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Sample records for emotion regulation strategies

  1. Personality and Emotion Regulation Strategies

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    Esti Hayu Purnamaningsih

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The emotions has many important functions in our life such as in relation of interpersonal communication, and health. In interpersonal communicative function aimed to signal to other information about internal state. Emotions manifests in specific cognitive, behavioural, and physiological reactions, thus closely related to health. There is wide variety of ways for individuals to regulate their emotion. In this regard, there are two kinds of emotion regulation strategy; first Antecedent-focused emotion regulation consisting of situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change and second, Response-focused emotion regulation consisting of suppression. The purpose of this research is to investigate personality factors relate with emotion regulation strategies. 339 students from Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada were participating in this study and given The Big Five Personality Factors (Ramdhani, 2012, adaptation, and the modified version of the Emotion Regulation Scale was used, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (John & Gross, 2004 which measure personality and emotion regulation respectively. Using multiple regression analysis, the study indicated that personality predicts emotion regulation strategies.

  2. Emotion regulation strategies in preschool children.

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    Sala, Maria Nives; Pons, Francisco; Molina, Paola

    2014-11-01

    This study investigated the development of emotion regulation strategies as reflected in the narratives of children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. An experimental procedure based on story completion tasks was devised to elicit the emotion-related narratives of 69 preschool children. Coding of the narratives led to the observation of different emotion regulation strategies: Behavioural strategies, social support, and cognitive reappraisal. Several significant gender and age differences were identified in the use of these strategies. In addition, verbal skills, non-verbal intelligence, and emotion comprehension were found to be associated with use of the observed emotion regulation strategies, although only at specific ages. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

  3. Emotion regulation strategies in Patients with schizophrenia

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    van der Meer, Lisette; van't Wout, Mascha; Aleman, Andre

    2009-01-01

    Schizophrenia patients might experience difficulties in applying two widely used emotion regulation strategies, reappraisal and suppression. We investigated the relationships among emotion regulation strategies, alexithymia (i.e. inability to identify and verbalize feelings) and the role of

  4. Religiousness and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in adolescence

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    Oleś Maria

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Human religiousness is a complex and multidimensional reality embedded in basic human needs and connected with people’s desires, anxieties, and hopes. The aim of the paper is to assess religiousness, considered in terms of meaning and cognitive emotion regulation strategies, in adolescents. The religious meaning system is a multidimensional construct encompassing convictions, beliefs, emotional connotations, and the rules of worship. In situations of negative events or unpleasant experiences, young people resort to various coping strategies. Cognitive emotion regulation strategies concern relatively stable conscious ways of regulating emotions, which consist in mentally handling the incoming information that evoke emotions. The study concerned young people aged 13 to 16 years (N = 130. Religiousness was assessed using D. Krok’s Religious Meaning System Questionnaire (RMSQ and cognitive coping strategies were measured using the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ by N. Garnefski and V. Kraaij. The results show that there are relations between religiousness, understood in terms of the young participants’ meaning system, and adaptive as well as maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. The results of the study are discussed in the light of theory and research.

  5. The temporal deployment of emotion regulation strategies during negative emotional episodes.

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    Kalokerinos, Elise K; Résibois, Maxime; Verduyn, Philippe; Kuppens, Peter

    2017-04-01

    Time is given a central place in theoretical models of emotion regulation (Gross, 1998, 2015), but key questions regarding the role of time remain unanswered. We investigated 2 such unanswered questions. First, we explored when different emotion regulation strategies were used within the course of an emotional episode in daily life. Second, we investigated the association between the temporal deployment of strategies and negative emotional experience. We conducted a daily diary study in which participants (N = 74) drew an intensity profile depicting the temporal unfolding of their negative emotional experience across daily events (N = 480), and mapped their usage of emotion regulation strategies onto this intensity profile. Strategies varied in their temporal deployment, with suppression and rumination occurring more at the beginning of the episode, and reappraisal and distraction occurring more toward the end of the episode. Strategies also varied in their association with negative emotion: rumination was positively associated with negative emotion, and reappraisal and distraction were negatively associated with negative emotion. Finally, both rumination and reappraisal interacted with time to predict negative emotional experience. Rumination was more strongly positively associated with negative emotions at the end of the episode than the beginning, but reappraisal was more strongly negatively associated with negative emotion at the beginning of the episode than the end. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for timing in the study of emotion regulation, as well as the necessity of studying these temporal processes in daily life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Situation selection is a particularly effective emotion regulation strategy for people who need help regulating their emotions.

