The relationship between trait anger and loneliness among early adolescents: The moderating role of emotion regulation

This study has two main objectives: (1) to examine the relationships among trait anger, emotion regulation strategies (internal-functional, internal-dysfunctional, external-functional, and external-dysfunctional), and loneliness in early adolescents; (2) explore whether emotion regulation strategies moderate the relationship between trait anger and loneliness. The participants were 475 secondary school students (241 female, 234 male) from an age range of 10-14. The findings revealed significant relationships among trait anger, emotion regulation strategies, and loneliness. Trait anger and loneliness were found to be moderately correlated with each other. More importantly, emotion regulation strategies moderated the relationship between trait anger and loneliness. The degree to which trait anger was related to loneliness was found to be dependent on emotion regulation strategies. Specifically, the relationship between trait anger and loneliness appeared to increase if early adolescents utilized low levels of internal- and external-functional strategies, and high levels of internal-and external-dysfunctional strategies. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.