TY - JOUR
T1 - Inflammation and emotion regulation
T2 - Findings from the MIDUS II study
AU - Ospina, Luz H.
AU - Beck-Felts, Katie
AU - Ifrah, Chloe
AU - Lister, Amanda
AU - Messer, Sylvie
AU - Russo, Scott J.
AU - Gross, James J.
AU - Kimhy, David
N1 - Funding Information:
Publicly available data from the MIDUS study was used for this research. Since 1995 the MIDUS study has been funded by the following: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network; National Institute on Aging ( P01-AG020166 ); National institute on Aging ( U19-AG051426 ). Biomarker data collection was further supported by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program as follows: UL1TR001409 (Georgetown); UL1TR001881 (UCLA); 1UL1RR025011 (UW).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Emotion regulation (ER) strategies are thought to contribute to mental as well as physical health outcomes. Two common ER strategies include expressive suppression, or inhibition of emotional expression, and cognitive reappraisal, which involves changing how to think about an emotion-eliciting event in order to change its emotional impact. Recent reports have hypothesized that one potential way in which ER may be linked to health outcomes is via the immune system. However, information on this putative link is scarce. The present study aims to explore whether peripheral inflammatory biomarkers are associated with individual differences in ER-strategy use. Participants (n = 117) from the Midlife in the United States II (MIDUS II) study completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and provided a blood sample for immune biomarker extraction including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP), E-selectin, Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and fibrinogen. Results showed higher levels of expressive suppression were associated with decreased IL-10, TNF-α, and ICAM-1 levels (controlling for age, sex, BMI, total prescribed medications, and depressive symptoms). Consistent with these findings, hierarchical regression results identified TNF-α as a significant predictor of expressive suppression use. In contrast, no inflammatory markers were associated with predicted use of cognitive reappraisal. Our findings suggest a link between inflammation and specific ER-strategy use. Future research should consider the effects of pro-vs. anti-inflammatory cytokines on adaptive ER and subsequent mental and physical health.
AB - Emotion regulation (ER) strategies are thought to contribute to mental as well as physical health outcomes. Two common ER strategies include expressive suppression, or inhibition of emotional expression, and cognitive reappraisal, which involves changing how to think about an emotion-eliciting event in order to change its emotional impact. Recent reports have hypothesized that one potential way in which ER may be linked to health outcomes is via the immune system. However, information on this putative link is scarce. The present study aims to explore whether peripheral inflammatory biomarkers are associated with individual differences in ER-strategy use. Participants (n = 117) from the Midlife in the United States II (MIDUS II) study completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and provided a blood sample for immune biomarker extraction including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP), E-selectin, Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and fibrinogen. Results showed higher levels of expressive suppression were associated with decreased IL-10, TNF-α, and ICAM-1 levels (controlling for age, sex, BMI, total prescribed medications, and depressive symptoms). Consistent with these findings, hierarchical regression results identified TNF-α as a significant predictor of expressive suppression use. In contrast, no inflammatory markers were associated with predicted use of cognitive reappraisal. Our findings suggest a link between inflammation and specific ER-strategy use. Future research should consider the effects of pro-vs. anti-inflammatory cytokines on adaptive ER and subsequent mental and physical health.
KW - Emotion regulation
KW - Inflammation
KW - MIDUS II
KW - Reappraisal
KW - Suppression
KW - TNF-Alpha
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139724154&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100536
DO - 10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100536
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85139724154
VL - 26
JO - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity - Health
JF - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity - Health
SN - 2666-3546
M1 - 100536
ER -