Investigation of Relationships Between Sensitivity to Reinforcement Traits and Emotion Dysregulation

We investigated the relationship between the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) traits and emotion dysregulation signs, including social anxiety, general anxiety, and depression in students.

A total of 189 students of the public universities in Tehran were selected by convenience sampling and answered the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, and Punishment Sensitivity Questionnaire and Reward Sensitivity. Data analysis was done using SPSS v. 26 software by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis.

Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant relationship between punishment and reward sensitivity and symptoms of emotional dysregulation. Also, multiple regression analysis showed that reward and punishment sensitivity could predict emotion dysregulation.

Punishment hypersensitivity and reward hyposensitivity were higher-order, shared factors for emotion dysregulation signs, including depression, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety. These findings emphasize the effect of behavioral activation as a technique to increase reward pursuit by the individual and suggested that this technique is able to increase reward-seeking and consequently, improve emotional regulation.