Associations between maladaptive and adaptive emotion regulation strategies and aggressive behavior: a systematic review

Abstract

Aggression has been found to have negative consequences for the victims and the aggressors. The general aggression model explains the process that results in aggressive outcomes, and it emphasizes the role of emotion regulation. The purpose of this review was to systematically review available evidence on the relationship between the use of emotion regulation strategies and aggression. The Medline and PsycInfo databases were searched for articles in English and Spanish and 104 studies were identified. These studies examined associations between maladaptive and adaptive emotional regulation strategies with different types of aggressive behavior. Together, their results provide evidence that maladaptive strategies (e.g., rumination) were positively associated with aggression, while adaptive ones (e.g., mindfulness) were negatively associated. This relationship appears to be consistent across ages, populations, and types of aggression. Most of the studies explored the relationship between aggression and rumination, with several experimental and longitudinal studies supporting that this strategy leads to higher levels of aggression. However, most of the studies with adult samples used university participants, and only a few examined the simultaneous usage of adaptive and maladaptive strategies. Findings are discussed in relation to the general model of aggression and the clinical applications of emotion regulation strategies.