Personality and Individual Differences 48 (2010) 408413

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Personality and Individual Differences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid

Cognitive emotion regulation strategies: Gender differences and associations

to worry
Kimberly R. Zlomke a,*, Kathryn S. Hahn b
a
Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Childrens Hospital, Adolescent and Sports Medicine, 6621 Fannin St., CCC1710.00 Houston, TX 77030-2399, USA
b
Millsaps College, Psychology Department, 1701 North State St Jackson, MS 39210, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Research generally supports differences in the prevalence of GAD and reports of excessive worry between
Received 10 December 2008 men and women. Psychosocial theories espouse individual vulnerability factors as correlates of anxiety
Received in revised form 27 October 2009 and in turn related to gender differences. Emotion regulation is one vulnerability factor that has shown
Accepted 3 November 2009
involvement in the development, exacerbation, and/or maintenance of anxiety, although there is insuf-
Available online 14 December 2009
cient evidence of this direct contribution to observed gender differences in anxiety. Using a sample of
1080 young adults, the current study examines the differential use of cognitive emotion regulation strat-
Keywords:
egies between males and females and the subsequent effect on worry. Results of the present study pro-
Cognitive emotion regulation
Worry
vide tentative support for differential cognitive emotion regulation strategies between gender as a
Gender differences vulnerability to increased worry and potentially GAD. Specically, males and females signicantly dif-
Anxiety fered in the endorsement of use of rumination, putting problems into perspective and blaming others
as cognitive emotion regulation strategies.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The extant literature on the gender distribution of the preva-
lence of anxiety disorders suggests that baserates for specic disor-
ders are higher for women than men. Specically, the baserate of
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in females is approximately
twice the reported baserate of the disorder in men (Wittchen,
Zhao, Kessler, & Eaton, 1994). Biological theories suggest that cer-
tain biological or genetic characteristics unique to women, such as
hormones, are key in the development of anxiety symptomatology
(Seeman, 1997). In contrast, psychosocial theories espouse individ-
ual vulnerability factors as correlates of anxiety and in turn related
to gender differences (Lewinsohn, Gotlib, Lewinsohn, Seeley, & Al-
len, 1998). Vulnerability factors such as cognitive processes (Beck,
Emery, & Greenberg, 2005; Riskind, 1997), personality (Brandes &
Bienvenu, 2006; Clark, Watson, & Mineka, 1994), and emotion reg-
ulation (Amstadter, 2008; Martin & Dahlen, 2005) have been
shown to be involved in the development, exacerbation, and/or
maintenance of anxiety, although there is insufcient evidence of
this direct contribution to observed gender differences in anxiety
(Garnefski, Teerds, Kraaij, Legerstee, & van den Kommer, 2004).
Emotional regulation is conceptualized as a broad construct
encompassing a number of regulatory processes, including the reg-
ulation of the experience of emotion as well as the regulation of the
underlying features of emotion such as physiological reactivity, so-
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 281 979 2372.
E-mail address: zlomke@bcm.edu (K.R. Zlomke).
cial, behavioral, and cognitive processes (Garnefski, Kraaij, & Spin-
hoven, 2001; Garnefski, Legerstee, Kraaij, van den Kommer, &
Teerds, 2002; Thompson & Calkins, 1996). Several denitions of
emotion regulation ranging from modulation of emotional inten-
sity and arousal (e.g., Gross & Thompson, 2007) to the ability to
control behavioral responses to negative emotions have been
examined across the full spectrum of anxiety disorders (e.g., Ams-
tadter, 2008; Campbell-Sills, Barlow, Brown, Hofmann, 2006) and
specically GAD (e.g., Decker, Turk, Hess, & Murray, 2008;
McLaughlin, Mennin, & Farach, 2007; Mennin, Heimberg, Turk, &
Fresco, 2005; Salters-Pedneault, Roemer, Tull, Rucker, & Mennin,
2006).
A subset of these emotion regulation processes include the con-
scious cognitive regulation processes (Garnefski et al., 2001). Cog-
nitive emotion regulation can generally be described as the
management of emotionally arousing information with conscious
cognitive strategies (Thompson, 1991). Such cognitive strategies
are crucial in the management of threatening or stressful events
by assisting individuals to manage, regulate, and control over emo-
tions (Garnefski et al., 2001).
Recent research has begun to examine differences between
males and females on the use of specic cognitive emotion regula-
tion strategies (Garnefski et al., 2004; Martin & Dahlen, 2005).
Garnefski et al. (2004) found that males and females reported
differential reliance on a number of strategies, with the most
striking differences for rumination, positive refocusing, and
catastrophizing. For all three of these signicant differences, fe-
males reported using such strategies more often. For both males

