Affect intensity, coping styles, mood regulation expectancies, and depressive symptoms

The present study examined the link between affect intensity and indices of coping styles and negative mood regulation expectancies. A measure of depressive symptoms was also included to investigate affect intensity and depressive symptoms, and to assess the link between affect intensity and coping after removing variance due to depressive symptoms. A sample of 153 women completed the Affect Intensity Measure, the Coping Inventory of Stressful Situations (CISS), the Negative Mood Regulation (NMR) Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory. The CISS provides measures of task-oriented coping, emotion-oriented coping, and two forms of avoidant coping (distraction, and social diversion), while the NMR assesses expectancies about the ability to remove negative moods. Correlational analyses revealed that individuals with high levels of affect intensity reported significantly higher levels of emotion-oriented and avoidance-oriented coping, and more negative mood regulation expectancies. Depressive symptoms were associated positively with affect intensity, emotion-oriented coping, negative mood regulation expectancies, and the distraction component of avoidance-oriented coping. Partial correlation analyses showed that the link between affect intensity and maladaptive coping styles remained significant after removing variance due to depression symptoms, while the link between affect intensity and depression symptoms was no longer significant after removing variance due to emotion-oriented coping. Overall, the findings provide support for the view that high affect intensity is associated with a negative coping orientation when emotional distress is experienced. The results are discussed in the context of a mediational model of affect intensity, emotion-oriented coping, and symptoms of depression.