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    Webb, Thomas L; Lindquist, Kristen A; Jones, Katelyn; Avishai, Aya; Sheeran, Paschal

    2018-03-01

    Situation selection involves choosing situations based on their likely emotional impact and may be less cognitively taxing or challenging to implement compared to other strategies for regulating emotion, which require people to regulate their emotions "in the moment"; we thus predicted that individuals who chronically experience intense emotions or who are not particularly competent at employing other emotion regulation strategies would be especially likely to benefit from situation selection. Consistent with this idea, we found that the use of situation selection interacted with individual differences in emotional reactivity and competence at emotion regulation to predict emotional outcomes in both a correlational (Study 1; N = 301) and an experimental field study (Study 2; N = 125). Taken together, the findings suggest that situation selection is an effective strategy for regulating emotions, especially for individuals who otherwise struggle to do so.

  7. The match-mismatch model of emotion processing styles and emotion regulation strategies in fibromyalgia.

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    Geenen, R.; Ooijen-van der Linden, L. van; Lumley, M.A.; Bijlsma, J.W.J.; Middendorp, H. van

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: Individuals differ in their style of processing emotions (e.g., experiencing affects intensely or being alexithymic) and their strategy of regulating emotions (e.g., expressing or reappraising). A match-mismatch model of emotion processing styles and emotion regulation strategies is

  8. Maternal Attachment Strategies and Emotion Regulation with Adolescent Offspring.

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    Kobak, Roger; And Others

    1994-01-01

    Examined the relationship between mothers' attachment strategies and emotion regulation in a sample of 42 families with 2 high school-aged siblings. Found that mothers with preoccupied strategies had difficulty regulating emotion during conversations with their older teenagers about them leaving home. Mothers with secure strategies perceived their…

  9. Emotional Facet of Language Teaching: Emotion Regulation and Emotional Labor Strategies as Predictors of Teacher Burnout

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    Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh; Royaei, Nahid

    2015-01-01

    This study attempted to scrutinize the multidimensional nature of teacher emotion. Three emotion-associated constructs, namely, emotion regulation, emotional labor strategies, and burnout were studied within a single framework. In particular, it was hypothesized that English as a foreign language teachers' emotion regulation and emotional labor…

  10. An investigation on the effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on job satisfaction

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    Somayeh Shahba

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper examined the effects of cognitive emotion regulation on employees’ job satisfaction. In this survey, Questionnaire and the questions were divided into two categories of cognitive emotion regulation and job satisfaction. To measure cognitive emotion regulation, including unadjusted emotion regulation strategies and adjusted strategies, 36 items questionnaire was used originally developed by Garnefski et al. (2001 [Garnefski, N., Kraaij, V., & Spinhoven, P. (2001. Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation, and emotional problems. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 1311–1327.]. The questionnaires were distributed among 340 staff employee of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration. The results revealed that the adjusted cognitive emotion regulation strategies increase job satisfaction of employees. However, unadjusted cognitive emotion regulation strategies reduce employees' job satisfaction. Moreover, among adjusted emotion regulation strategies, put in perspective strategy did not have significant effect on job satisfaction and rumination, had no significant effect on job satisfaction, which was one of the unadjusted strategies of cognitive emotion regulation.

  11. Emotion regulation strategies: procedure modeling of J. Gross and cultural activity approach

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    Elena I. Pervichko

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The first part of this paper argued the desirability of structural-dynamic model of emotion regulation in the theoretical and methodological framework of cultural activity paradigm with the construction of a psychologically-based typology of emotion regulation strategies in norm and pathology, and also psychological mechanisms enabling the regulation of emotions. This conclusion was based on the analysis of the basic concepts and paradigms in which the issue of emotion regulation is studied: cognitive and psychoanalytic approaches, concept and emotional development of emotional intelligence, cultural activity approach. The paper considers the procedure model of emotion regulation by J. Gross, identifies emotion regulation strategies and evaluates their effectiveness. The possibilities and limitations of the model. Based on the review of the today research the conclusion is arrived at that the existing labels on a wide range of regulatory strategies remain an open issue.The author’s definition of emotion regulation is drawn. Emotion regulation is deemed as a set of mental processes, psychological mechanisms and regulatory strategies that people use to preserve the capacity for productive activities in a situation of emotional stress; to ensure optimal impulse control and emotions; to maintain the excitement at the optimum level. The second part of this paper provides the general description of emotion regulation strategies, the approach to their typology, the psychological mechanisms of emotion regulation that lie in the basis of this typology, i.e. the main elements of the structural-dynamic model of emotion regulation. The work shows theoretical and methodological efficacy of empirical significance of signs and symbols and also personal reflection. The diagnostic system to allow empirically identify a wide range of emotion regulation strategies is suggested. The psychological mechanisms used by the subject to solve the problem of emotional

  12. Emotion regulation strategies and childhood obesity in high risk preschoolers

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    The current study examined the relationships between the specific strategies that preschool children use to regulate their emotions and childhood weight status to see if emotion regulation strategies would predict childhood weight status over and above measures of eating self-regulation. 185 4- to 5...