0191-8869/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.11.007
 K.R. Zlomke, K.S. Hahn / Personality and Individual Differences 48 (2010) 408413
and females, it appears the increased use of positive reframing dur-
ing stressful situations is related to decreased levels of depression
whereas those who engage in rumination or catastrophizing when
confronted with stressful situations reported increases in symp-
toms of depression. Martin and Dahlen (2005), also reported that
females endorsed signicantly higher levels of a number of cogni-
tive coping strategies.
Worry is intricately linked to anxiety in general and to General-
ized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) specically. Excessive worry is the
core symptom of GAD and has been shown to effectively discrim-
inate GAD from other anxiety disorders (American Psychiatric
Association, 2001). Borkovec, Davey, and Tallis (1994) describe
worry as the cognitive component of anxiety, often in the form
of verbal thoughts as opposed to the cognitive, behavioral, and
physiological presentation of anxious symptomatology. Borkovec,
Ray, and Stber (1998) also suggest that the cognitive phenomena
of worry is distinct from the physiological and behavioral manifes-
tations of anxiety and related disorders. The relationship between
gender and worry has largely been ignored in the empirical litera-
ture and the available data is often mixed. In studies in which gen-
der differences in worry were directly examined, women reported
signicantly higher levels of excessive worry than their male coun-
terparts (Dugas, Freeston, Ladouceur, 1997; Dugas, Gosselin, &
Ladouceur, 2001; Lewinsohn et al., 1998; McCann, Stewin, & Short,
1991; Robichaud, Dugas, & Conway, 2003; Stavosky & Borkovec,
1988). Other research reports mixed results, suggesting no differ-
ences in worry across males and females (i.e. Brown, Antony, &
Barlow, 1992; Tallis, Davey, & Bond, 1994).
Given the increased rates of GAD in women and excessive worry
as the primary symptom of GAD, worry itself is an important con-
struct for the understanding of GAD and other anxiety disorders.
While these are important ndings, a more salient question may
be whether the differences in the use of cognitive coping strategies
are differentially related to anxiety and worry in men and women.
The identication of discrepancies on the use of cognitive emotion
regulation strategies by males and females may provide useful
information by which to understand the heightened vulnerability
of women for excessive worry and GAD. The current study exam-
ines differential use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies
across males and females and their subsequent effects in worry.
2. Method
2.1. Sample
Participants included 1080 young adults recruited from under-
graduate psychology courses at a large southern university. The
sample included 291 males (27%) and 789 females (73%) ranging
from 18 to 28 years old, with a mean age of 20.07 (SD = 1.73). The
majority of the participants were Caucasian (84%). No differences be-
tween males and females were found for age, race, or marital status.
2.2. Procedure
Participants were part of a large study of worry in college stu-
dents. All participation was conducted through internet adminis-
tered questionnaires. Participants were informed of the purposes
of the study and provided consent through the internet adminis-
tered questionnaire.
2.3. Instruments
The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ; Gar-
nefski et al., 2001) is a 36-item measure of cognitive coping strat-
egies. Nine conceptually derived subscales assess cognitive
409
strategies for managing the intake of emotionally arousing infor-
