Figure 1.

Lifespan dynamics of one aspect of a hypothetical individual’s personality system. Y axes represent a Z-score metric. Emotion suppression and reappraisal fluctuate in effectiveness over the first part of life in conjunction with changing situations and life circumstances. However, these fluctuations are within a relatively consistent range of generally poor affect regulation (effectiveness Z-scores of 1 – 2). As a result, the intensity or frequency of distressed affects, behaviors, and cognitions, though variable, tends to be high. Scores on a trait, Neuroticism, summarize average levels of these distressed thoughts, affects, and behaviors over ten year periods. Later, the effectiveness of reappraisal improves as a result of treatment focused on this process (average climbs to Z-scores near 2 toward the end of life), causing distressed cognition, affect, and behavior diminish in relative frequency, and as a result trait Neuroticism decreases. This reflects the general pattern of decreasing Neuroticism over the lifespan (B. W. Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006a), coupled with increasing effectiveness of affect regulation(Mather & Knight, 2005)