Disordered Personality Dimensions and Emotion Regulation Among Older Adults.

Disordered personality traits were more robustly associated with difficulties in emotion regulation than with emotion regulation strategy use frequency in older adults.

• Sample consisted of older adult participants (n = 210) with a mean age of 66 years
• Participants completed measures of disordered personality traits, emotion regulation strategies, and difficulties in emotion regulation
• The association between disordered traits and regulatory difficulties was described as 'more robust' compared to associations with strategy use frequency

Each of the five disordered personality trait dimensions exhibited distinct profiles of correlations with emotion regulation measures.

• The five disordered personality trait dimensions were examined separately for their associations with emotion regulation
• Distinct correlation profiles were found across the five traits with both regulation strategy use and difficulties in emotion regulation
• The study design allowed comparison across multiple disordered personality dimensions simultaneously

Detachment was largely unrelated to regulatory strategy use in older adults.

• Detachment showed a notably different pattern from the other four disordered personality dimensions
• Despite being a disordered personality trait frequently defined with respect to emotion dysregulation, detachment did not show meaningful associations with emotion regulation strategy use frequency
• This finding was highlighted as a notable result among the five disordered trait profiles

Anankastia was similarly related to both engagement and disengagement in emotion regulation strategies.

• Unlike other disordered personality dimensions, anankastia showed comparable associations with both engagement-oriented and disengagement-oriented emotion regulation strategies
• This bidirectional relationship with regulatory strategies distinguished anankastia from the other four disordered trait dimensions
• This finding was highlighted as a notable result in the abstract

Research on connections between disordered personality traits and emotion regulation strategies had been lacking, particularly in older adulthood.

• The study was positioned as addressing a gap in the literature regarding disordered personality and emotion regulation strategy use
• The focus on older adulthood was identified as a particularly underexplored area
• Disordered personality traits are frequently defined with respect to emotion dysregulation, making the lack of prior research on strategy use notable