mation. The assessed strategies primarily involve thoughts which
are used to manage or regulate ones emotions or mood in the face
of threatening or stressful life events (Garnefski et al., 2002;
Thompson, 1991). The CERQ has demonstrated acceptable internal
consistency and ve-month testretest reliability (Garnefski et al.,
2001). Previous research documents a strong conceptual and
empirical factor structure for the CERQ (i.e. Garnefski & Kraaij,
2007; Garnefski et al., 2001). For the current administration of
the CERQ, the internal consistency was acceptable with a = .91
for the total CERQ score and subscales ranging from a = .75 to
a = .86.
Life stressors were measured with the Life Events Questionnaire
(LEQ; Norbeck, 1984), a checklist assessing the number and impact
of various life events. Norbeck (1984) reported adequate internal
consistency and testretest reliability of the LEQ. Computed inter-
nal consistency for the current administration of the LEC was in the
acceptable range (total events a = .87). In the present sample,
males and females did not differ in the total number of events
experienced, but did differ signicantly in the number of life events
experienced in four categories. Males reported experiencing more
events related to parenting and nances, whereas females reported
a greater number of events related to love/marriage and
relationships.
The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS; Lovibond &
Lovibond, 1995a) is a 42-item self-report that assesses symptoms
of depression, anxiety, and stress in adults and adolescents. The
DASS has demonstrated good internal consistency and acceptable
testretest reliability (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995a, 1995b). Only
the Anxiety and Stress Scales were utilized for the current study.
Internal consistency for the current administration of the DASS
was excellent (DASS Anxiety a = .93, DASS Stress a = .94). No differ-
ence was found between males and females on the Anxiety sub-
scale of the DASS, whereas differences between males and
females were recorded on the DASS Stress subscale
(t(1078) = 2.26, p < .05) with females (M = 26.49, SD = 9.26)
reporting signicantly higher levels of physiological symptoms
commonly associated with anxiety (i.e. difculty relaxing, in-
creased tension, irritability).
The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ; Meyer, Miller,
Metzger, & Borkovec, 1990) is a 16-item self-report measure of
excessive and uncontrollable worry. The PSWQ possesses high
internal consistency and satisfactory testretest reliability (Molina
& Borkovec, 1994). Internal consistency of the PSWQ for the cur-
rent administration was excellent (a = .93). In the present sample,
males and females signicantly differed in worry scores
[t(1078) 10.13, p < .001). As expected, women (M = 54.87,
SD = 12.18) reported signicantly more symptoms of excessive
worry than males (M = 46.64, SD = 10.91).
3. Results
3.1. Use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies by males and
females
Table 1 presents means and standard deviations for each of the
cognitive emotion regulation strategies for males and females sep-
arately. Males and females reported frequent use of the strategies
of Positive Reappraisal, Refocus on Planning and Putting into Per-
spective. An ANCOVA was conducted to determine if multivariate
differences existed between males and females in the use of cogni-
tive emotion regulation strategies, after controlling for participant
age and specic life events experienced. The results indicated that
there was a signicant overall difference between males and
females (Wilks k = .944; F(9, 1029) = 6.76, p < .001). Follow-up
410 K.R. Zlomke, K.S. Hahn / Personality and Individual Differences 48 (2010) 408413

