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Symposia

Oppression and Resilience Minority Health

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

4 - (SYM 36) Flexible Control: A Community-based Mixed-methods Study of Emotional Beliefs and Regulation Flexibility for Black Women

Saturday, November 22, 2025
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CST
Location: Foster 2, Level 2
Keywords: Emotion Regulation, Underserved Populations, Stress
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.,  
Abstract Body
Intersectional racism, a pervasive and invalidating system of power, contributes to emotional processes that fuel poor mental health outcomes for Black women. Racial stress may fuel emotion regulatory profiles characterized by overcontrol (e.g., suppression) as well as Strong Black Woman (SBW) beliefs which emphasize emotional control. Emotional control may present as a double-edged sword, conferring short-term benefits as well as long-term emotional costs. We use a community-based mixed-method approach to examine the relationships between SBW cognitions, emotion beliefs about control, emotion regulation strategy use, and psychological distress among Black women with racial trauma and emotional disturbance. We hypothesize there will be a strong positive association between both emotion control beliefs and SBW beliefs and emotion regulation inflexibility (e.g., suppression of positive and negative emotions). We further hypothesize that higher levels of emotion regulation inflexibility will predict psychological distress. We will also present qualitative data on emotion regulation strategy use and reasons for strategy use. Adult Black women (n =12) participated in two, 2-hour audio recorded focus groups. Participants completed a battery of survey measures prior to participating in the groups. Group transcripts underwent rapid thematic analysis to identify themes related to emotion regulation flexibility. Preliminary quantitative analyses revealed no significant association between SBW beliefs and emotion control beliefs but found that SBW beliefs were linked to non-acceptance of emotions (r = .75, p < .05) and suppression of positive emotions (r = .67, p < .05). Suppression further emerged as a significant predictor of psychological distress (B = 10.2, se(B) = 1.59, t = 6.39, p = .001). Qualitative data indicated values related to savoring positive emotions, beliefs about perceived burdensomeness as a cause of suppression, and suggest several contextual factors as relevant to emotion regulation flexibility. Findings underscore the impact of experienced racism on emotional beliefs and regulation strategy use, and position flexibility as relevant clinical target for Black women.