A mediational model relating affect intensity, emotion inhibition, and psychological distress

A growing empirical literature suggests that attempts to suppress, inhibit, or avoid private experience (e.g., thoughts, feelings) can be problematic. The purpose of this study was to examine a model in which inhibition of thoughts and emotion was predicted to mediate the relationship between the trait of negative affect intensity and acute psychological distress. Two studies evaluated the model using structural equation modeling procedures: one in a clinical sample and the other in a nonclinical sample. Support for the model was found in both studies, indicating its generalizability. These results provide further evidence for the notion that avoiding or inhibiting cognitive and emotional experience may be a particularly problematic coping style, which is more likely to be engaged in by emotionally intense individuals who are vulnerable to psychological distress.