Emotion vocabulary refers to the diversity of emotion-related words one uses in language. Emotion differentiation is the ability to distinguish between discrete emotional states.
Both relate to how people understand and express their emotional experiences.
Research suggests that difficulties in emotion differentiation can contribute to depression, while the relationship between emotion vocabulary and depression is less clear, with some studies finding larger negative emotion vocabularies associated with higher depressive symptoms.
DeLap, G. A. L., Vine, V., Santee, A. C., & Starr, L. R. (2025). Putting it into words: Emotion vocabulary, emotion differentiation, and depression among adolescents. Emotion, 25(1), 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001429
Key Points
- Larger negative emotion vocabulary (NEV) was associated with higher depression symptoms and lower negative emotion differentiation (NED) in adolescents
- NED and NEV were negatively correlated, supporting the “emotion concision hypothesis”
- Both higher NEV and lower NED uniquely predicted depression symptoms
- Positive emotion vocabulary (PEV) and positive emotion differentiation (PED) were not significantly associated with each other or depression
Rationale
Previous research has found that larger negative emotion vocabulary (NEV) is associated with higher depression symptoms (Entwistle et al., 2023; Vine et al., 2020), which seems to contradict assumptions that greater emotion knowledge is inherently adaptive (Barrett et al., 2016; Hoemann et al., 2021).
However, these initial NEV findings need replication and further investigation, particularly in relation to other constructs like emotion differentiation.
Emotion differentiation (ED) refers to the ability to distinguish between discrete emotional states and has been consistently associated with lower depression symptoms (e.g., Erbas et al., 2014, 2018; Starr, Hershenberg, et al., 2017).
The relationship between EV and ED has not been previously tested.
This study aimed to replicate the EV-depression association in adolescents while also examining how EV relates to ED, to better understand these seemingly contradictory findings about emotion knowledge constructs and depression.
Adolescence is a critical period for emotional development and increased risk of depression (Avenevoli et al., 2015), making it an important developmental stage to study these relationships.
Method
Procedure
- Participants completed in-person lab session with interviews and questionnaires
- Participants completed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys on smartphones 4 times daily for 1 week
Sample
241 adolescents (ages 14-17, 53% girls, 73.9% White) recruited from a community sample in the northeastern United States
Measures
- Emotion Vocabulary (EV): Derived from transcribed Life Stress Interviews using natural language processing
- Emotion Differentiation (ED): Calculated from EMA data using intraclass correlations of emotion ratings
- Depression: Latent variable combining multiple measures:
- Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) interview
- Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
- Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) depression subscale
- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) emotional problems subscale
- Neuroticism: Big 5 Mini-Marker scale
Statistical measures
Structural equation modeling in Mplus using maximum likelihood estimation
Results
Hypothesis 1 (Lexical facilitation): Larger EV would be associated with higher ED.
Result: Not supported. NEV was negatively correlated with NED (r = -0.19, p = .006).
Hypothesis 2 (Emotion concision): Larger EV would be associated with lower ED.
Result: Supported for negative emotions. NEV was negatively correlated with NED (r = -0.19, p = .006).
Hypothesis 3: NEV would be positively associated with depression symptoms.
Result: Supported. NEV was positively associated with latent depression (β = 0.21, p = .004).
Hypothesis 4: PEV would be negatively associated with depression symptoms.
Result: Not supported. PEV was not significantly associated with latent depression (β = 0.05, p = .491).
Additional findings:
- NED was negatively associated with latent depression (β = -0.28, p < .001)
- NEV and NED uniquely predicted depression when included in the same model
- PEV and PED were not significantly associated with each other or depression
Insight
This study provides new evidence on the complex relationships between emotion vocabulary, emotion differentiation, and depression in adolescents.
The finding that larger negative emotion vocabulary was associated with both higher depression and lower emotion differentiation challenges assumptions that having more varied emotion words is always beneficial.
Instead, it suggests that using a wider range of negative emotion words in speech may reflect less precise emotional experiences or a tendency toward more complex, multifaceted negative emotional states.
This aligns with the “emotion concision hypothesis” proposed by the authors, where high emotion differentiation allows for more succinct labeling of emotional experiences.
The study extends previous research by examining these constructs together and in an adolescent sample.
It suggests that the ability to differentiate emotions and the tendency to use varied emotion words may be distinct aspects of emotional functioning with different implications for mental health.
The findings also highlight the importance of distinguishing between positive and negative emotions, as relationships were only significant for negative emotion constructs.
Future research could explore the developmental trajectories of emotion vocabulary and differentiation, investigate potential mediators or moderators of their relationships with depression, and examine how interventions targeting these constructs might impact emotional well-being.
Additionally, studies using different methods to assess emotion differentiation (e.g., open-ended responses, lab tasks) could help clarify the meaning and implications of these constructs.
Clinical Implications
For mental health practitioners working with adolescents, these findings suggest that simply encouraging use of more varied emotion words may not be sufficient to improve emotional functioning.
