Abstract
Emotion regulation (ER) diversity, defined as the variety, frequency, and evenness of ER strategies used, may predict social anxiety (SA) severity. In a sample of individuals with high (n=113) or low (n=42) SA severity, we tested whether four trait ER diversity metrics predicted group membership. We generalized existing trait ER diversity calculations to repeated-measures data to test if state-level metrics (using two weeks of EMA data) predicted SA severity within the higher severity group. As hypothesized (osf.io/xadyp), higher trait ER diversity within avoidance-oriented strategies predicted greater likelihood of belonging to the higher severity group. At the state-level, higher diversity across all ER strategies, and within and between avoidance- and approach-oriented strategies, predicted higher SA severity (but only after controlling for number of submitted EMAs). Only diversity within avoidance-oriented strategies was significantly correlated across trait and state levels. Findings suggest that high avoidance-oriented ER diversity may co-occur with higher SA severity.