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Coping With Health Threats: The Costs and Benefits of Managing Emotions Open Access (recommended)

Descriptions

Resource type(s)

Article

Keyword

emotion regulation
reappraisal
fear
positive emotions
health behaviors
mental health
COVID-19
open data
open materials

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States

Creator

Smith, Angela M
Willroth, Emily Catherine
Gatchpazian, Arasteh
Shallcross, Amanda J
Feinberg, Matthew
Ford, Brett Q

Abstract

How people respond to health threats can influence their own health and, when people are facing communal risks, even their community's health. We propose that people commonly respond to health threats by managing their emotions with cognitive strategies such as reappraisal, which can reduce fear and protect mental health. However, because fear can also motivate health behaviors, reducing fear may also jeopardize health behaviors. In two diverse U.S. samples (N = 1,241) tracked across 3 months, sequential and cross-lagged panel mediation models indicated that reappraisal predicted lower fear about an ongoing health threat (COVID-19) and, in turn, better mental health but fewer recommended physical health behaviors. This trade-off was not inevitable, however: The use of reappraisal to increase socially oriented positive emotions predicted better mental health without jeopardizing physical health behaviors. Examining the costs and benefits of how people cope with health threats is essential for promoting better health outcomes for individuals and communities.

Original Bibliographic Citation

Smith AM, Willroth EC, Gatchpazian A, Shallcross AJ, Feinberg M, Ford BQ. Coping With Health Threats: The Costs and Benefits of Managing Emotions. Psychological Science. 2021;32(7):1011-1023.

Related URL

 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976211024260

Publisher

SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC

Date Created

2021-07

Original Identifier

(PMID) 34143697

Language

English

Subject: MESH

COVID-19
Emotional Regulation
Fear
Health Behavior
Mental Health

Grants and funding

Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC); University of Toronto; Mind and Life Institute

DOI

10.1177/09567976211024260

File Details

File Properties

Mime type: application/pdf

File size: 352.9 kB