Tipping points for adaptation: connecting emotion regulation, motivated behavior, and psychopathology

• Emotion regulation (ER) research has focused on identifying changes in affect.
• More research is needed on how ER influences behavioral outcomes.
• We advocate the examination of affective and behavioral outcomes of ER.
• We evaluate adaptation by assessing effects on short and long-term goals.

While much research on emotion regulation (ER) has focused on 1) examining the effectiveness of strategies at modifying affect and 2) delineating the associations between the habitual use of strategies and the presence of symptoms of psychopathology, comparatively little is known about the mechanisms by which the use of strategies results in changes in goal-driven behaviors. This is an important limitation in light of the central role that behaviors play in mental health and well-being. We present an ER framework that emphasizes the importance of linking changes in affect with changes in behavior. This model adopts a contextual perspective by stipulating that adaptive behaviors are those that result in a balance between short- and long-term goals. Further, this model highlights the importance of identifying ‘tipping points’ at which affective change maximally impacts behavioral outcomes. It is our hope that this framework can spur experimental research that will result in a better understanding of how ER is causally related to mental health.