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EMOTIONAL REGULATION AND SPIRITUALITY IN ADOLESCENCE AND EMERGING ADULTHOOD: A NARRATIVE REVIEW OF MECHANISMS, EVIDENCE, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

AUTHORS:
Inderjeet Mehru
Mentor
Affiliation
Department of Psychology
CC BY 4.0 License:
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Adolescents and emerging adults are still learning how to manage their emotions, and for most young people worldwide, faith and spiritual life are part of how that learning happens. Emotional regulation (ER) is usually defined as the set of processes people use to influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how those emotions get expressed. Spirituality and religiosity (R/S) are among the resources young people lean on most heavily to do this work, yet the two literatures — developmental ER research and the psychology of religion — have only recently started talking to each other. This review pulls that conversation together for readers interested in the roughly ages 10–29 window. Drawing on Gross’s process model of ER and Pargament’s theory of religious coping, four mechanisms are examined: meaning-making and cognitive reappraisal, religious and spiritual coping, attentional or self-regulatory training through contemplative practice, and relational processes built around a perceived sacred other. Across correlational, longitudinal, and intervention studies, R/S tends to correlate, modestly to moderately, with more reappraisal and less rumination or suppression, and ER often mediates the path from R/S to lower risk-taking, less depression and anxiety, and greater life satisfaction. None of this holds unconditionally, though: negative religious coping and spiritual struggle reliably predict worse outcomes, and the size and even direction of effects shift with developmental stage, culture, and religious tradition. The review ends by naming the field’s main methodological gaps — heavy reliance on cross-sectional designs, inconsistent measurement, and thin cultural representation — and suggesting where longitudinal, neurobiological, and intervention work could go next.
Keywords
emotion regulation spirituality religiosity adolescence emerging adulthood religious coping mindfulness
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Mehru, I. (2026). Emotional Regulation and Spirituality in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms, Evidence, and Future Directions. International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology, 02(7), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i7.089

Mehru, Inderjeet. "Emotional Regulation and Spirituality in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms, Evidence, and Future Directions." International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology, vol. 02, no. 7, 2026, pp. 1-9. doi:https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i7.089.

Mehru, Inderjeet. "Emotional Regulation and Spirituality in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms, Evidence, and Future Directions." International Journal of Science, Strategic Management and Technology 02, no. 7 (2026): 1-9. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55041/ijsmt.v2i7.089.

References
Aggarwal, S., Wright, J., Morgan, A., Patton, G., & Reavley, N. (2023). Religiosity and spirituality in the prevention and management of depression and anxiety in young people: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 23(1), Article 729. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05091-2

Arnett, J. J. (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. Oxford University Press.

Barry, C. M., Nelson, L., Davarya, S., & Urry, S. (2010). Religiosity and spirituality during the transition to adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34(4), 311–324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025409350964

Brandão, T. (2025). Religion and emotion regulation: A systematic review of quantitative studies. Journal of Religion and Health, 64, 2083–2100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02216-z

Cook, A., Ogden, J., & Winstone, N. (2024). The intersection of faith and neurodiversity: Unraveling religiosity in autistic adolescents—A critical review analysis. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Graça, L., & Brandão, T. (2024). Religious/spiritual coping, emotion regulation, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction among university students. Journal of Psychology and Theology.

Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271

Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348
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This article has undergone plagiarism screening and double-blind peer review. Editorial policies have been followed. Authors retain copyright under CC BY-NC 4.0 license. The research complies with ethical standards and institutional guidelines.
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