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Evaluation ViewAttendees 8

Oppression and Resilience Minority Health
Session Type:: Symposia

Symposium 36 - Emotion Regulation Flexibility in Diverse Communities: Coping with Minority Stress and Well-Being

Saturday, November 22, 2025
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
Location: Foster 2, Level 2
CE: 1.5

Keywords: Emotion Regulation, Underserved Populations, Stress
Level of Familiarity: Moderate
Recommended Readings: Bonanno, G. A., & Burton, C. L. (2013). Regulatory Flexibility: An Individual Differences Perspective on Coping and Emotion Regulation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(6), 591–612.,   Tull, M. T., & Aldao, A. (2015). Editorial overview: New directions in the science of emotion regulation. Current opinion in psychology, 3, iv-x.,   Weiss, N. H., Thomas, E. D., Schick, M. R., Reyes, M. E., & Contractor, A. A. (2022). Racial and ethnic differences in emotion regulation: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 78(5), 785-808.,   Chen, M. S., Bi, K., Han, X., Sun, P., & Bonanno, G. A. (2024). Emotion regulation flexibility and momentary affect in two cultures. Nature Mental Health, 2, 450-459.,  

Emotion regulation (ER) is a core psychological process that helps individuals manage emotions in response to stress. However, for racial/ethnic and other marginalized communities, ER occurs within distinct sociocultural contexts shaped by discrimination, acculturative stress, and systemic inequities. In these populations, ER patterns may emerge not only due to individual differences but also as an adaptive response to chronic exposure to minority stress. Recent research highlights ER flexibility (i.e., the ability to modify regulatory strategies based on changing situational demands) as a critical yet understudied factor in understanding resilience and distress in minoritized populations. Understanding when, how, and for whom ER flexibility supports well-being is essential for refining theoretical models and developing culturally responsive interventions. This symposium presents a novel, interdisciplinary perspective on ER and ER flexibility in minoritized populations by integrating ecological momentary assessments (EMA), meta-analytic synthesis, and mixed-methods approaches with emerging theoretical models.

The first presentation develops and validates EMA measures of ER flexibility across community, clinical, and culturally diverse samples, highlighting cultural and diagnostic differences in flexibility patterns. The second presentation uses EMAs over two weeks to examine ER flexibility among ethnic minority college students, integrating two leading ER flexibility frameworks to assess how regulatory processes unfold in daily life. The third presentation uses meta-analytic techniques to synthesize findings from over 100 studies, revealing how different ER strategies (e.g., reappraisal, rumination) interact with minority stress across various study designs. The fourth presentation uses a community-based mixed-methods approach to explore ER among Black women, emphasizing how sociocultural beliefs about emotional control impact ER strategy selection and well-being. The final presentation introduces a novel cognitive perspective on ER flexibility, discussing how interpretation flexibility (i.e., the ability to update social perceptions) intersects with ER strategy variability in response to identity-based stress.

Findings have direct implications for intervention development, particularly in adapting cognitive-behavioral approaches to better align with the lived experiences of diverse communities. By integrating cutting-edge methodological approaches and novel conceptual perspectives, this symposium advances the field by bridging gaps between basic science, minority stress research, and clinical application. This work informs theoretical innovation and the development of evidence-based, context-sensitive interventions, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of ER and ER flexibility.

Presenters bring expertise from various disciplines and career stages to discuss ER flexibility research across different populations and methodological approaches. The discussant, drawing from extensive experience in ER research and intervention science, will synthesize these findings and provide insights into future directions for research and clinical applications.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Enhance understanding of how emotion regulation flexibility influences mental health and well-being in diverse and minoritized populations.
  2. Discuss research methods, including ecological momentary assessment and mixed methods, to study emotion regulation in real-world contexts.
  3. Examine how structural factors, such as minority stress and stigma, shape emotion regulation flexibility and psychological distress.
  4. Explore how emotion regulation flexibility may contribute to adaptive coping across different sociocultural and contextual factors.
  5. Discuss the clinical implications of emotion regulation flexibility for interventions tailored for diverse populations.

Presentations:

  • 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
    (SYM 36) Emotion Regulation Flexibility in Depression and Anxiety: Validation and Replication in Community and Clinical Samples Across Cultures

    Speaker: Mark Chen, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Yale University

  • 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
    (SYM 36) Daily Stress and Risk for Emotional Disorders in Ethnic Minority College Students: Uncovering the Dynamic Role of Emotion Regulation Flexibility

    Speaker: Kiran Kaur, M.S. (she/her/hers) – Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School

    Co-author: Brian Baucom, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – University of Utah

    Co-author: Monika Lohani, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Utah

    Co-author: bert uchino, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – university of utah

    Co-author: Feea Leifker, MPH, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of Utah

    Co-author: Anu Asnaani, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Utah

  • 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
    (SYM 36) Clarifying the Relation Between Minority Stress and Facets of Emotion Regulation: A Meta-analysis and Narrative Review

    Speaker: Maria A. Kalantzis, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Bowling Green State University

    Co-author: Maria A. Kalantzis, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Bowling Green State University

    Co-author: Lorelai Symmes, BS – Bowling Green State University

  • 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
    (SYM 36) Flexible Control: A Community-based Mixed-methods Study of Emotional Beliefs and Regulation Flexibility for Black Women

    Speaker: Ramya Ramadurai, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Mclean Hospital/Harvard Medical School

    Co-author: Greighson M. Rowe, M.A. – American University

    Co-author: Nathaniel R. Herr, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – American University

  • 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
    (SYM 36) Lab-based Interpretation Flexibility Predicts Longitudinal Emotion Regulation Variability and Less Intense Daily Affect

    Speaker: Wisteria Deng, M.S., Other (she/her/hers) – Yale University

    Co-author: Sofie Glatt, B.A. – James J. Peters VA Medical Center

    Co-author: Yutong Zhu, B.S. (she/her/hers) – Yale University

    Co-author: Mark Chen, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Yale University

    Co-author: Tyrone Cannon, PhD (he/him/his) – Yale University

    Co-author: Jutta Joormann, Ph.D. – Yale University