Emotional regulation, understood as the skills and strategies needed to influence and/or modify the emotional experiences, has a very remarkable implication within numerous emotional and behavioral disorders in childhood and adolescence. In recent years there has been a significant increase in research on emotional regulation, however, the results are still divergent in terms of differences in emotional regulation in relation to age and gender. This study aimed to assess emotional regulation in adolescents in relation to their age and gender. Two hundred and fifty-four adolescents from eight schools in the Valencian Community and aged between 9 and 16 years participated in the study. The adolescents completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the FEEL-KJ questionnaire. We analyzed the differences in emotional regulation strategies and a latent emotional regulation variable in two age groups (9–12 years and 13–16 years) and by gender. The results suggested that children and pre-adolescents in the 9–12 year group obtained lower scores in the emotional regulation strategies than the 13–16 year group. Girls reported higher scores on the use of emotional regulation strategies when experiencing sadness, anxiety and anger than boys, and on the overall average of regulation according to these specific emotions. Age, but not gender, had a major effect on scores for the latent variable of emotion regulation. An interaction effect between age and gender was identified in the latent emotion regulation scores. Girls tended to have higher scores than boys when they were younger and lower scores than boys when they were older. These results could be relevant for designing prevention and intervention programs for adolescents and at different ages.

Background: Family caregivers of individuals with disabilities often experience a significant caregiver burden, which has been associated with higher levels of depressive symptomatology. However, limited research has examined the role of moderating variables such as unwanted loneliness and meaning in life in this context. This study aims to analyze the presence of depressive symptoms among female informal caregivers and the modulating factors involved, highlighting meaning in life as a key psychological variable in the caregiving process. Methods: The sample consisted of 104 informal caregivers of individuals with disabilities, all of whom were women. Individual interviews were conducted, during which participants completed an assessment protocol comprising a sociodemographic questionnaire and the following standardized instruments: the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Purpose in Life Scale (PIL-10). Results: Findings revealed that meaning in life partially mediates the relationship between caregiver burden, unwanted loneliness, and depressive symptoms, acting as a protective factor against emotional distress in informal caregivers. Conclusions: Our results suggest that meaning in life is a key mediating variable in the link between caregiver burden, loneliness, and depression. We conclude that meaning in life is a relevant construct for understanding caregiver stress and should be considered in therapeutic interventions aimed at supporting informal caregivers.

Parental guilt is one of the most pervasive emotional responses following the death of a child and has been consistently associated with adverse bereavement outcomes. However, little is known about how bereaved parents experience and integrate guilt over time. This qualitative study explored the lived experience of parental guilt, its relationship with the cause of death, and the processes that facilitate its integration. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 27 bereaved mothers and fathers and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were identified. First, the intensity and meaning of guilt differed according to the cause of death: sudden or potentially preventable deaths were associated with overwhelming self-blame, whereas anticipated deaths following illness elicited guilt related to caregiving and perceived inadequacy. Second, guilt was experienced as a multidimensional process, including protective, caregiving, counterfactual, survivor, and parental identity guilt. Third, participants retrospectively described changes in their relationship with guilt, from pervasive self-blame towards greater integration rather than complete resolution. Finally, meaning reconstruction, peer support, professional psychological support, and self-compassion facilitated this process. These findings highlight parental guilt as a dynamic process shaped by the circumstances of the loss, with implications for tailored bereavement assessment and intervention.