Another year older, another year wiser? Emotion regulation strategy selection and flexibility across adulthood

Several influential theories posit that improvements in emotion regulation contribute to enhanced emotional well-being in older adulthood. However, surprisingly little is known about whether there are age differences in emotion regulation strategy use. We addressed this question by testing whether older adults report using typically adaptive strategies more often and regulate more flexibly than relatively younger adults. In a two-part study, 136 married couples (N = 272) aged 23-85 years completed individual difference measures of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, and then nine daily reports of a broader range of emotion regulation strategies, now including situation selection, situation modification, and distraction. Older adults reported greater habitual use of suppression, but age did not predict situation selection, situation modification, distraction, or reappraisal. In terms of emotion regulation flexibility, a similar number of strategies were reported on a daily basis regardless of the regulator's age. Unexpectedly, relatively older adults were less variable in their self-reported daily use of each strategy and middle-aged adults were the least variable in their strategy repertoire across different days. These findings counter the common notion that older adults use typically adaptive strategies more than younger adults. Instead, they suggest older adults may be more consistent in their emotion regulation patterns across situations, potentially suggestive of less flexibility. Implications for aging, emotion regulation, and well-being are discussed.