Evento: 40th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, 01-04 September, 2026, Pafos, Cyprus 

Contributo: Health Worry, Emotion Regulation, and Cancer Screening Intentions: The Age-Related Moderating Role of Expressive Suppression

Autori: Lemmo, M. Capasso, M.L. Martino, A.R. Donizzetti, M.F. Freda, D. Caso

Abstract: Contemporary models of health behaviour change increasingly recognise the role of affective processes in preventive intentions. Self-regulation models and risk-as-feelings perspectives suggest that health-related worry can motivate cancer screening. However, these frameworks rarely specify the regulatory mechanisms determining when worry facilitates, rather than inhibits, preventive action. Emotion regulation may represent this mechanism, influencing whether health-related worry is translated into adaptive screening intentions or redirected toward avoidance. This process may be particularly consequential in later adulthood, consistent with Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, which posits age-related shifts toward emotion-regulatory goals. This study, conducted within the MIRIADE project, examined whether two dispositional emotion regulation strategies—cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression—moderate the relationship between health worry and colorectal cancer screening intention, and whether these effects differ between middle-aged and older adults.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1,451 Italian adults aged 50–74 years. Participants completed validated measures of health worry, emotion regulation strategies, and colorectal cancer screening intention. Moderation analyses were conducted separately by age group using PROCESS. Health worry was positively associated with screening intention in both groups. Cognitive reappraisal predicted higher intention but did not moderate the worry–intention link. Expressive suppression significantly moderated this association among older adults only: at high suppression levels, the motivational effect of worry disappeared. These findings extend health behaviour change theories by identifying expressive suppression as a regulatory boundary condition influencing preventive intentions in later adulthood. Incorporating dispositional emotion regulation into theoretical models may enhance their explanatory precision and inform interventions targeting screening uptake.