Emotion regulation effectiveness accounts for the associations of self-reported emotion differentiation with well-being and depression.

Emotion differentiation has generally been viewed as a trait that is related to emotion regulation and well-being. There are theoretical considerations that state that the beneficial effect on well-being should be mediated by emotion regulation, but this indirect effect has yet to be tested. This study investigated this proposed indirect effect by linking emotion differentiation and well-being through emotion regulation effectiveness (maintaining positive feelings and improving negative feelings) and additionally tested whether a similar indirect effect would be found for depression as an outcome. In this online study of healthy and depressed individuals (N = 457), bivariate correlations showed that self-reported emotion differentiation, emotion regulation effectiveness, and well-being were positively related to each other as hypothesised. Depression was negatively associated with self-reported emotion differentiation, emotion regulation effectiveness, and well-being. The structural equation model clearly supported the indirect effects of all outcomes. Interestingly, maintaining positive feelings seemed to be a stronger intervening variable than improving negative feelings. Implications for therapy for depression are discussed.