Interpersonal emotion regulation and depression: A longitudinal investigation using bivariate latent change score models

Although interpersonal emotion regulation (IER)-the process of turning to others to manage one's emotions-is increasingly recognized as central to emotional well-being, whether IER and depressive symptoms drive change in each other over time remains unclear. This study examined the bidirectional, temporal associations between two IER dimensions-tendency, or how often individuals seek interpersonal regulation, and efficacy, the perceived helpfulness of doing so-and depressive symptoms using latent change score modeling. A community sample of 492 adults completed measures of IER tendency, IER efficacy, and depressive symptoms at three time points over six months. Bivariate latent change score models tested whether prior levels of each construct predicted subsequent within-person change in the other. Depressive symptoms significantly predicted subsequent increases in IER tendency, but neither IER tendency nor IER efficacy predicted subsequent changes in depressive symptoms, and depressive symptoms did not predict changes in IER efficacy. Depressive symptoms were therefore associated with subsequent increases in interpersonal regulation-seeking, without corresponding symptom relief, indicating an asymmetric prospective relationship between depression and IER. The differential dynamics of the two IER dimensions-tendency as state-responsive to depressive symptomatology, efficacy as relatively stable-suggest that IER is not a unitary individual-difference construct but comprises distinguishable dimensions with separate temporal signatures.