Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between anxiety and emotion regulation variability (ERV) using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). A total of 106 undergraduate students completed self-report questionnaires to measure baseline anxiety symptoms, followed by a 7-day EMA protocol that included three prompts per day to assess their daily use of emotion regulation strategies. ERV was calculated based on within-strategy and between-strategy variability by strategy type (total, adaptive, maladaptive). Multilevel analysis revealed that after controlling for mean levels of strategy use, adaptive within-strategy variability was significantly positively associated with anxiety symptoms, while other types of variability showed no significant association. This study is the first to examine ERV across strategy types in relation to anxiety, highlighting the importance of understanding intra-individual dynamics over time in anxiety-related emotion regulation patterns. Additionally, the findings contribute to the expanding literature on ERV and provide preliminary insights into its implications.