Social Science and Human Research Bulletin

College years are marked by academic demands, social changes,and challenges to autonomy, which, while offering growth opportunities, can also risk the well-being of students. The ability to regulate emotions becomes crucial at such times, supporting the development of students striving to make a mark in life. The present study investigated levels of emotional regulation among 179 college students (male = 86, female = 93) aged 18–25 years, and examined gender differences in emotional regulation. Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale by Gratz and Roemer (2004) was used as a measure, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test. Results showed that most participants reported moderate to high levels of emotional regulation, with no significant gender differences. Nonetheless, male participants expressed greater difficulties in emotional awareness and strategies for managingemotions, suggesting that they strugglenot with the experience of emotion itself, but with its perceptive recognition and the knowledge of how to control it. Based on the findings, the study concludes that while emotional capacity may be adequate among college students, there is still a need for implementing proactive, gender-informed emotional literacy programs accessible to all on campus to foster the well-being of students in higher education. 

emotional regulation, college students, well-being, higher education.

1. Ahmed, S. P., Bittencourt-Hewitt, A., & Sebastian, C. L. (2015). Neurocognitive bases of emotion regulation development in adolescence. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 15, 11–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2015.07.006
2. Bardeen, J. R., Fergus, T. A., & Orcutt, H. K. (2016).An examination of the latentstructure of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38(3), 342–356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9529-0
3. Casey, B. J., Jones, R. M., &Hare, T. A. (2023). The adolescent brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 120(1), 111–126. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05684.
4. Charbonnier, E., Chauchard, E., & El-Hage, W. (2023). Emotional regulation and academic performance: The mediating role of stress and motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 115(2), 356–368. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000725
5. Cheng, Q., Zhou, Y., Zhu, H., & Peng, W. (2024). Relationships between daily emotional experiences and smartphone addiction among college students: Moderated mediating role of gender and mental health problems. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1490338. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1490338
6. Compas, B. E., Jaser, S. S., Bettis,A. H., Watson, K. H., Gruhn, M. A., Dunbar,J. P., Williams, E., & Thigpen, J. C. (2017). Coping, emotion regulation, and psychopathology in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analysis and narrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 143(9), 939–991. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000110
7. García-Fernández, J. M., Inglés, C. J., & Surís, J. C. (2024). Gender differences in emotional regulation among adolescents and young adults: A cross-cultural perspective. Personality and Individual Differences, 210, 112132.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2023.112132
8. García-Fernández, M., Sánchez-Teruel, D., Robles-Bello, M. A., & Martin-Ruiz, I. (2025). Gender, emotion regulation, and cognitive flexibility as predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms among college students. Journal of Affective Disorders, 300, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-07240-6
9. Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94
10. Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781
11. Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271
12. Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect,relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348
13. Harel, A., Webb, C. A., Fikreyesus, E., & Etkin, A. (2025).Regulatory flexibility as a protective factor against stress and burnout. Scientific Reports, 15(1),10708. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10708-5
14. Herd, T., King-Casas, B., & Kim-Spoon, J. (2020). Developmental changes in emotion regulation during adolescence: Associations with socioeconomic risk and family emotional context. Journalof Youth and Adolescence, 49(7), 1545-1557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01193-2
15. Kim, S. G., Weissman, D. G., Sheridan, M. A., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2023).Child abuse and automatic emotion regulation in children and adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 35(1), 157–167. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421000663
16. Kraft, L., Ebner, C., Leo, K., & Lindenberg, K. (2023). Emotionregulation strategies and symptoms of depression, anxiety,aggression, and addiction in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis and systematic review.Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cps0000156
17. Lin, S. C., & Wang, H. (2024). Family and parentingfactors are associated with emotion regulation and internalizing symptoms in early adolescent girls. Journalof Abnormal Child Psychology. Advance online publication.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-024-01896-w
