Emotion regulation profiles in Syrian refugees and migrants in Germany: self-efficacy, resilience and well-being comparisons

Abstract

Background: Emotion regulation (ER) plays a central role in psychopathology. Understanding person-centred patterns of ER strategies is crucial for prevention and intervention strategies. However, there is a paucity of research on ER profiles and their psychological correlates in forcibly displaced people (FDP).

Objective: This study aimed to identify habitual ER profiles and to examine the predictive role of different psychological variables on these profiles in Syrian FDP in Germany.

Method: In a sample of 991 individuals, we conducted a latent profile analysis (LPA) to assess habitual reappraisal and suppression of emotion as ER strategies, as well as self-efficacy, resilience, well-being comparisons, trauma exposure and International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as potential predictors of ER profile membership.

Results: LPA identified four distinct ER profiles: high regulators (12.8%), low regulators (20.6%), reappraisal regulators (25.1%) and suppressive regulators (41.5%). In multinomial regression analysis, self-efficacy, resilience, appetitive well-being comparisons and trauma exposure were significantly associated with profile membership, while PTSD and aversive well-being comparisons showed no significant association. High regulators exhibited the highest levels of self-efficacy, resilience and appetitive well-being comparisons, followed by reappraisal, suppressive and low regulators. Additionally, high regulators reported the highest number of traumatic events, followed by suppressive and low regulators.

Conclusions: Our results indicate a higher adaptiveness in high regulation ER profiles as opposed to low regulation ER profiles.

Clinical implications: Given that most FDP in our sample relied predominantly on one ER strategy, developing interventions that focus on cultivating a broad repertoire of ER strategies may be beneficial.

Keywords: cross-sectional studies.