Abstract

Difficulties in flexible emotion regulation (ER) are a critical characteristic of depression. However, the conceptualizations and measurements of ER flexibility are heterogeneous, leading to greater confusion in understanding its impact on depression. The current study investigated which indicators of ER flexibility are predictive of depression. The study involved 414 young adults and assessed their emotional flexibility regarding regulatory strategies and competencies. Specifically, from the per- spective of ER strategies, we evaluated ER variability, repertoire, and regulatory effort as indicators of ER flexibility using a hy- pothetical scenario scale. Additionally, ER abilities were assessed by measuring expressive flexibility through the Flexible Reg- ulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) scale. We categorized emotion regulation flexibility indexes based on emotional va- lence, such as positive and negative emotions, and analyzed their respective relationships with depression. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the ability to enhance emotional expression—particularly the capacity to enhance positive emotion ex- pression on the FREE scale—and the between-strategy variability and repertoire for positive emotion on the scenario ques- tionnaire significantly predicted depression. These findings suggest that flexibility in ER, especially in managing positive emotions, is highly significant in understanding depression.