18. Liu, Y., Zhou, R., & Wang, Y. (2024). Social support and emotion regulation in college students: The mediating role of resilience. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1293402. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1293402
19. Martínez-Líbano, J., Yeomans-Cabrera, M-M., Koch, A., Iturra Lara, R., & Torrijos Fincias,
20. P. (2025). Clarity and emotional regulation as protective factors for adolescent well- being: A moderated mediation model involving depression. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 15(7), 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe15070130
21. Morris, A. S., Criss, M. M., Silk,J. S., & Houltberg, B. J. (2017). The impact of parenting on emotion regulation during childhood and adolescence. Child Development Perspectives, 11(4), 233–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12238
22. Naragon-Gainey, K., McMahon, T. P., & Chacko, T. P. (2017). The structure of common emotion regulation strategies: A meta-analytic examination. Psychological Bulletin, 143(4), 384–427. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000093
23. Neubauer, A. B., Smyth,J. M., & Meier, B. P. (2020).Gender differences in emotion regulation: A meta-analytic review. Emotion, 20(7), 1073–1090. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000736
24. Rábago-Monzón, Á. R., Osuna-Ramos, J. F., Armienta-Rojas, D. A., Camberos-Barraza, J., Camacho-Zamora, A., Magaña-Gómez, J. A., & De la Herrán-Arita, A. K. (2025). Stress-induced sleep dysregulation: The roles of astrocytes and microglia in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Biomedicines, 13(5), 1121. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13051121
25. Sato, T., Uehara, T., & Kanda, K. (2021). Stress, coping, and emotional regulation among university students: A longitudinal analysis. Psychiatry Research, 303, 114072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114072
26. Schäfer, J. Ö., Naumann, E., Holmes, E. A., Tuschen-Caffier, B., & Samson, A. C. (2017). Emotion regulation strategies in depressive and anxiety symptoms in youth: A meta- analytic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(2), 261–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0585-0
27. Schick, A., Paech, J., & Pollak,Y. (2020). Genderdifferences in emotionregulation and their implications for mental health. Journal of Affective Disorders, 272, 326–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.185
28. Shields, A., Ryan, R. M., & Cicchetti, D. (2017). Narrative representations of caregivers and emotion dysregulation as predictors of maltreated children’s rejection by peers. Developmental Psychology, 37(3), 321–337.https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.37.3.321
29. Sjöblom, K., et al. (2025). Onlinetransdiagnostic emotion regulation treatment for adolescents and their parents: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 8(3), e2835173. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.35173
30. Sun, R. C. F., Shek, D. T. L., & Siu, A. M. H. (2021). The role of gender in adolescent emotional regulation: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 127, 106066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106066
31. Tamres, L. K., Janicki, D., & Helgeson, V. S. (2019). Sex differences in coping behavior: A meta-analytic review and an examination of relative coping. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 23(3), 225–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868318788495
32. Weiss, N. H., Tull, M. T., & Gratz, K. L. (2023). Gender differences in emotion regulation: Implications for psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review, 102, 102115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102115
33. Whittle, S., Vijayakumar, N., Simmons, J. G., & Allen, N. B. (2019). Adolescence and the social brain: Implications for mental health. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 97, 11–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.005
34. Xiao, M., Zhang, C., Chen, X., Su, Y., Wei, J., Zhuang, Y., Wu, J., Gao, D., & Xu, J. (2025). The impact of emotion regulation strategies on anxiety and depression among college students in confinement situation due to COVID-19: A relevance model of goal focus as a moderator. BMC Psychiatry, 25(1), 881. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-07303-3
35. Xue, S., Li, Q., & Zhang, Y. (2023). The role of self-compassion in emotional regulation and psychological well-being among university students. Mindfulness, 14(3), 567–578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02031-6
36. Zhang, L., Yang, H., & Zhao,J. (2023). Mindfulness and emotion regulation among emerging adults: The mediating role of self-reflection. Journal of Youth Studies,26(5), 678–692. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2022.2098765
37. Zhang, S., Luo, J., & Wang, X. (2021). Sex differences in neural responses to emotional stimuli: A meta-analysis of fMRI studies. Neuroscience Letters, 755, 135957. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2021.135957
38. Zimmermann, P., & Iwanski, A. (2019). Emotion regulation from early adolescence to emerging adulthood and middle adulthood: Age differences, gender differences, and emotion-specific developmental variations. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 38(2), 182–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025413515405