Phd in PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE

Thesis title: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Regulating Negative Emotions (SRN) on Negative Affect with Short-Term Longitudinal Data

The present thesis explores the role of Self-efficacy in Regulating Negative Affect (SRN) on sadness and anger (and their inertia) with intensive longitudinal data. Emotional inertia—defined as the resistance to changes in emotional states—is often linked to regulatory deficits and psychological maladjustment. The first study utilized ecological momentary assessments to examine SRN’s buffering effects on sadness and anger inertia in two samples, consisting of 166 British adults and 82 Scottish adolescents, with negative emotions recorded three times daily over 28 days. Results showed that high levels of SRN, collected at baseline, significantly weakened sadness inertia across both samples but did not buffer anger inertia. The second study investigated these dynamics further by focusing on daily assessments of SRN and negative emotions in a sample of 76 Italian young adults across twenty-one days. This study aimed to clarify SRN’s protective function on daily anger and sadness inertia and examined daily relationships between SRN and negative emotions. Findings showed no buffering role of SRN on emotional inertia. Moreover, SRN was negatively associated with sadness and anger both at between- and within-person levels. In the third study, the causal role of distraction on anger and sadness was analyzed experimentally through a Within-Person Encouragement Design (WPED) approach, where distraction was prompted by encouraging participants to engage in enjoyable daily activities. Over twenty-one days, data among 60 Italian young adults on negative emotions and daily activities were collected each evening. While distraction and daily SRN were examined as potential predictors of negative affect, results indicated no significant causal effects on daily sadness or anger. Possible explanations, such as low emotional intensity and the nature of distraction use, are discussed in detail. These studies provide evidence for SRN’s role in buffering sadness inertia, highlighting its potential in self-efficacy-based interventions to enhance emotional regulation in the short term. However, the findings also indicate that the effects of distraction on negative emotions may be complex, meriting further investigation into its effectiveness as a regulatory strategy. The present thesis contributes valuable insights into emotion regulation processes and related self-efficacy beliefs in daily life, offering a foundation for developing effective short-term interventions to reduce psychological distress.