Mapping emotion regulation profiles in adolescence and examining their associations with mental health outcomes

Abstract Background Emotion regulation (ER) plays a crucial role in adolescent mental health, yet its complexity is often overlooked. ER involves the use of multiple strategies, and individuals frequently combine several strategies to manage their emotions. To better capture this complexity, person-centred approaches have increasingly been used to identify ER strategy profiles. However, research on ER profiles among adolescents remains limited. The present study therefore adopted a person-centred approach to identify ER strategy profiles in adolescents and examine their associations with mental health outcomes. Methods Survey data were collected from a community sample of Swedish adolescents ( n = 759; M age = 13.9 years; 48.6% girls). The survey included measures of six ER strategies, including rumination/negative thinking, positive reorientation, social support, aggressive outlet, creative expression, and distraction, as well as measures of life satisfaction, anxiety, depression, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Latent profile analysis was used to identify distinct ER strategy profiles. Results Five ER profiles were identified: Positive Reorientation–Focused, Minimal Strategy, Multiple Strategy, Rumination–Focused, and Creative Rumination-Aggression. The profiles differed significantly across all mental health outcomes, with large effect sizes. The Positive Reorientation–Focused and Minimal Strategy profiles showed the most favourable mental health, whereas the Multiple Strategy profile showed intermediate outcomes. The Rumination–Focused and Creative Rumination-Aggression profiles showed the poorest mental health. Notably, the Minimal Strategy profile, comprising primarily boys, was associated with favourable outcomes despite limited strategy use. The Creative Rumination-Aggression profile, which consisted predominantly of girls, showed the most severe pattern, with nearly half of its members scoring within the clinical range for anxiety and 75.5% reporting repetitive NSSI. Creative expression occurred in profiles characterized by both favourable and poorer mental health, suggesting that its associations with mental health may vary depending on the broader ER configuration in which it occurrs. Conclusions The findings suggest that favourable mental health outcomes are associated with multiple ER strategy configurations rather than a single optimal pattern, and that the associations between individual strategies and mental health may depend on the broader regulatory repertoire in which they are embedded. Longitudinal research is needed to clarify whether minimal strategy use reflects an adaptive pattern or a potential vulnerability over time, and to evaluate the relative stability and developmental relevance of the five- and six-profile solutions.