Expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal pathways from social anxiety to depression: A six-month longitudinal study

This study examines the relationships between social anxiety, individual differences in emotion regulation strategies such as expressive suppression (ES) and cognitive reappraisal (CR), and their effects on depressive symptoms. Drawing upon a sample of 369 university students, the study employs a three-wave longitudinal design. Findings indicate a significant association between social anxiety and ES, but not with CR. Additionally, ES is positively associated with depressive symptoms, while CR is not. Path analysis results reveal that social anxiety at Time 1 predicts ES at Time 2, which, in turn, predicts depressive symptoms at Time 3. Furthermore, mediation analysis suggests that ES mediates the relationship between social anxiety and depressive symptoms. These findings underscore the importance of strategies aimed at reducing emotional suppression tendencies in clinical interventions targeting co-occurring social anxiety and depression.