Much research documents the serious mental health consequences of economic crises, such as the one that struck Greece in 2008. However, personality characteristics that relate to people’s coping with crises have not been investigated in the context of a depressed economy. This study examines links between negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE), psychological distress and coping among people experiencing economic crisis. NMRE represent people’s confidence that they can diminish their unpleasant moods. To examine the NMRE of Greek citizens, a Greek language version of the Negative Mood Regulation Scale, the NMR-GR, was created. New items assessed culturally relevant aspects of mood regulation typical of Greek society. The results supported the reliability (alpha = .88) and preliminary validity of the 36-item NMR-GR as a measure of Greeks’ NMRE. The NMR-GR correlated negatively with anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms, and positively with active coping during an economic crisis. These results parallel previous NMRE research on individuals, in the U.S. and elsewhere, who are experiencing stressful situations. Future recommendations include interventions to strengthen the NMRE of individuals who are hurt by an economic crisis through unemployment and other losses.