Anxiété, dépression et partage social des émotions : des stratégies de régulation émotionnelle interpersonnelle spécifiques

Depressed and anxiety states represent respectively 12% of the general population. They are associated with alexithymia dimensions, such as difficulty in verbalisation of emotions [Eur Psychiatry 14 (1999) 372-378.]. The aim of the research is to identify the relationships between anxiety, depression and social sharing of emotions considered as a process of interpersonal emotional regulation [Rimé B. Interpersonal emotion regulation. In Gross JJ, editor. Handbook of emotion regulation. New York: The Guilford Press; 2007.p. 466-485.]. A quantitative method was used. One hundred and seven patients from general medicine and control subjects were characterised by the presence or the absence of anxiety and depressed states. We measured depressed and anxiety states with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) and the components of social sharing of emotions. Results point out the presence of positive relationships between anxiety state and inhibition of social sharing of emotions and between a part of emotional inhibition and depression. In anxiety, it concerns a strategy used in order to avoid the occurrence of emotional reactivation whereas, in depression, the subject would try to protect him/herself from a negative perception.