Heterogeneity in interpersonal and intrapersonal emotion regulation among adolescents with histories of child physical abuse and emotional abuse: a latent profile analysis

Emotion regulation significantly influences the psychological health of adolescents. However, there appears to be a lack of research examining the various forms of both different types of interpersonal and intrapersonal emotion regulation (inter-ER and intra-ER) in Chinese adolescents. This study aimed to identify distinct patterns of emotion regulation profiles among abused adolescents in inter-ER and intra-ER, the psychological health differences in different emotion regulation profiles, and the demographic variables affecting profile membership. To assess the experiences of abuse among adolescents, this study comprised 3103 adolescents from four middle schools in Henan Province, China. Among them, 970 with histories of childhood abuse were investigated by utilizing the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ). Emotional regulation capabilities were measured using the Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (IRQ) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form (DERS-16). Latent Profile Analysis was conducted to identify subgroups and to examine the predictors and outcomes associated with each profile. Three potential profiles were identified: low inter-ER and moderate intra-ER group (45.57%), high inter-ER and low intra-ER group (17.32%), moderate inter-ER and high intra-ER group (37.11%). Psychological health problems took higher severity levels among the class defined by high inter-ER and low intra-ER. The adolescents’ health status, exposure to “yelling, swearing or humiliation,” and “being hit or cut by an object” were predictors of different groups. Compared to inter-ER, intra-ER was more likely associated with psychological health. Improving intra-ER is necessary for Chinese adolescents with histories of childhood abuse.