Intimate Partner Violence Victimization, Habitual Emotion Regulation Strategies, and Health During COVID-19.

Objective: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is related to many negative health outcomes for victims. Our aim was to determine whether two types of emotion regulation strategies-cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression-moderate the effect of IPV victimization on health over time. Method: We recruited 1,200 participants to complete an initial survey during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that assessed IPV victimization, habitual emotion regulation strategy use, and three indexes of health (i.e., general health, sickness behavior, and substance use). These participants then completed a follow-up survey 10 months later to reassess their health. We evaluated how habitual cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression moderated the effect of IPV victimization on each of the measures of health at follow-up, controlling for the initial respective measure of health. Results: Accounting for initial health, IPV victimization at the beginning of the pandemic was associated with worse general health, more sickness behavior, and greater substance use 10 months later. At higher levels of habitual expressive suppression, IPV victimization was associated with greater substance use. Unexpectedly, at higher levels of habitual cognitive reappraisal, IPV victimization was associated with worse general health and greater substance use. Conclusions: Our work demonstrates the long-term health effects of IPV victimization and that both expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal can exacerbate these effects on general health and substance use. Findings highlight a specific context in which cognitive reappraisal may not be a health-protective emotion regulation strategy. This should be considered in practical and therapeutic settings that serve individuals who have experienced IPV.