EMOTIONAL SELF-REGULATION OF JOURNALISTS AS A DETERMINANT OF MENTAL HEALTH PRESERVATION UNDER CHRONIC TRAUMATIC EXPOSURE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32689/maup.psych.2026.1.11Keywords:
emotional self-regulation; cognitive reappraisal; expressive suppression; journalists; mental health; traumatic exposure; process model of emotion regulationAbstract
Background. Journalistic activity in armed conflict zones involves systematic contact with traumatic content, resulting in PTSD and depression rates comparable to those observed in combat veterans. Existing models of psychological support for media professionals focus predominantly on post-hoc interventions (debriefings, PTSD therapy), whereas the preventive potential of emotion regulation strategies deployed during professional activity itself remains insufficiently conceptualized. Purpose – to provide a theoretical analysis of how emotion regulation strategies are implemented in journalistic activity and to substantiate their role as determinants of mental health preservation under chronic traumatic exposure. Materials and Methods. The study employs theoretical analysis and conceptual synthesis based on J. Gross’s process model of emotion regulation. The source base comprises 39 scholarly publications in English and Ukrainian. Publications in the language of the aggressor state were excluded. Methods of theoretical analysis, systematization, conceptual modelling, and comparative analysis were applied. Results. The paradox of constrained agency is conceptualized: unlike other professionals, the journalist is structurally unable to implement the first strategy (situation selection), since contact with traumatic content is an inherent component of professional function. This impossibility creates compensatory overload on subsequent strategies, particularly cognitive reappraisal and response modulation. The phenomenon of institutionalized emotional suppression is substantiated: the newsroom norm of professional detachment functions as an implicit demand for the constant application of expressive suppression – the least adaptive strategy. Empirical data analysis demonstrates that cognitive reappraisal is associated with reduced PTSD symptomatology, while expressive suppression correlates with increased distress, impaired cognitive functioning, and burnout. Conclusions. The regulatory chain in journalism is structurally deformed: blocking of the first strategy creates overload on subsequent ones, while newsroom culture forms a systemic risk factor through institutionalized suppression. The practical value lies in identifying targets for preventive programmes aimed at developing adaptive emotion regulation strategies in journalists.
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