Original Article(s)
Vol. 14 (2026)
https://doi.org/10.4081/wpph.2026.10605

Emotional regulation and cultural background: a pilot study comparing two clinical samples of adolescents

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Published: 10 April 2026
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Emotional regulation, cultural background, adolescence

Authors

Alice Sida
Faculty of Education (DISFOR), Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy.
Valentina Manfredi
valentina.manfredi@ospedale.al.it
Psychology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria SS. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.
Valentina Rossi
Department of General Psychology, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy.
Monica Franscini
Psychology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria SS. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.
Marta Betti
Research and Innovation Department (DAIRI), Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria SS. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.
Iacopo Megna
Research and Innovation Department (DAIRI), Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria SS. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.
Carolina Pelazza
Research and Innovation Department (DAIRI), Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria SS. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.
Rossella Sterpone
Psychology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria SS. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo, Alessandria, Italy.

Background: emotion regulation plays a key role in adolescent psychological development. Beliefs about emotions and cultural background may significantly influence the regulation process, yet their role in clinical populations remains underexplored.

This pilot study aimed to investigate emotion regulation processes in a clinical sample of adolescents, comparing Italian-born participants with peers from diverse cultural backgrounds. Secondary objectives included exploring the relationships between emotion regulation difficulties, beliefs about emotions, and emotional-behavioral symptoms.

Materials and Methods: nineteen adolescents (mean age =15.26; 79% female) with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) affective syndromes were recruited from the Psychology Unit of the University Hospital of Alessandria. Participants were categorized into two groups based on nationality. Participants completed three standardized self-report measures: the Youth Self Report (YSR), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-18), and the Emotion Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ). All participants and their parents provided written informed consent prior to enrollment.

Results: no statistically significant differences in emotion regulation or emotional-behavioral symptoms were found between the Italian and non-Italian groups. However, a borderline-significant positive correlation was observed between externalizing problems and emotion regulation difficulties, particularly in the non-Italian group. Further exploratory correlations suggested potential links between depressive symptoms and beliefs about the uselessness of negative emotions.

Conclusions: the study highlights the need to consider cultural, relational, and psychological variables in emotion regulation research. Future studies with larger samples are needed to better understand the complex interplay between emotional functioning and cultural context in adolescent mental health.

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How to Cite



Emotional regulation and cultural background: a pilot study comparing two clinical samples of adolescents. (2026). Working Paper of Public Health, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/wpph.2026.10605
Copyright (c) 2026 Alice Sida, Valentina Manfredi, Valentina Rossi, Monica Franscini, Marta Betti, Iacopo Megna, Carolina Pelazza, Rossella Sterpone Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.