Emotion regulation as a protective factor in the association between stress and inflammation in older adults

ER diversity and global ER ability significantly moderated the prospective association between stress and interleukin-6Objective: Identifying psychosocial factors that promote health in the context of stress and aging is needed. Emotion regulation (ER) may be one such protective factor. The current study tested three forms of ER-use of individual ER strategies, diversity of ER strategies, and global ER ability-as moderators of the prospective association between perceived stress and inflammation in older adults.

Adults (N = 162) aged 60+ completed baseline measures of perceived stress, ER strategies (situation selection, situation modification, reappraisal, and emotional acceptance) tested individually, and combined into an ER diversity metric, and a measure of global ER ability. Inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α) were assessed at baseline and follow-up (average 6.8 months later). Residualized change models tested ER measures as moderators of the association between stress and inflammation, adjusting for baseline inflammation and demographic and health covariates. Analyses were corrected for testing multiple inflammatory outcomes per form of ER.

No one ER strategy moderated the prospective association between stress and inflammation (ps > .48). ER diversity and global ER ability significantly moderated the prospective association between stress and interleukin-6 (B = -.13, p_adjusted = .047) and C-reactive protein (B = .14, p_adjusted = .019), respectively. Higher ER diversity and lower deficit in global ER ability were protective and attenuated stress-inflammation associations.

Older adults experiencing higher stress who employ a diversity of ER strategies and have higher global ER ability had lower levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein, respectively, but not of other markers. Initial results suggest ER approaches other than individual strategies may promote healthy immune aging in the context of stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).