Abstract
This study explored the relationships among emotion regulation (ER) strategies, received emotional social support, and relationship quality (RQ) in U.S. older adults (65+). A cross-sectional survey of 323 respondents recruited through ResearchMatch, an online participant registry, measured intrinsically- and extrinsically-directed ER strategy use, received emotional social support, and RQ across six social network members. Results indicated that suppression, a response-focused ER strategy, was negatively associated with RQ, with emotional social support partially mediating this relationship. Suppression reduced emotional social support, which in turn decreased RQ, particularly in close relationships. Analysis of specific antecedent-focused ER strategies revealed that emotional social support mediated the relationship between situation modification and situation selection and RQ. These findings highlight the importance of context-specific ER, the adverse effects of suppression, and the role of received emotional social support as a mediator between ER strategies and RQ, particularly in older adults’ close relationships.
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