The Role of Emotion Regulation Strategies in the Relationship Between Temperament and Depression in Preadolescents

This study explored the relationship between temperament—i.e., negative affectivity (NA) and effortful control (EC)—and depression in preadolescents, considering emotion regulation (ER) strategies as mediating mechanisms in this relationship. We examined data from 535 children aged 8–12 years (M ± SD = 10.01 ± 1.42) who completed self-report measures related to NA, EC, ER strategies, depressive symptoms, and depressive mood. The results demonstrated that NA was significantly positively related to both depressive symptoms and depressive mood, while EC was significantly negatively related to both depressive symptoms and depressive mood. The structural equation model of latent variable analysis showed that cognitive reappraisal mediated the relationship between NA and depressive symptoms and depressive mood. Moreover, cognitive reappraisal was also identified as a mediator of the association between EC and depressive symptoms and depressive mood. However, expressive suppression only mediated the relationship between NA and depressive symptoms. Interventions aimed at ER strategies would be an effective program for preadolescents with depression and further improve preadolescents’ social-emotional development.