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Symposia

Culture / Ethnicity / Race

Emotion Regulation Processes in Marginalized Young People: Implications for The Treatment and Assessment of Internalizing Disorders

2 - (SYM 56) Racial Discrimination and Internalizing Symptoms in Ethno-racially Marginalized Adolescents: Examining Associations with Emotion Dysregulation

Sunday, November 23, 2025
12:42 PM - 1:03 PM CST
Location: Celestin H, Level 3
Keywords: Emotion Regulation, Stress, Risk / Vulnerability Factors
Recommended Readings: Lincoln, T. M., Schulze, L., & Renneberg, B. (2022). The role of emotion regulation in the characterization, development and treatment of psychopathology. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1(5), 272-286.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00040-4,   Wen, A., Metts, A. V., Zinbarg, R. E., Mineka, S., & Craske, M. G. (2025). Tri-level anxiety and depression symptom trajectory in adolescents: The role of emotion regulation diversity. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 109, 102941.,   Soto, J. A., Albrecht Soto, S. L., Perez, C. R., Posada Rodríguez, C., & Newman, M. G. (2025). Examining the effectiveness of positive reappraisal in the context of discrimination. Emotion, 25(1), 247–258. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001422,   Emotion regulation and mental health across cultures: A meta-analysis examining the roles of national cultures, EIRDness, and demographics (preprint available: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/47tue),  
Abstract Body


Background: Racial discrimination is a prevalent form of adversity that affects ethno-racially marginalized adolescents and increases their risk for internalizing disorders (i.e., anxiety and depression). Emotion dysregulation, defined as a pattern of emotional responses that are difficult to modulate and impede goal-directed behavior, may be one psychological factor that could elucidate the link between racial discrimination and internalizing symptoms. The current study examined (1) racial discrimination as a predictor of emotion dysregulation and internalizing symptoms in ethno-racially marginalized adolescents; and (2) emotion dysregulation as a predictor of internalizing symptoms in this population.
Method: Participants were 5,693 ethno-racially marginalized adolescents (Mage at baseline = 9.9; 48% female; 42.3% Hispanic) enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study who completed questionnaires at baseline, Year 2, and Year 3. We assessed the relationships between racial discrimination, latent emotion dysregulation, and latent internalizing symptoms using structural equation modeling. Parental education and child sex assigned at birth were included as covariates in the path analysis.
Results: Past-year exposure to racial discrimination in Year 2 predicted elevated internalizing symptoms in Year 3 (b = 0.067; p < .001; 95% CI [0.037, 0.102]). Further, p</span>ast-year racial discrimination in Year 2 was related to greater emotion dysregulation in Year 3 (b = 0.306, p < 0.05; 95% CI [0.102, 0.517]). Finally, emotion dysregulation in Year 3 was linked to higher internalizing symptoms at Year 3 (b = 0.028, p < 0.05; 95% CI [0.008, 0.054]). Results remained statistically significant after accounting for covariates.
Conclusion: Findings contribute to a well-established literature supporting racial discrimination as a robust predictor of internalizing problems in marginalized adolescents. The finding that racial discrimination may be a risk factor for emotion dysregulation is novel in this population and has potential clinical implications. Given that emotion dysregulation is related to internalizing disorders, emotion dysregulation may be a key mechanism linking racial discrimination to internalizing symptoms. Longitudinal research could clarify the utility of targeting emotion dysregulation in interventions that address the psychological consequences of racial discrimination in ethno-racially marginalized adolescents.