Affect Intensity Moderates the Association of Emotional Clarity with Emotion Regulation and Depressive Symptoms in Unselected and Treatment-Seeking Samples

Depression is associated with subjective di - culties identifying one’s emotions, known as low emotional clarity, but the mediators and moderators of this relationship are not well understood. We hypothesized that the role of emotional clarity in emotion regulation and, in turn, depres- sion depends on individual di erences in negative a ect intensity. In Study 1, conducted in an unselected sample (N = 119), low emotional clarity more strongly predicted depression symptoms among individuals higher in a ect intensity. In Study 2, conducted in a clinically diagnosed, treatment-seeking sample (N = 245), we examined whether a ect intensity moderated an indirect path of clarity through emotion regulation strategy use that has emerged in previous work. Except when a ect intensity was very low, emotional clarity predicted reappraisal, and except when a ect inten- sity was very high, emotional clarity predicted non-accept- ance and experiential avoidance. By contrast, rumination mediated associations of emotional clarity with depressive symptoms regardless of a ect intensity. Findings support a process model of low emotional clarity in depression that integrates (1) emotion regulatory mediators and (2) modera- tion by negative a ect intensity. Trait di erences in a ect intensity may determine whether and how emotional clarity and regulation processes factor into mood psychopathology.