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Updated: May 28, 2026
Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Emotion regulation predicts pain and functioning in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: an electronic diary
Mark Connelly1, Maggie H Bromberg, Kelly K Anthony
1Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, MO 64108, USA. mconnelly1@cmh.edu
Insights
Emotion regulation strategies significantly impact daily pain and activity levels in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Better emotion modulation and less negative emotion variability are linked to improved outcomes for JIA patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rheumatology
- Psychology
- Digital Health
Background:
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) presents significant challenges to children's daily lives, including pain and functional limitations.
- Emotion regulation is crucial for managing chronic conditions, but its role in pediatric rheumatic diseases is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the predictive relationship between emotion regulation components and daily pain and function in children with JIA.
- To utilize electronic diaries (e-diaries) for real-time assessment of emotions, pain, and activity in pediatric JIA patients.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 43 children (ages 8-17) with JIA and their caregivers for baseline emotion regulation assessment.
- Children completed thrice-daily e-diary entries for 28 days, recording emotions, pain levels, and activity involvement.
- Employed hierarchical linear models to analyze the association between emotion regulation (including emotion variability and modulation) and daily health outcomes.
Main Results:
- Reduced pain was associated with the ability to attenuate negative emotions after periods of high intensity.
- Greater variability in negative emotions predicted increased pain and greater activity limitations.
- Positive emotion regulation also demonstrated a significant predictive relationship with pain levels.
Conclusions:
- Specific components of emotion regulation, effectively captured through e-diaries, are significant predictors of daily pain and functional status in children with JIA.
- These findings highlight the importance of addressing emotion regulation in the comprehensive management of JIA.
Objectives:
This study utilized e-diaries to evaluate whether components of emotion regulation predict daily pain and function in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).
Methods:
43 children ages 8-17 years and their caregivers provided baseline reports of child emotion regulation. Children then completed thrice daily e-diary assessments of emotion, pain, and activity involvement for 28 days. E-diary ratings of negative and positive emotions were used to calculate emotion variability and to infer adaptive emotion modulation following periods of high or low emotion intensity. Hierarchical linear models were used to evaluate how emotion regulation related to pain and function.
Results:
The attenuation of negative emotion following a period of high negative emotion predicted reduced pain; greater variability of negative emotion predicted higher pain and increased activity limitation. Indices of positive emotion regulation also significantly predicted pain.
Conclusions:
Components of emotion regulation as captured by e-diaries predict important health outcomes in children with JIA.
