Race-related differences in protective effects of emotion regulation against GrimAge acceleration are driven by assaultive trauma.

Objective: Age-adjusted mortality analyses consistently show increased mortality in non-Hispanic Black adults compared to other racial/ethnic groups. While the underlying causes are multifaceted, the potential role for psychological resilience aspects such as emotion regulation has not been explored. Here, we examine (a) racial differences in emotion regulation among White and Black adults, (b) the potential links between these differences and adversity, and (c) the relationship between emotion regulation, adversity, and biological aging.

Method: Four hundred fifty-nine healthy volunteers (21.1% Black) were enrolled in a cross-sectional study where we assessed emotion regulation with the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale, lifetime adversity using the Cumulative Adversity Inventory, and biological age using GrimAge.

Results: Black participants had better emotion regulation than White participants with difficulty in regulating emotions being associated with greater lifetime adversity throughout the sample. However, the interaction between race and emotion regulation difficulties was significant for both lifetime adversity and traumatic events, with Black participants showing a stronger association between more adversity (specifically assaultive trauma) and worse emotion regulation. Remarkably, we found a significant three-way interaction between adversity, emotion regulation, and race, with emotion regulation protecting against the effects of adversity on GrimAge acceleration specifically in Black participants.

Conclusions: Our findings highlight a potential protective role of emotion regulation against accelerated aging in Black adults, specifically at the intersection of adversity and epigenetic aging. Further research to understand racial differences in adversity and specific facets of resilience is required to gain a deeper understanding of race-related disparities in healthy aging. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).