Distress Intolerance Is Associated With Emotion Regulation Effort and Difficulty, But Not Success in Daily Life

Distress intolerance (DI), an individual's perceived inability to tolerate emotional discomfort, is a transdiagnostic factor implicated in many forms of psychopathology. Theory posits that DI impacts mental health in part through its associations with the emotion regulation (ER) process. Using data from a naturalistic study of emotions in daily life, we empirically tested whether trait DI was associated with important aspects of the ER process, specifically the perceived amount of effort individuals apply to the ER process, their perception of regulation difficulty, and their perceived success with ER. We also examined whether associations between DI and the ER process differed based on momentary negative affect (NA). Participants (N = 179; M_age = 35.2, SD_age = 11.9; 50% women) completed an experience sampling protocol during which they reported on their momentary NA and ER in response to emotional shifts five times daily for 14 days (mean number of surveys completed per participant = 48.5 [69.4%]). Participants also completed self-report measures of DI and depression. Multilevel models provided evidence that DI is associated with greater perceived effort and difficulty in ER, but not with perceived success in ER. Importantly, several of these associations remained significant after accounting for momentary NA and depression. Finally, the association between DI and ER effort was stronger during moments of elevated state NA. The findings indirectly suggest DI shapes how individuals appraise the ER process by amplifying the perceived burdensomeness of regulation (i.e., effort, difficulty) without impairing its perceived effectiveness in daily life.