Table 1
Descriptive statistics and univariate F-test for CERQ subscales.

Males Females Effect sizea Univariate F-testsb

M SD M SD F (1, 1037)
Self-Blame 10.37 3.20 10.21 3.54 .05 1.72
Acceptance 12.14 3.25 12.24 3.41 .03 0.03
Rumination 10.92 3.32 11.66 3.43 .22 5.42*
Positive Refocusing 9.78 3.34 10.28 3.43 .15 2.52
Refocus on Planning 12.43 3.31 12.97 3.78 .15 0.84
Positive Reappraisal 13.15 3.62 13.33 3.85 .05 0.03
Putting into Perspective 12.42 3.48 13.13 3.76 .20 5.29*
Catastrophizing 8.78 3.31 8.78 3.50 0 0.01
Other-Blame 8.51 2.78 7.89 2.89 .22 9.78**
*
p < .05.
**
p < .01.
a
Effect sizes reported as Cohens d.
b
ANCOVA correcting for covariates of age, love, relationships, parenting, and nances. Wilks lambda (with covariates) = 0.94; F (9, 1030) = 6.77, p < .0001.

univariate F-tests revealed that signicant differences were pres-
ent for a number of strategies (see Table 1).
3.2. Relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and
anxiety
Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed separately
for males and females to examine the predictive value of cognitive
coping strategies for anxiety, stress, and worry. All tolerance values
were within the acceptable range. To control for life events, the
LEQ subscale scores for Love, Relationships, parenting, and nances
were entered at step 1, followed by the CERQ subscales in step 2.
For males, the entered life events were predictive of increased anx-
iety and stress but were not signicantly related to reports of wor-
ry (see Table 2). When the cognitive emotion regulation strategies
were entered into step 2, the regression model was signicant and
explained a signicant portion of the variance in anxiety (39%),
stress (40%), and worry (28%). For males, increased reports of rumi-
nation and catastrophizing were related to increased levels of wor-
ry and stress whereas increased use of the strategy of Refocus on
Planning is related to decreased levels of anxiety, stress, and worry.
The same analysis was repeated for females. The entered life
events were signicantly predictive of anxiety, stress and excessive
worry. When the cognitive emotion regulation strategies were en-
tered into step 2, the regression model was signicant and ex-
plained a signicant portion of the variance in anxiety (24%),
stress (38%), and worry (27%). The strategies of Self-Blame and
catastrophizing were consistent across the three models, in that
these coping strategies were positively predictive of anxiety, stress,
and worry. This nding suggests that higher levels of these strate-
gies will result in greater reports of anxiety and excessive worry as
well as the increased physiological symptoms typically associated
with anxiety. Greater levels of Acceptance and Positive Reappraisal
were related to lower levels of excessive worry for women.
In order to determine whether cognitive emotion regulation
strategies account for the relationship between gender and worry,
a third hierarchical multiple regression was conducted. Using the
PSWQ as the dependent variable, the four subscales of the LEQ pre-
viously examined were entered at step one. In the second step the
nine subscales of the CERQ were entered with gender entering the
equation in the third step. The overall regression equation ac-
counted for a signicant amount of the variance in worry, R = .57,
F(14, 1043) = 34.44, p < .001. When entered in the rst step, the life
events accounted for 2% of the variance in worry, R = .13, F(4,
1043) = 4.21, p < .005. The cognitive emotion regulation strategies
accounted for an additional 24% of the variance in worry scores,
R = .51, F(13, 1043) = 27.12, p < .001. In the third step of the equa-
tion, gender was entered as a predictor and accounted for an addi-

Table 2
Relations between cognitive emotion regulation, anxiety, stress, and worry in males and females.

DASS-anxiety DASS-stress PSWQ

Male b Female b Male b Female b Male b Female b
Step 1: covariates
Love .14* .05 .11 .12*** .13 .02
Relationships .13* .02 .18** .02 .07 .03
Parenting .11 .06 .05 .05 .04 .01
Finances .02 .01 .03 .01 .05 .03
Step 1 R2 .07*** .02** .06*** .04*** .002 ns .02**
Step 2: cognitive strategies
Self-Blame .16* .16*** .20** .16*** .10 .15***
Acceptance .08 .06 .08 .07* .08 .11**
Rumination .13 .07 .15** .25*** .34*** .35***
Positive Refocusing .12* .11** .13* .01 .07 .06
Refocus on Planning .25*** .13 .22** .06 .21** .04
Positive Reappraisal .01 .01 .06 .08 .01 .19**
Putting into Perspective .02 .04 .01 .00 .05 .05
Catastrophizing .16* .25*** .20** .23*** .27*** .15***
Other-Blame .28*** .18*** .17* .14*** .01 .05
DR2 .33*** .27*** .34*** .33*** .28*** .27***

