Prioritizing Lifestyle Factors for Effective Emotion Regulation: A Daily Study on First-Year College Students’ Well-Being During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted emerging adult first-year college students’ daily lives and well-being. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) recognizes that effective and adaptive emotion regulation skills can be important for this vulnerable population’s well-being, who are going through a transitioning phase of development in challenging times. An ecological momentary assessment study collected 1,796 data points from 76 first-year college students' daily usage of emotion regulation skills and momentary experiences of well-being (PERMA; Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, Accomplishment) during COVID-19 in Spring 2020. Participants were 18 to 20 years of age, 71% female, 24% male, 4% non-binary, 1% preferred not to answer, 46% White, 36% Asian or Pacific Islander, 14% Hispanic or Latinx, 13% Black or African American, 13% mixed race, 1% Native American or Eskimo Aleut, and 4% did not specify their race/ethnicity. Results from multilevel models on intensive longitudinal data revealed that specific emotion regulation skills (accumulating positives, building mastery, coping ahead) consistently predict mPERMA even when controlling for dispositional well-being. Moreover, on days of sufficient sleep hours reported, students reported higher well-being levels; on days with more interaction with other people, students were more likely to engage in emotion regulation skill behaviors; and on weekends, students were less likely to engage in emotion regulation behaviors (but not avoid substances like alcohol). Findings add to the literature on momentary well-being and emotion regulation for the population of early adult first-year college students and the COVID-19 context.