Editorial overview: New directions in the science of emotion regulation

Emotion regulation is one of the fastest growing areas of research within psychology. Yet, despite the rapid growth of this research, there are still many questions to answer. This issue of Current Opinion in Psychology represents the current state of the field for theory and research on emotion regulation and highlights directions for future research. Each article describes groundbreaking research and theory in a particular area: first, emerging topics in emotion regulation research; second, assessment of emotion regulation; third, lifespan and cross-cultural perspectives on emotion regulation; fourth, emotion regulation and psychopathology; and fifth emotion regulation in psychological treatments. In this introduction, we categorize models of emotion regulation based on the extent with which they emphasize emotion regulation strategies versus abilities. We then discuss similarities between these models and how they can inform each other. We then provide an overview of each article, focusing on how they speak to both models.