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Home / American Journal of Health Behavior, Volume 48, Number 6

Open Access Emotion Regulation in the Associations of Inattention/Hyperactivity with Distress

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Objectives: In this paper, we explore how emotion regulation strategies mediated in the associations between inattention/hyperactivity and psychological distress (including anxiety and depression) among young adults who sought mental health services. Methods: Students with mental health issues (N=83; age = 19.98 years [SD = 2.11]) completed measures assessing ADHD, emotion regulation, and psychological distress. We analyzed the data mainly using parallel mediation models. Results: There were direct positive associations between inattention and self-blame, blaming-others, anxiety, and depression. Similarly, hyperactivity positively affected self-blame, blaming-others, and depression but not anxiety. Moreover, self-blame and blaming-others served as mediators between inattention and depression (but not anxiety). However, only self-blame mediated the association between hyperactivity and anxiety, and depression. Conclusions: Inattention and hyperactivity could use different paths to trigger other mental health illnesses when maladaptive emotion regulation strategies are used. Clinicians and other health experts should address the most effective ways of mitigating emotional issues among young adults.

Keywords: ANXIETY; ATTENTION DEFICIT; BLAMING-OTHERS; DEPRESSION; HYPERACTIVITY; SELF-BLAME

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan 2: Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 3: Taipei, Taiwan 4: International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, England, United Kingdom 5: Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Hälsohögskolan, Jönköping, Sweden 6: Department of Turkish and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey 7: Department of Physiotherapy, School of Nursing and Health Studies, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong, China 8: School of Physical Therapy, Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan 9: Department of Special Education and Counseling, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong 10: Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan 11: Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Padjadjaran, West Java, Indonesia, and Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

Publication date: December 1, 2024

This article was made available online on December 31, 2024 as a Fast Track article with title: "Emotion Regulation in the Associations of Inattention/Hyperactivity with Distress".

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  • The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

    The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.

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