Instead, interventions might focus on helping adolescents develop more precise understandings of their emotional experiences, potentially leading to more concise and accurate emotion labeling.
Clinicians should be aware that adolescents using a wide range of negative emotion words might be at higher risk for depression or less skilled at differentiating their emotions.
For educators and those developing social-emotional learning programs, the results indicate that teaching emotion vocabulary should be combined with skills for distinguishing between similar emotions and understanding the nuances of emotional experiences.
Programs might incorporate activities that go beyond expanding emotion word knowledge to include practice in identifying and distinguishing between subtle emotional states.
Policymakers could consider these findings when allocating resources for youth mental health initiatives.
Supporting programs that develop both emotion vocabulary and differentiation skills, particularly for negative emotions, might be more effective than those focused solely on expanding emotion word knowledge.
Implementing these findings may face challenges, such as the need for more specialized training for practitioners and educators in emotion differentiation skills.
Additionally, measuring improvements in these areas may require more sophisticated assessment tools than typically used in educational or clinical settings.
Strengths
This study had several methodological strengths, including:
- Use of multiple methods (interviews, EMA, self-report) and informants
- Naturalistic assessment of emotion vocabulary through life stress interviews
- Latent variable modeling of depression to reduce measurement error
- Preregistered analyses and competing hypotheses
- Replication and extension of previous emotion vocabulary findings
Limitations
This study also had several methodological limitations, including:
- Cross-sectional design limits causal inferences
- Predominantly white, non-clinical sample limits generalizability
- Low rates of positive emotion word usage in interviews may have limited power to detect effects for positive emotion constructs
- Reliance on a single method (ICC-based) for assessing emotion differentiation
- Potential confounds in deriving emotion vocabulary from stress interviews
References
Primary reference
DeLap, G. A. L., Vine, V., Santee, A. C., & Starr, L. R. (2025). Putting it into words: Emotion vocabulary, emotion differentiation, and depression among adolescents. Emotion, 25(1), 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001429
Other references
Avenevoli, S., Swendsen, J., He, J.-P., Burstein, M., & Merikangas, K. R. (2015). Major depression in the national comorbidity survey-adolescent supplement: Prevalence, correlates, and treatment. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 54(1), 37–44.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2014.10.010
Barrett, L. F., Lewis, M., & Haviland-Jones, J. M. (2016). Handbook of emotions. Guilford Press.
Entwistle, C., Horn, A. B., Meier, T., Hoemann, K., Miano, A., & Boyd, R. L. (2023). Natural emotion vocabularies and borderline personality disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 14, Article 100647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2023.100647
Erbas, Y., Ceulemans, E., Kalokerinos, E. K., Houben, M., Koval, P., Pe, M. L., & Kuppens, P. (2018). Why I don’t always know what I’m feeling: The role of stress in within-person fluctuations in emotion differentiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(2), 179–191. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000126
Erbas, Y., Ceulemans, E., Lee Pe, M., Koval, P., & Kuppens, P. (2014). Negative emotion differentiation: Its personality and well-being correlates and a comparison of different assessment methods. Cognition and Emotion, 28(7), 1196–1213. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.875890
Hoemann, K., Nielson, C., Yuen, A., Gurera, J. W., Quigley, K. S., & Barrett, L. F. (2021). Expertise in emotion: A scoping review and unifying framework for individual differences in the mental representation of emotional experience. Psychological Bulletin, 147(11), 1159–1183. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000327
Starr, L. R., Hershenberg, R., Li, Y. I., & Shaw, Z. A. (2017). When feelings lack precision: Low positive and negative emotion differentiation and depressive symptoms in daily life. Clinical Psychological Science, 5(4), 613–631. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702617694657
Vine, V., Boyd, R. L., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2020). Natural emotion vocabularies as windows on distress and well-being. Nature Communications, 11(1), Article 4525. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18349-0
Socratic Questions
- How might the relationship between emotion vocabulary and differentiation differ in clinical versus non-clinical populations?
- What alternative explanations could account for the negative correlation between negative emotion vocabulary and differentiation?
- How might cultural differences influence the relationships between emotion vocabulary, differentiation, and depression?
- In what ways could the method of assessing emotion differentiation (e.g., EMA, lab tasks, self-report) impact the findings?
- How might the results differ if emotion vocabulary was assessed in contexts other than discussing stressful life events?
- What are the potential risks and benefits of interventions aimed at increasing emotion vocabulary versus emotion differentiation?
- How might these findings relate to other aspects of emotional intelligence or social-emotional development in adolescents?
- What ethical considerations should researchers and practitioners keep in mind when applying these findings to interventions or assessments?
- How might the relationships between these constructs change across different developmental stages, from childhood through adulthood?
- In what ways could technology (e.g., social media, texting) influence adolescents’ development of emotional vocabulary and differentiation skills?