ns = nonsignicant result.
*
p < .05.
**
p < .01.
***
p < .001.
 K.R. Zlomke, K.S. Hahn / Personality and Individual Differences 48 (2010) 408413
tional 6% of the variance in worry scores above and beyond the
prediction by life events and cognitive strategies.
4. Discussion
Although it is widely recognized that women report a dispro-
portionate amount of excessive worry and in turn are diagnosed
with Generalized Anxiety Disorder twice as often as men, the
empirical literature on gender differences in worry is sparse. The
current study focused on the comparability of males and females
regarding the reporting of cognitive emotion regulation strategies
and their relationship with worry and anxiety. Results indicate that
cognitive emotion regulation strategies do play an important role
in the symptomatology of excessive worry and anxiety for both
men and women, although the reporting of specic strategies did
differ between the genders. Alternatively, anxiety and worry symp-
tomatology may also play an important role in the development
and use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies for both men
and women. In the absence of longitudinal research, the exact nat-
ure of any casual relation between cognitive emotion regulation
strategies and anxiety or worry is unclear. The relative predictive
value of specic emotion regulation strategies for anxiety and wor-
ry varied for men and women.
The largest gender differences were found for the strategies of
rumination, Putting into Perspective, and Other-Blame. Whereas
women reported utilizing rumination and putting the situation in
perspective in the face of stress more than men, men reported
blaming others during stressful situations more than women. In
contrast to other ndings, the current study did not reveal a differ-
ence between men and women for the strategy of Positive Reap-
praisal (Martin & Dahlen, 2005). These ndings are also similar
to previous research on depression, in that women are more likely
to focus on the emotional aspects of stressful experiences, discuss
their emotional experiences with others, and engage in rumination
(Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987). Although rumination is traditionally
thought of as specic and distinct to depression and worry is most
often referred to in the context of anxiety, these traditional theo-
ries have been recently challenged. The repetitive thought feature
that is common to both worry and rumination has been found to be
predictive of both anxiety and depression (Segerstrom, Tsao, Alden,
& Craske, 2000) and other authors have reported that worry and
rumination are highly correlated but distinct constructs (Fresco,
Heimberg, Mennin, & Turk, 2002).
Secondly, although both rumination and catastrophizing were
related to the reporting of worry for males and females, a number
of differences emerged regarding the extent to which specic cog-
nitive strategies were predictive of worry. For both males and fe-
males, higher levels of rumination and catastrophizing were
strongly related to increased stress and excessive worry. For males,
one additional emotion regulation strategy was related to worry,
Refocus on Planning. Increased reporting of thinking about how
to handle a negative event was signicantly related to lower levels
of anxiety, stress, and worry in males. On the other hand, the strat-
egies of Self-Blame, Acceptance, and Positive Reappraisal were re-
lated to worry exclusively for females. Carver, Scheier, and
Weintraub (1989) reported that accepting that a negative event
has occurred and attaching meaning to a negative event for per-
sonal growth are both coping strategies which are positively re-
lated to optimism, self-esteem and negatively related to anxiety.
Specically, the current results conrm recent research ndings
in that Acceptance and Positive Reappraisal were negatively pre-
dictive of excessive worry for females.
An interesting pattern of results pertaining to the relative
reporting of adaptive versus maladaptive cognitive coping strate-
gies was found. For the entire sample, a consistent pattern
411
emerged that adaptive strategies were related to lower levels of re-
ported anxiety and worry. Interestingly, the pattern of these rela-
tionships differed between men and women for the adaptive
strategies. Whereas a signicant relationship was found between
Refocus on Planning and lower levels of anxiety, stress, and worry
for men, this relationship was not demonstrated for women. The
strategy of Refocus on Planning refers to the cognitive part of a
problem-focused coping strategy, namely problem-solving. For
the males in the current sample, increased reports of thinking
about how to handle negative situations was signicantly related
to lower levels of anxiety and worry. Ladouceur, Blais, Freeston,
and Dugas (1998) found that poor problem-solving orientation
(i.e., low problem-solving condence and low sense of control over