  13. Reappraise the situation but express your emotions:Impact of emotion regulation strategies on ad libitum food intake

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    Diana eTaut

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Research investigating the role of maladaptive emotion regulation on food intake has exclusively focused on food intake in a forced consumption situation. In contrast, the present study examined the effect of negative emotions (fear, negative affect and emotion regulation strategies (suppression, reappraisal on food intake in a non-forced, free eating setting where participants (N = 165 could choose whether and how much they ate. This free (ad libitum eating approach enabled, for the first time, the testing of 1 whether eating (yes/no is used as a secondary emotion regulation strategy and 2 whether the amount of food intake differed, depending on the emotion regulation strategy. In order to produce a more ecologically valid design, emotion regulation strategy manipulation was realized while exposing participants to emotion-induction procedures. To induce an initial negative emotional state, a movie clip was presented without emotion regulation instruction. The instructions to regulate emotions (suppression, reappraisal, no emotion regulation instruction then preceded a second clip. The results show that whereas about two-thirds of the control (no emotion regulation instruction and suppression groups began to eat, only one-third of the reappraisal group did. However, when reappraisers began to eat, they ate as much as participants in the suppression and control groups. Accordingly, the results suggest that when people are confronted with a negative event, eating is used as a secondary coping strategy when the enacted emotion regulation is ineffective. Conversely, an adaptive emotion regulation such as reappraisal decreases the likelihood of eating in the first place, even when emotion regulation is employed during rather than before the unfolding of the negative event. Consequently, the way we deal with negative emotions might be more relevant for explaining emotional eating than the distress itself.

  14. Dealing with feelings: characterization of trait alexithymia on emotion regulation strategies and cognitive-emotional processing.

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    Marte Swart

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Alexithymia, or "no words for feelings", is a personality trait which is associated with difficulties in emotion recognition and regulation. It is unknown whether this deficit is due primarily to regulation, perception, or mentalizing of emotions. In order to shed light on the core deficit, we tested our subjects on a wide range of emotional tasks. We expected the high alexithymics to underperform on all tasks. METHOD: Two groups of healthy individuals, high and low scoring on the cognitive component of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire, completed questionnaires of emotion regulation and performed several emotion processing tasks including a micro expression recognition task, recognition of emotional prosody and semantics in spoken sentences, an emotional and identity learning task and a conflicting beliefs and emotions task (emotional mentalizing. RESULTS: The two groups differed on the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire and Empathy Quotient. Specifically, the Emotion Regulation Quotient showed that alexithymic individuals used more suppressive and less reappraisal strategies. On the behavioral tasks, as expected, alexithymics performed worse on recognition of micro expressions and emotional mentalizing. Surprisingly, groups did not differ on tasks of emotional semantics and prosody and associative emotional-learning. CONCLUSION: Individuals scoring high on the cognitive component of alexithymia are more prone to suppressive emotion regulation strategies rather than reappraisal strategies. Regarding emotional information processing, alexithymia is associated with reduced performance on measures of early processing as well as higher order mentalizing. However, difficulties in the processing of emotional language were not a core deficit in our alexithymic group.

  15. Emotion regulation and emotion coherence: evidence for strategy-specific effects.

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    Dan-Glauser, Elise S; Gross, James J

    2013-10-01

    One of the central tenets of emotion theory is that emotions involve coordinated changes across experiential, behavioral, and physiological response domains. Surprisingly little is known, however, about how the strength of this emotion coherence is altered when people try to regulate their emotions. To address this issue, we recorded experiential, behavioral, and physiological responses while participants watched negative and positive pictures. Cross-correlations were used to quantify emotion coherence. Study 1 tested how two types of suppression (expressive and physiological) influence coherence. Results showed that both strategies decreased the response coherence measured in negative and positive contexts. Study 2 tested how multichannel suppression (simultaneously targeting expressive and physiological responses) and acceptance influence emotion coherence. Results again showed that suppression decreased coherence. By contrast, acceptance was not significantly different from the unregulated condition. These findings help to clarify the nature of emotion response coherence by showing how different forms of emotion regulation may differentially affect it.

