Emotion Expression, Regulation and Psychological Outcomes among Highly Sensitive Adolescents in Internationalized Education Contexts

Abstract

This study examines how sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) influences emotional expression, regulation, and psychological well-being among Chinese adolescents enrolled in internationalized educational settings. Grounded in Gross's process model of emotion regulation and cross-cultural theories of emotional expression, the study addresses how highly sensitive youth navigate emotional demands in culturally hybrid contexts. Independent t-tests were used to compare highly sensitive and non-highly sensitive adolescents across six psychological variables: emotion regulation, emotional expressivity, perceived stress, self-esteem, social support, and subjective well-being. Significant group differences were found in emotion regulation and subjective well-being, with highly sensitive individuals reporting stronger regulatory capacity and greater life satisfaction. Within the highly sensitive group, further analyses using Pearson correlations and linear regression revealed a significant positive association between emotion regulation and well-being, though group-based comparisons of high and low regulators did not reach statistical significance. These findings suggest that emotion regulation may serve as a protective factor supporting well-being among sensitive youth. The study underscores the importance of culturally sensitive emotional support systems and recommends future research employing larger samples and formal mediation models to validate these exploratory insights.