Emotion regulation and *behavioral, emotional, and cardiovascular responses to interpersonal stress

In this study, the mood and cardiovascular responses of men and women low and high in emotion regulation (ER) were examined during exposure to low and high stress interpersonal interactions and recovery to test the impact of ER and gender on mood and cardiovascular responses at baseline, during stress, and during recovery. For mood responses, during both low and high stress periods, men low in ER experienced greater decreases in positive affect than any other group; while during the recovery period, both men and women low in ER experienced greater decreases in positive affect than high ER participants. ER did not appear to be systematically related to cardiovascular responses during any phase of the experiment. These findings indicate that ER does impact mood, but not cardiovascular responses. This divergence in reactions may have important implications for understanding emotional and physiological stress responding and recovery.