Several prior research findings have suggested that by using certain cognitive emotion regulation strategies, adolescents may be more vulnerable to developing psychopathology in response to negative life events or, the other way around, by using other cognitive strategies, adolescents may more easily tolerate or master negative life experiences. In this study, the concept of cognitive emotion regulation was considered from a situation-specific perspective. It was investigated whether or not the same cognitive emotion regulation strategies were of importance across different types of life events. Cognitive emotion regulation strategies were studied in the form of a specific coping response to a specific stressful situation, such as the one that adolescents reported to be the most negative life event they had ever experienced. Three main types of negative life event were distinguished: loss events, threat events, and relational stress events. It was expected that relationships between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptomatology would remain consistent across different types of life event. Study participants consisted of 129 adolescents from a secondary school in the Netherlands ranging from age 14 to 18. Research was conducted on a state school in the Netherlands. Students completed a questionnaire which consisted of measures on depressive symptomatology, negative life events, and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Significant differences were found between the three types of life event in the reporting of self-blame and other-blame. The cognitive strategies of self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing, and positive reappraisal showed significant relationships with the depression scores, confirming prior hypotheses. The results also show that some cognitive coping styles, such as self-blame, rumination, and catastrophizing may be more maladaptive than others, and others more adaptive regardless of the specific life event involved. The study was said to be the first study to focus on the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptomatology, regardless of type of life event. References