  16. Emotion Regulation and Emotion Coherence: Evidence for Strategy-Specific Effects

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    Dan-Glauser, Elise S.; Gross, James J.

    2014-01-01

    One of the central tenets of emotion theory is that emotions involve coordinated changes across experiential, behavioral, and physiological response domains. Surprisingly little is known, however, on how the strength of this emotion coherence is altered when people try to regulate their emotions. To address this issue, we recorded experiential, behavioral, and physiological responses while participants watched negative and positive pictures. Cross-correlations were used to quantify emotion coherence. Study 1 tested how two types of suppression (expressive and physiological) influence coherence. Results showed that both strategies decreased the response coherence measured in negative and positive contexts. Study 2 tested how multi-channel suppression (simultaneously targeting expressive and physiological responses) and acceptance influence emotion coherence. Results again showed that suppression decreased coherence. By contrast, acceptance was not significantly different from the unregulated condition. These findings help to clarify the nature of emotion response coherence by showing how different forms of emotion regulation may differentially affect it. PMID:23731438

  17. The structure of common emotion regulation strategies: A meta-analytic examination.

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    Naragon-Gainey, Kristin; McMahon, Tierney P; Chacko, Thomas P

    2017-04-01

    Emotion regulation has been examined extensively with regard to important outcomes, including psychological and physical health. However, the literature includes many different emotion regulation strategies but little examination of how they relate to one another, making it difficult to interpret and synthesize findings. The goal of this meta-analysis was to examine the underlying structure of common emotion regulation strategies (i.e., acceptance, behavioral avoidance, distraction, experiential avoidance, expressive suppression, mindfulness, problem solving, reappraisal, rumination, worry), and to evaluate this structure in light of theoretical models of emotion regulation. We also examined how distress tolerance-an important emotion regulation ability -relates to strategy use. We conducted meta-analyses estimating the correlations between emotion regulation strategies (based on 331 samples and 670 effect sizes), as well as between distress tolerance and strategies. The resulting meta-analytic correlation matrix was submitted to confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. None of the confirmatory models, based on prior theory, was an acceptable fit to the data. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that 3 underlying factors best characterized these data. Two factors-labeled Disengagement and Aversive Cognitive Perseveration-emerged as strongly correlated but distinct factors, with the latter consisting of putatively maladaptive strategies. The third factor, Adaptive Engagement, was a less unified factor and weakly related to the other 2 factors. Distress tolerance was most closely associated with low levels of repetitive negative thought and experiential avoidance, and high levels of acceptance and mindfulness. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and applications to emotion regulation assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. The Relationship between Emotion Regulation Strategies and Interpersonal Behavior among Substance Abusers

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    Adel Zahed

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Individuals with substance abuse show signs of negative emotion regulation strategies and impaired interpersonal behaviors. The aim of the present research was to determine the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and interpersonal behavior among substance abusers. Method: The research design was a correlation study. The research sample consisted of 100 who were selected of the substance abusers that referred to clinical of addiction withdrawal by random sample method in Ardabil city. To collect the data, Emotion regulation Scale and Interpersonal Reactivity Index were used. Results: The results showed that positive and negative emotion regulation strategies were correlated to interpersonal behavior in substance abusers. The results of multiple regression analysis showed positive and negative emotion regulation strategies explained 16 percent of interpersonal behavior variance. Also the results showed that “putting into perspective“ was found to be the best predictor for interpersonal behavior. Conclusion: These results have important implications in psychopathological of substance abuse. On the basis of these results, clinicians can use emotion regulation strategies in order to cope substance abuse.

  19. How is emotional awareness related to emotion regulation strategies and self-reported negative affect in the general population?

