Maladaptive coping/emotion regulation is one potential psychological process that is initiated by exposure to chronic stigma-related stress. Emotion regulation refers to the “conscious and nonconscious strategies we use to increase, maintain, or decrease one or more components of an emotional response” (Gross, 2001). Emotion regulation deficits are risk factors for depression (e.g., Rottenberg, Kasch, Gross, & Gotlib, 2002) as well as anxiety disorders (e.g., Mennin, Heimberg, Turk, & Fresco, 2005).
