Racial and ethnic differences in emotion regulation: A systematic review.

Objective: Emotion regulation is a transdiagnostic mechanism with relevance to the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of a wide range of clinically relevant outcomes. This study applied systematic review methods to summarize the existing literature examining racial and ethnic differences in emotion regulation.
Methods: We systematically searched four electronic databases (PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, and CINAHL Plus) using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.
Results: Of the initial 1253 articles, 25 met the inclusion criteria. Findings for emotion regulation strategies generally provide evidence for racial/ethnic differences (71% of reviewed studies), with ethnoracial minorities largely exhibiting greater use of emotion regulation strategies. Whereas the results for emotion regulation potential were slightly more mixed (63% of reviewed studies found racial/ethnic differences), ethnoracial minorities were also largely found to report lower emotion regulation potential.
Conclusion: This review advances the literature by providing additional support for racial and ethnic differences in emotion regulation.
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