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Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Model of Mood and Anxiety Disorders

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Abstract

Although social factors are of critical importance in the development and maintenance of emotional disorders, the contemporary view of emotion regulation has been primarily limited to intrapersonal processes. Based on diverse perspectives pointing to the communicative function of emotions, the social processes in self-regulation, and the role of social support, this article presents an interpersonal model of emotion regulation of mood and anxiety disorders. This model provides a theoretical framework to understand and explain how mood and anxiety disorders are regulated and maintained through others. The literature, which provides support for the model, is reviewed and the clinical implications are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Hofmann is supported by NIMH Grant R01AT007257.

Conflict of Interest

Stefan G. Hofmann declares that he have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (national and institutional). Informed consent was obtained from all individual subjects participating in the study. If any identifying information is contained in the paper the following statement is also necessary. Additional informed consent was obtained from any subjects for whom identifying information appears in this paper.

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All institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 Beacon Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA, 02215-2002, USA

    Stefan G. Hofmann

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Hofmann, S.G. Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Model of Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Cogn Ther Res 38, 483–492 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-014-9620-1

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