The Relationship Between Emotional Regulation And Social Adjustment In Older Adults In The New Era: The Mediating Role Of Cognitive Flexibility And The Moderating Role Of Age

The data of the 7th National Census shows that the aging degree of China is deepening,and the social adaptation of the elderly in the new era is gradually highlighted.Social adaptation refers to the process of constantly changing one’s lifestyle and behavior in order to achieve balance with the surrounding environment.Older adults experience different social adaptation problems at different ages,but it is unclear in which areas adjustment difficulties exist for older versus younger seniors.Moreover,individuals may experience negative emotions such as anxiety,depression,and loneliness,and different emotion regulation strategies can affect their social adaptation status.One study of college students found that using adaptive emotion regulation strategies resulted in more social support,positive emotional experiences,and better social adjustment,while non-adaptive emotion regulation strategies led to more negative emotional experiences and poor social adjustment.However,it is unknown whether different emotion regulation strategies will have similar effects on social adjustment among older adults.To address this gap,this study explores the effects of two emotion regulation strategies,cognitive reappraisal and expression inhibition,on the social adjustment of older adults.Additionally,we include cognitive flexibility as a mediating variable,and age as a moderating variable.In Study 1,we developed and verified the reliability and validity of a Social Adaptation Scale suitable for elderly individuals.In Study 2,we used the scale to compare the current social adaptation levels of older and younger seniors.Study 3further examined the effects of emotion regulation and cognitive flexibility on social adaptation using the Social Adaptation Scale,Emotional Regulation Questionnaire,and Cognitive Flexibility Scale administered to 405 elderly participants.Finally,we explored the mechanisms underlying the relationship between emotion regulation and social adaptation among the elderly by constructing a mediated model.This study yielded several important conclusions.Firstly,social adaption among elderly individuals gradually decreases with increasing age.Secondly,cognitive flexibility plays a critical role in the social adaption of both older and younger seniors.For older adults,selectivity factor in cognitive flexibility is an essential factor affecting their social adaption,while for younger adults,controllability factor in cognitive flexibility is also crucial.Thirdly,emotional regulation has significant effects on the social adaption of both older and younger elderly.Among the elderly,frequent use of expression inhibition strategy leads to poor social adaption,while in younger elderly,frequent use of cognitive reappraisal strategy improves social adaption,while frequent use of expression inhibition strategy reduces it.Fourthly,cognitive flexibility plays a mediating role between emotion regulation and social adaption among older adults.Older adults can improve their cognitive flexibility by using cognitive reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy,thus enhancing their social adaption.Frequent use of expression suppression strategy will reduce cognitive flexibility and lead to poor social adaption.Finally,we found that age moderated the mediating effect of cognitive flexibility on emotion regulation and social adaption,with the indirect effect being greater for younger elderly than for older elderly.This study examine the mechanisms underlying the relationship between emotional regulation,cognitive flexibility,and social adjustment among older adults.We also explored the moderating role of age in this relationship.Our findings provide valuable insights into the complex interplay between these variables and can help improve existing theories related to emotional regulation and social adaptation.Moreover,our results have practical implications for improving social adaptation among elderly individuals in the new era.By identifying the factors that influence social adjustment in older adults,we can develop targeted interventions to enhance cognitive flexibility and promote adaptive emotion regulation strategies,ultimately helping older adults to better adapt to changing social environments.