(PS9-C63) The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation Strategies on Rejection Sensitivity and Depression and Anxiety

Rejection sensitivity is a cognitive process where one consistently expects rejection and experiences dysfunctional reactions to rejection (Gardner et al., 2020). Previous research has established that high levels of rejection sensitivity relate to internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety; Ayduk et al., 2000). Further, deficits in emotion regulation strategies partially mediate the relationship between rejection sensitivity and internalizing symptoms (Gardner et al., 2020).  However, the current literature has not investigated how some emotion dysregulation strategies may mediate the relationship between rejection sensitivity and internalizing symptoms among adolescents. The current study investigates whether 1) self-blame, 2) rumination, and 3) catastrophizing mediate the relationship between rejection sensitivity and symptoms of both depression and anxiety.

Participants were 97 adolescents (ages 14-19, 83% white, 62% female) who participated in a retrospective online study using self-report measures. Rejection sensitivity was measured using a modified version of the  Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (Bernson et al., 2009). Symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured using the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale- Short version (Chorpita et al., 2000). Emotion regulation was measured using the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski et al., 2002), which included subscales of self blame, rumination, and catastrophizing.

Although self-blame and rejection sensitivity were directly related (p= .0002), self-blame (p = .0003), but not rejection sensitivity (p = .09), was associated with depression and both self-blame (p = .002) and rejection sensitivity (p = .01) were associated with anxiety. Bootstrapping mediation using PROCESS suggests that self-blame mediated between rejection sensitivity and depression (CI= 0.04, 0.19) and anxiety (CI= 0.06, 0.38). Both rejection sensitivity and rumination were directly related to each other (p=.01), as well as to depression (p=.02; p=.002) and anxiety (p=.002; p=.01). Results indicated that rumination mediated between rejection sensitivity and depression (CI = 0.01, 0.14) and anxiety (CI= 0.01, 0.28). Finally, catastrophizing was related to rejection sensitivity (p=.039), and both catastrophizing and rejection sensitivity to depression (p=.02; p</span>=.006) and anxiety (p=.045, p=.0009). Catastrophizing mediated between rejection sensitivity and depression (CI= 0.0005, 0.09), but not between rejection sensitivity and anxiety (CI= -0.01, 0.18). 

The results suggest that clinical interventions should focus on shifting maladaptive emotion regulation strategies to decrease levels of rejection sensitivity and internalizing symptoms. When providing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to adolescents with depression and anxiety, techniques should focus on addressing dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies like self-blame, rumination, and catastrophizing to enhance effectiveness.