{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,26]],"date-time":"2026-05-26T14:12:52Z","timestamp":1779804772510,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,26]],"date-time":"2026-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779753600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012456","name":"National Social Science Fund of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["23BSH150"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["23BSH150"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012456","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Although the psychological consequences of the empty-nest period are heterogeneous, depressive symptoms remain an important concern among empty-nest older adults in China. However, little is known about how depressive symptoms are associated with the self-reported use of emotion regulation (ER) strategies following positive and negative emotional events. This study compared the self-reported use of nine ER strategies following recalled happy and sad events among empty-nest older adults with high versus low depressive symptoms (N = 145) using generalized estimating equations. Older adults with higher depressive symptoms reported more frequent use of rumination and self-criticism following sad events, and more frequent use of cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, experiential avoidance, and self-criticism following happy events. They also reported less frequent problem-solving across both event types and less frequent acceptance and social sharing following happy events. In addition, they reported more frequent rumination following sad events and more frequent cognitive reappraisal and distraction following happy events, whereas the low-depressive-symptom group showed the reverse pattern. They also showed lower overall strategy-use ratings, a smaller strategy repertoire following sad events, and less differentiated repertoire patterns across happy and sad events. These findings provide descriptive evidence that depressive symptoms among empty-nest older adults are associated with distinct patterns of self-reported ER strategy use and repertoire size following recalled sad events.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16060851","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,26]],"date-time":"2026-05-26T13:28:21Z","timestamp":1779802101000},"page":"851","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Depressive Symptoms and Self-Reported Emotion Regulation Strategy Use Among Empty-Nest Older Adults Following Recalled Happy and Sad Events"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-2645-3637","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Junni","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Marxism, Xi\u2019an University of Science and Technology, Xi\u2019an 710600, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jun","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Marxism, Xi\u2019an University of Science and Technology, Xi\u2019an 710600, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qianqian","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Marxism, Xi\u2019an University of Science and Technology, Xi\u2019an 710600, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1177\/1745691612459518","article-title":"The future of emotion regulation research: Capturing context","volume":"8","author":"Aldao","year":"2013","journal-title":"Perspectives on Psychological Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1080\/16506073.2013.816769","article-title":"Broadening the scope of research on emotion regulation strategies and psychopathology","volume":"43","author":"Aldao","year":"2014","journal-title":"Cognitive Behaviour Therapy"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brat.2012.04.004","article-title":"The influence of context on the implementation of adaptive emotion regulation strategies","volume":"50","author":"Aldao","year":"2012","journal-title":"Behaviour Research and Therapy"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1007\/s10608-014-9662-4","article-title":"Emotion regulation flexibility","volume":"39","author":"Aldao","year":"2015","journal-title":"Cognitive Therapy and Research"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"874","DOI":"10.1037\/emo0001641","article-title":"Looking beyond the means and into momentary context: Associations between momentary affect and emotion regulation strategy use in major depressive disorder","volume":"26","author":"Berkowitz","year":"2026","journal-title":"Emotion"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00844267","article-title":"The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events","volume":"4","author":"Billings","year":"1981","journal-title":"Journal of Behavioral Medicine"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104747","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neubiorev.2022.104747","article-title":"Relations between emotion regulation strategies and affect in daily life: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies using ecological momentary assessments","volume":"139","author":"Boemo","year":"2022","journal-title":"Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"591","DOI":"10.1177\/1745691613504116","article-title":"Regulatory flexibility: An individual differences perspective on coping and emotion regulation","volume":"8","author":"Bonanno","year":"2013","journal-title":"Perspectives on Psychological Science"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"236","DOI":"10.1177\/2167702620956972","article-title":"Components of emotion regulation flexibility: Linking latent profiles to depressive and anxious symptoms","volume":"9","author":"Chen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Clinical Psychological Science"},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"192","article-title":"A cross-sectional study of depressive symptoms and emotion regulation strategies in older adults","volume":"28","author":"Dai","year":"2014","journal-title":"Chinese Mental Health Journal"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dehkordi, F. 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