatic brain injury (TBI), prompting researchers to explore which of these TBI-related sequelae tends to precede the other. Past studies among patients with injuries ranging in severity have predominantly reported that functional impairments predict subsequent psychological concerns, rather than the other way around; however, it remains unclear whether this directionality holds for individuals with mild TBI (mTBI). The present study utilized a cross-lagged panel design within a structural equation modeling analytical framework to explore the longitudinal relationships of symptoms of depression and anxiety to functional status among 717 adult mTBI patients, with assessments occurring at 2 weeks and 3 months post-injury. Symptoms of both depression and anxiety significantly predicted subsequent functional limitations ( λ s = −0.21 and −0.25), whereas the reverse effects were nonsignificant ( λ s = −0.05 and −0.03); thus, psychological concerns appeared to function as a precursor to functional impairment. This pattern was particularly pronounced among patients with normal head computed tomography (CT) results; however, results were less clear cut among those subjects whose injuries were accompanied by intracranial abnormalities detected on CT imaging, suggesting the possibility of a more reciprocal relationship in the case of CT-positive mTBI. These results may serve to partially explain the incidence of persistent functional limitations observed among subsets of mTBI patients in past studies. Findings likewise highlight the importance of assessment and treatment for mental health problems after mTBI as an important factor to promote psychological well-being and functional recovery

The Temporal Relationship of Mental Health Problems and Functional Limitations following mTBI: A TRACK-TBI and TED Study

Mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, are often associated with functional limitations after traumatic brain injury (TBI), prompting researchers to explore which of these TBI-related sequelae tends to precede the other. Past studies among patients with injuries ranging in severity have predominantly reported that functional impairments predict subsequent psychological concerns, rather than the other way around; however, it remains unclear whether this directionality holds for individuals with mild TBI (mTBI). The present study utilized a cross-lagged panel design within a structural equation modeling analytical framework to explore the longitudinal relationships of symptoms of depression and anxiety to functional status among 717 adult mTBI patients, with assessments occurring at 2 weeks and 3 months post-injury. Symptoms of both depression and anxiety significantly predicted subsequent functional limitations (λs = -0.21 and -0.25), whereas the reverse effects were nonsignificant (λs = -0.05 and -0.03); thus, psychological concerns appeared to function as a precursor to functional impairment. This pattern was particularly pronounced among patients with normal head computed tomography (CT) results; however, results were less clear cut among those subjects whose injuries were accompanied by intracranial abnormalities detected on CT imaging, suggesting the possibility of a more reciprocal relationship in the case of CT-positive mTBI. These results may serve to partially explain the incidence of persistent functional limitations observed among subsets of mTBI patients in past studies. Findings likewise highlight the importance of assessment and treatment for mental health problems after mTBI as an important factor to promote psychological well-being and functional recovery