(PS1-95) Moderators of the distress intolerance–depression link: The roles of emotion malleability beliefs and avoidant coping

Abstract Text: Distress intolerance (DI)—the perceived inability to withstand negative emotional states—is a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, including depression. Individuals with low DI often experience greater emotional distress and engage in maladaptive coping strategies that sustain depressive symptoms. However, little research has examined how DI predicts depression over time or how cognitive and behavioral factors influence this relationship.

Two potential moderators of this relationship are emotion beliefs and avoidant coping strategies. Emotion beliefs—particularly fixed beliefs about the malleability and uncontrollability of negative emotions—have been linked to greater emotional distress and heightened depressive symptoms. Similarly, avoidant coping, which involves disengaging from distressing experiences, has been shown to exacerbate depression and reinforce avoidance cycles. The present study examined whether (a) DI prospectively predicts depressive symptoms and (b) emotion malleability beliefs and avoidant coping moderate this relationship.

Community adults (N = 229, Mage = 44.25) completed self-report measures of depressive symptoms, DI, emotion malleability beliefs, and avoidant coping at baseline (T1) and a one-month follow-up (T2). Multiple regression analyses revealed that DI at T1 predicted higher levels of depression at T2 (p < .001). This effect remained significant after controlling for baseline depression (p < .05). Moderation analyses revealed that both emotion beliefs and avoidant coping significantly moderated the DI-depression relationship, such that stronger malleability beliefs weakened the DI-depression link (p < .05), whereas higher levels of avoidant coping strengthened it (p < .01). Notably, DI no longer predicted depression at low levels of avoidant coping (p = .16), suggesting that avoidance may amplify the impact of DI on downstream depression.

Findings highlight DI as a prospective risk factor for depression and suggest that emotion beliefs and avoidant coping play key roles in shaping this relationship. Clinically, interventions targeting behavioral factors (e.g., reducing avoidance through exposure-based approaches) and cognitive factors (e.g., challenging fixed emotion beliefs) may help mitigate the impact of DI on depression. Future research should replicate these findings in clinical samples and employ longitudinal designs to determine whether avoidance mediates the DI–depression relationship and whether changes in emotion beliefs buffer against worsening symptoms. Given the role of cognitive and behavioral factors in DI and depression, understanding these moderators may help inform broader efforts to refine evidence-based interventions and enhance their applicability across diverse clinical contexts.