Negative affect and peripheral inflammation: The role of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational analysis of baseline cohort data
PubMed 41885887 · doi:10.1037/hea0001587
What was done
The authors analyzed baseline data from three study cohorts (completed between 2008 and 2021) comprising 1,033 healthy midlife adults. They evaluated whether self-reported emotion regulation strategies (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal) moderated the cross-sectional relationship between self-reported global negative affect and circulating inflammatory markers (interleukin-6 [IL-6] and C-reactive protein [CRP]). Multiple regression models controlled for age, sex, body mass index, and education, with additional sensitivity analyses controlling for perceived stress, negative life events, and immune-related medical history.
What was found
Expressive suppression (p = .049) and cognitive reappraisal (p = .044) significantly moderated the association between negative affect and IL-6. Specifically, negative affect was positively associated with IL-6 only among individuals reporting more frequent use of expressive suppression or cognitive reappraisal. No significant associations were observed for CRP. Effect sizes, regression coefficients, and confidence intervals were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that habitual reliance on emotion regulation strategies—even typically adaptive strategies such as cognitive reappraisal—may couple negative psychological affect to peripheral IL-6 elevation in healthy adults, potentially explaining inconsistencies in prior literature.
Limits
The study is cross-sectional using baseline visits, preventing causal or directional inferences. The reported p-values for moderation are borderline (p = .044 and p = .049), which warrants cautious interpretation. Negative affect and emotion regulation were measured entirely via self-report. The observed association did not generalize to CRP.
Cited by
- partial Scientific data demonstrate that suppressing or internalizing emotional pain and shame is associated with the development of physical disease.