problem-solving process) but not actual problem-solving skills dif-
ferentiated individuals meeting criteria for GAD and a subclincial
population. Therefore, reliance and condence in problem-solving
skills may serve as a protective factor for males and pathological
worry.
On the other hand, a negative relation was found between the
strategies of Acceptance and Positive Reappraisal and worry for
women, suggesting that resigning oneself to outcomes and
attaching a positive meaning to life events is associated with
lower levels of worry. Although Martin and Dahlen (2005) re-
ported a positive relation between acceptance and stress, Garnef-
ski et al. (2001) and Carver et al. (1989) suggest that acceptance
is an adaptive coping strategy. A growing body of literature indi-
cates that chronic efforts to control, suppress, or avoid unsolic-
ited internal experiences and emotions may actually increase
the frequency and severity of emotional experiences (Hayes,
Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999; Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, &
Strosahl, 1996). Chronic worry has been directly associated with
attempts to control and avoid negative emotions in both clinical
and non-clinical samples (Roemer, Salters, Raffa, & Orsillo, 2005).
Further, Kashdan, Zvolensky, and McLeish (2008) found that
anxious arousal and chronic worry were positively correlated
with less acceptance of negative emotions for individuals high
in anxiety sensitivity. Our ndings lend support to mounting lit-
erature, indicating acceptance of emotional experiences and posi-
tive reframing of emotions are related to adaptive psychological
functioning. However, these ndings indicate that acceptance
and positive reframing may be particularly salient for conceptu-
alizing and treating females who report experiencing pathologi-
cal worry and stress. Due to gender role socialization, females
may be more likely to use the specic strategies of acceptance
and positive reframing (Garnefski et al., 2004). This is not to
say that males may not benet from use of or treatment empha-
sizing the development of acceptance of positive reframing strat-
egies. Further research examining these emotion regulation
strategies could result in improved treatment efcacy for GAD
and other anxiety disorders.
The literature suggests that several factors may contribute to
increased rates of anxiety and worry in females. For example wo-
men have been found to exhibit increased levels of negative affect
(Arcus & Kagan, 1995; Lynn & Martin, 1997) as well as increased
negative self-focus (Mor & Winquist, 2002) that may lead to the
development and maintenance of worry and other anxiety-related
pathology. More research is necessary to better understand the
numerous underlying mechanisms that have been posited to inu-
ence gender specic increases or decreases in anxiety and worry.
4.1. Limitations
This study is only a preliminary study of gender differences
and the predictive role of the cognitive emotion regulation in wor-
ry. Consequently, several limitations should be noted. This study
utilized a non-selected sample of university students and results
412 K.R. Zlomke, K.S. Hahn / Personality and Individual Differences 48 (2010) 408413
may not generalize to clinical populations of GAD. A measure of
socio-economic status was not included in the assessment, which
limits conclusions regarding confounding impact on exposure to
negative life events and coping abilities. The self-report method
used is subject to biases that could alter the results of the study.
Individuals with GAD may not be able to identify or clearly recog-
nize their emotions (Mennin, Heimberg, & Turk, 2002), some par-
ticipants in the present study may have had difculty reporting on
their internal experience on self-report measures. Future research
would benet from incorporating objective methodologies such as
behavioral observations in addition to self-report measures to bet-
ter understand the concept of emotion regulation and gender re-
lated to increased worry and anxiety. Along such lines as well, the
measures also did not include a measure of social desirability.
Lastly, the current investigation examined only one subset of
emotion regulation strategies and many other strategies exist be-
yond cognitive; including behavioral, social, and physiological
processes.
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, results of the present study provide tentative
support for differential cognitive emotion regulation strategies be-
tween gender as a vulnerability to increased worry. Gaining a bet-
ter understanding of possibly different etiologies of worry is salient
to the conceptualization of GAD and its subsequent treatment.
While these are interesting initial ndings, further research must
be conducted to examine the relations between emotion regula-
tion, gender, and worry.
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