THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTION REGULATION ON THE EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AMONG DIVERSE COLLEGE STUDENTS by Shandia Gardiner Robertson Liberty University A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education School of Behavioral Sciences Liberty University April 16th, 2021 2 THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONAL REGULATION ON THE EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AMONG DIVERSE COLLEGE STUDENTS by Shandia Gardiner Robertson A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education School of Behavioral Sciences Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA April 16th, 2021 APPROVED BY: Name and degree, Committee Chair Dr. Margaret Gopual, Ph.D., MSCP Name and degree, Committee Member Dr. William Bird, Ph.D., LPC, CPCS, CFMHE 3 ABSTRACT Emotion regulation is essential as it may help to enhance long-term well-being, improve work performance, enrich personal relationships, and lead to better overall health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between emotion regulation and emotional well-being among diverse university students when moderated by perceived discrimination. A similar study was conducted by Lavanya and Manjula (2017), with an Indian student population divided into two groups. The study's findings showed a significant correlation between emotion regulation strategies and psychological problems among the two groups. Results indicated negative emotion regulation strategies were associated with psychological issues among group two participants. This current study aimed to explore the correlation between emotion regulation and emotional well-being among diverse college students when moderated by perceived discrimination. This study hoped to see whether the original research conducted by Lavanya and Manjula (2017) holds on a broader, more ethnically diverse community. However, this current study looked at emotional problems and did not wholly replicate the study of Lavanya and Manjula (2017). Measurement tools consisted of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), which captures cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression and has excellent internal consistency and convergent validity. The Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) has effective reliability and validity and measures hedonic (happiness) and eudemonic elements (emotional functioning). Finally, The Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) measures the participant's levels of perceived discrimination in everyday life. For this quantitative study, a convenience sample of 79 college students was drawn from Liberty University psychology department in Lynchburg, Virginia, who identified as male, female, or other aged 19-28 years old. ERQ was used as the independent variable and WEMWBS as the dependent moderated by 4 the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) and categorized by gender, race/ethnicity, and age. The study used a Multiple-Regression Moderation Model 1 test and a Moderated-Regression analysis on ERQ and WEMWBS scores. Keywords: College students, emotion regulation, emotional well-being, cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression 5 Dedication This research is dedicated to my amazing daughter Hannah, my husband Paul, and my loving mother, Catherine. You all have supported and encouraged me to accomplish greatness, and I thank you and love you dearly. 6 Table of Contents ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................3 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................9 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................10 List of Abbreviations .....................................................................................................................11 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................12 Overview ............................................................................................................................12 Background ........................................................................................................................12 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................16 Purpose Statement ..............................................................................................................18 Significance of the Study ...............................................................................................................19 Research Question .............................................................................................................21 Definitions..........................................................................................................................21 Summary ............................................................................................................................23 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................24 Overview ............................................................................................................................24 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................24 Related Literature...............................................................................................................25 Emotional Well-Being .......................................................................................................26 Challenges Faced by College Students ..............................................................................33 Emotion Regulation ...........................................................................................................37 Summary ............................................................................................................................53 7 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS ..................................................................................................55 Introduction ........................................................................................................................55 Research Design.................................................................................................................55 Research Question .............................................................................................................55 Hypotheses .........................................................................................................................56 Participants and Setting......................................................................................................57 Instrumentation ..................................................................................................................58 Procedure ...........................................................................................................................61 Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................63 Issues Related to Internal and External Validity................................................................64 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS .....................................................................................................66 Overview ............................................................................................................................66 Descriptive Statistics ..........................................................................................................66 Results ................................................................................................................................70 Hypothesis(es)........................................................................................................70 Assumptions and Data Screening ..........................................................................70 Analysis..................................................................................................................75 Summary ............................................................................................................................82 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS .......................................................................................................84 Overview ............................................................................................................................84 Summary of Findings .........................................................................................................84 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................85 Implications........................................................................................................................88 8 Limitations .........................................................................................................................90 Recommendations for Future Research .............................................................................90 Summary ............................................................................................................................90 References ......................................................................................................................................92