Emotion suppression has been reported to involve maladaptive dimensions that predict lower psychological health outcomes, such as higher depressive tendencies and lower self-esteem. In contrast, mindfulness has been suggested to be associated with higher psychological health. The present cross-sectional study examined associations among emotion suppression tendencies, dispositional mindfulness, and psychological health by using an online questionnaire survey. University students living in Japan (N = 302) completed the Japanese versions of the Negative Emotion Suppression Scale (NESS), the Positive Emotion Suppression Scale (PESS), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and scales on psychological health outcomes. Correlation analyses revealed that tendencies for positive emotion suppression showed significant positive associations with perceived stress and depression, and significant negative associations with subjective well-being and self-esteem. Tendencies for negative emotion suppression were significantly negatively correlated with subjective well-being, and its “anxiety” subscale was significantly positively correlated with depression. Total scores for neither negative nor positive emotion suppression were significantly associated with dispositional mindfulness. Furthermore, hierarchical multiple regression analyses with emotion suppression tendencies as independent variables, psychological health measures as dependent variables, and dispositional mindfulness as a moderator revealed no significant moderating effects. These results suggest that emotion suppression, especially tendencies to suppress positive emotions, are associated with lower levels of psychological health. Moreover, no moderating effect of dispositional mindfulness was observed, indicating that emotion suppression and mindfulness may function as independent emotion regulation strategies.

Authors:
Shoko Hosobuchi, Waseda University, Japan
Hiromitsu Miyata, Waseda University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Ms. Shoko Hosobuchi is currently a graduate student at the Graduate school of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University.

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