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Adopting a temporally distant perspective on stressors, also known as using a temporal distancing emotion regulation strategy, can alleviate distress. Young adults' ability to adopt a temporal distancing strategy has previously been measured using an experimental temporal distancing task (Ahmed, Somerville, & Sebastian, 2018). In the current study, we evaluate the psychometric properties of this task in younger (N = 345, aged 10-11) and older (N = 99, aged 18-21) adolescents and explore developmental differences in the ability to use temporal distancing to alleviate distress. Participants listened to scenarios and rated negative affect when adopting a distant-future perspective, a near-future perspective, or when reacting naturally. We evaluated the test-retest reliability of the measure in older adolescents and its construct validity in both younger and older adolescents by assessing correlations with self-report measures of emotion regulation strategy use. Our findings broadly replicated those of Ahmed et al. (2018): Adopting distant- and near-future perspectives produced significantly lower self-reported distress relative to reacting naturally, with the distant-future strategy producing the least distress. Older adolescents alleviated their distress more effectively than younger adolescents and reported projecting further into the future. Regulation success scores on the temporal distancing task showed adequate test-retest reliability. However, these scores did not correlate with self-reported habitual use of temporal distancing or reappraisal strategies generally. These findings suggest that the ability to use a temporal distancing strategy for emotion regulation improves during adolescence, but that ability may not be related to habitual use of this strategy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Background Effective use of cognitive reappraisal strategies for emotion regulation improves throughout adolescence and promotes good mental health. Language skills may partially drive improvements in reappraisal efficacy, meaning children with neurodevelopmental conditions that affect language may not learn to regulate emotions as effectively as their peers. Method Data are from the Surrey Communication and Language in Education Study (SCALES); a large, population derived cohort of children with diverse language and cognitive skills. We tested whether language skills at school entry predicted success in regulating negative emotions at age 10-11 using a temporal distancing strategy, in a task that utilised hypothetical distressing scenarios. We additionally compared children that met the criteria for Language Disorder (LD) in Year 1 to children with typical language, on their temporal distancing performance. Results Across the whole sample (N = 344), language skills at school entry predicted emotion regulation success in Year 6 (β = .23), over and above the concurrent association between language and regulation success. A quarter of children with LD were unable to complete the temporal distancing task. These children had more severe language difficulties, lower non-verbal IQ and more comorbid conditions. There was no evidence that children with LD that could engage in the task were less successful in using the temporal distancing strategy to reduce negative emotions compared to peers with typical language. Discussion There is a longitudinal relationship between language skills at school entry and the ability to use reappraisal for emotion regulation in early adolescence. This suggests that language may help children learn how to effectively regulate their emotions. Many children with LD were unable to participate in the task. This has implications for clinicians addressing mental health needs for children with neurodevelopmental conditions that affect language, as conversations about emotions and emotion regulation are an integral part of therapy.