Specificity of relations between adolescents' cognitive emotion regulation strategies and Internalizing and Externalizing psychopathology

OBJECTIVE: Of the study was to examine the extent to which cognitive emotion regulation strategies were 'common determinants' of Internalizing and Externalizing problems and/or 'specific determinants' distinguishing one problem category from the other. METHOD: The sample comprised 271 12- to 18-year-old secondary school students. Internalizing and Externalizing problems were measured by the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies were measured by the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), in a cross-sectional design. RESULTS: First, adolescents with Internalizing problems, Externalizing problems, comorbid Internalizing and Externalizing problems and a control group were compared on their specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Results showed that adolescents with Internalizing problems (both pure and comorbid) scored significantly higher on the cognitive emotion regulation strategies of self-blame and rumination than those with Externalizing (pure) problems or the control group. Unique relationships between the separate cognitive strategies and Internalizing and Externalizing problems were tested by means of Multiple Regression Analyses. Specific relationships were found between Internalizing problems and self-blame, rumination and positive reappraisal and between Externalizing problems and positive refocusing. No 'common' correlates were found. CONCLUSIONS: Theoretical models designed for the prediction of Internalizing problems might not simply be used for the prediction of Externalizing problems. Different (cognitive) intervention strategies should be used for adolescents with Internalizing problems and Externalizing problems.