Fluid and crystallized cognitive resources differentially linked to emotion regulation success in adulthood

Effective emotion regulation (ER) is theorized to require cognitive resources. Past work has identified inconsistent relationships between cognitive ability and ER success and has focused on implementation of instructed ER strategies. In the present study, we examine a wide range of cognitive abilities as predictors of ER success in the absence of constraints on strategy selection. An age-diverse sample of participants (N = 129, age 25-83) completed an ER task in which they viewed film clips eliciting disgust, sadness, and amusement under instructions to regulate in a prohedonic fashion. ER success was measured through self-reports of positive emotion (PA) and negative emotion (NA) following each clip. Fluid and crystallized cognitive ability were assessed with tasks from the NIH Toolbox Cognitive Battery. Effects of fluid cognition varied by film type, such that fluid cognition was generally less associated with ER success for the disgust clip. Effects of fluid cognition also varied by facet (e.g., processing speed and inhibitory control related to lower NA with the sadness clip, while working memory and episodic memory related to higher PA with the amusement and disgust clips). Crystallized cognition was positively associated with ER success (lower NA) across film types. Findings suggest that both fluid and crystallized cognition are important resources for effective emotion regulation. We propose that crystallized cognition may be particularly important when regulators can rely on life experience to select ER strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).