The Role of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Mental Health During Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic (COVID-19): A Systematic Review

Introduction: COVID-19 was identified on December 31, 2019 in Wuhan, China, and as a pandemic, it has been unable to regulate excitement and cause anxiety in many people around the world. The present study aimed to investigate the role of emotion regulation strategies in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information sources or data:  The present study is a systematic review study conducted in 2020. COVID-19, Psychological Implications, Pandemic, Mental Health, Emotion Regulation Strategies, in order to access related scientific documents, in the title and abstract of articles published in reputable international scientific databases Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect were searched and all relevant English articles were listed. Selection methods for study:   Search 538 articles published in 2020 (February) and 2021 (December) from reputable electronic sources, and by reviewing the full texts of these articles, 23 articles were reviewed. Combine content and results: Studies have shown that the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as positive reassessment and refocusing on planning in a positive way leads to increased mental health. In contrast, using maladaptive emotion management strategies such as catastrophizing, rumination, and negatively blaming others can lead to anxiety, depression, and stress. Conclusion: Given the role that emotion regulation strategies play in the management of COVID-19 anxiety; it is necessary to take effective interventions to make more people aware of the importance of emotion regulation strategies in reducing COVID-19 anxiety.