Sexual risk-taking is a growing problem and an area where there are significant individual differences in behavior. One contributing factor to risky sexual behavior may be emotion regulation difficulties. For example, suppression has negative effects on emotion experience, while reappraisal leads to increased well-being. Previous research has demonstrated the use of sexual behavior as an emotion regulation strategy in victimized populations. This study investigated whether emotion regulation strategies influence sexual risk-taking in a non-clinical college population. Individuals with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties and higher suppression use engaged in more frequent sexual risk-taking behavior, whereas individuals who used reappraisal more frequently engaged in less sexual risk-taking. In addition, the use of reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and risky sexual behavior, for females. The gender differences suggest that females may benefit most significantly from risk-taking interventions focused on increasing positive emotion regulation strategies.
","abstract_html":"<p>Sexual risk-taking is a growing problem and an area where there are significant individual differences in behavior. One contributing factor to risky sexual behavior may be emotion regulation difficulties. For example, suppression has negative effects on emotion experience, while reappraisal leads to increased well-being. Previous research has demonstrated the use of sexual behavior as an emotion regulation strategy in victimized populations. This study investigated whether emotion regulation strategies influence sexual risk-taking in a non-clinical college population. Individuals with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties and higher suppression use engaged in more frequent sexual risk-taking behavior, whereas individuals who used reappraisal more frequently engaged in less sexual risk-taking. In addition, the use of reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and risky sexual behavior, for females. The gender differences suggest that females may benefit most significantly from risk-taking interventions focused on increasing positive emotion regulation strategies.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lackups, Monica"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Natalie Dove, PhD, Chair","Carol Freedman-Doan, PhD","Tamara Loverich, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:13Z","subjects":["emotion regulation","reappraisal","sexual risk","sexual risk-taking","suppression","Clinical Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/716","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Natalie Dove, PhD, Chair","Carol Freedman-Doan, PhD","Tamara Loverich, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lackups, Monica"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-08-08T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["emotion regulation","reappraisal","sexual risk","sexual risk-taking","suppression","Clinical Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/716"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Sexual risk-taking is a growing problem and an area where there are significant individual differences in behavior. One contributing factor to risky sexual behavior may be emotion regulation difficulties. For example, suppression has negative effects on emotion experience, while reappraisal leads to increased well-being. Previous research has demonstrated the use of sexual behavior as an emotion regulation strategy in victimized populations. This study investigated whether emotion regulation strategies influence sexual risk-taking in a non-clinical college population. Individuals with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties and higher suppression use engaged in more frequent sexual risk-taking behavior, whereas individuals who used reappraisal more frequently engaged in less sexual risk-taking. In addition, the use of reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and risky sexual behavior, for females. The gender differences suggest that females may benefit most significantly from risk-taking interventions focused on increasing positive emotion regulation strategies.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Effects of emotion regulation strategies on sexual risk-taking"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Natalie Dove, PhD, Chair","Carol Freedman-Doan, PhD","Tamara Loverich, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Lackups, Monica"],"dc:date.available":["2017-08-08T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Sexual risk-taking is a growing problem and an area where there are significant individual differences in behavior. One contributing factor to risky sexual behavior may be emotion regulation difficulties. For example, suppression has negative effects on emotion experience, while reappraisal leads to increased well-being. Previous research has demonstrated the use of sexual behavior as an emotion regulation strategy in victimized populations. This study investigated whether emotion regulation strategies influence sexual risk-taking in a non-clinical college population. Individuals with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties and higher suppression use engaged in more frequent sexual risk-taking behavior, whereas individuals who used reappraisal more frequently engaged in less sexual risk-taking. In addition, the use of reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and risky sexual behavior, for females. The gender differences suggest that females may benefit most significantly from risk-taking interventions focused on increasing positive emotion regulation strategies.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/716"],"dc:subject":["emotion regulation","reappraisal","sexual risk","sexual risk-taking","suppression","Clinical Psychology"],"dc:title":["Effects of emotion regulation strategies on sexual risk-taking"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:13Z"}