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    Subic-Wrana, Claudia; Beutel, Manfred E; Brähler, Elmar; Stöbel-Richter, Yve; Knebel, Achim; Lane, Richard D; Wiltink, Jörg

    2014-01-01

    The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) as a performance task discriminates between implicit or subconscious and explicit or conscious levels of emotional awareness. An impaired awareness of one's feeling states may influence emotion regulation strategies and self-reports of negative emotions. To determine this influence, we applied the LEAS and self-report measures for emotion regulation strategies and negative affect in a representative sample of the German general population. A short version of the LEAS, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), assessing reappraisal and suppression as emotion regulation strategies, were presented to N = 2524 participants of a representative German community study. The questionnaire data were analyzed with regard to the level of emotional awareness. LEAS scores were independent from depression, but related to self-reported anxiety. Although of small or medium effect size, different correlational patters between emotion regulation strategies and negative affectivity were related to implict and explict levels of emotional awareness. In participants with implicit emotional awareness, suppression was related to higher anxiety and depression, whereas in participants with explicit emotional awareness, in addition to a positive relationship of suppression and depression, we found a negative relationship of reappraisal to depression. These findings were independent of age. In women high use of suppression and little use of reappraisal were more strongly related to negative affect than in men. Our first findings suggest that conscious awareness of emotions may be a precondition for the use of reappraisal as an adaptive emotion regulation strategy. They encourage further research in the relation between subconsious and conscious emotional awareness and the prefarance of adaptive or maladaptive emotion regulation strategies The correlational trends found in a representative

  20. An investigation on the effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on job satisfaction

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    Somayeh Shahba; Seyed Mehdi Alvani; Shams Alsadat Zahedi; Gholamreza Memarzadeh

    2014-01-01

    This paper examined the effects of cognitive emotion regulation on employees’ job satisfaction. In this survey, Questionnaire and the questions were divided into two categories of cognitive emotion regulation and job satisfaction. To measure cognitive emotion regulation, including unadjusted emotion regulation strategies and adjusted strategies, 36 items questionnaire was used originally developed by Garnefski et al. (2001) [Garnefski, N., Kraaij, V., & Spinhoven, P. (2001). Negative life eve...

  1. Developmental delays in emotion regulation strategies in preschoolers with autism.

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    Nuske, Heather J; Hedley, Darren; Woollacott, Alexandra; Thomson, Phoebe; Macari, Suzanne; Dissanayake, Cheryl

    2017-11-01

    Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly present with difficulty regulating negative emotions, which has been found to impact their behavioral and mental health. Little research has documented the strategies that children with ASD use to regulate their emotion to understand whether they use qualitatively different strategies to children without ASD, whether these are developmentally delayed, or both. Forty-four children with ASD and 29 typically-developing children (2-4 years) were given tasks designed to mimic everyday life experiences requiring children to manage low-level stress (e.g., waiting for a snack) and children's emotion regulation strategies were coded. Parents reported on their child's mental health, wellbeing, and self-development. The results suggest differences in using emotion regulation strategies in children with ASD, reflecting a delay, rather than a deviance when compared to those used by children without ASD. Only children with ASD relied on their family members for physical and communicative soothing; the typically developing children relied on people outside of their family for help regulating their emotion. More frequent approach/less frequent avoidance was related to a higher self-evaluation in both groups, but was only additionally related to higher self-recognition and autonomy in the ASD group. These findings help to identify important emotion regulation intervention targets for this population, including supporting communication with people outside of the family and independence. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1808-1822. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Results suggest that children with autism had more difficulty using communication strategies to manage stress only with people outside the family; they used these strategies with family members as often as children without autism. For all children, more task approach/less avoidance was related to children's higher self-evaluation. These

  2. Cognitive emotion regulation strategies In women abuse

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    Vanesa Galego Carrillo

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Emotional regulation through cognitions is directly linked to human life and help people to maintain control on their emotions, both during and after experimenting an stressful event.  Exposition to gender violence cause serious health problems related to stress that need the activation of cognitive and behavioral processes to cope with it. WHOWorld Health Organization states that women in maltreatment situation have limitations on self-autonomy (autonomy and independent behavior. For this reason, self-regulation, understood as a mechanic of self-management through cognitions, emotions, mood, impulsive control and executive task may be affected. The main objective of this research is, to know the impact that gender-based violence may result in the use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies. It was an observational cross-over design of two non-equivalent women's groups/samples. A total of 116 women completed adapted versions to Spanish of "Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ”. Of these, 51 were in a situation of abuse. Results show that the greatest differences between being affected or not by abuse reside in “Rumination”, “Acceptance”, “Catastrophizing and blaming others”. These findings contribute to the empirical evidence in the field of gender-based violence and provide key elements for intervention.

  3. Effects of emotion regulation strategies on music-elicited emotions: An experimental study explaining individual differences

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    Karreman, A.; Laceulle, O.M.; Hanser, Waldie; Vingerhoets, Ad

    This experimental study examined if emotional experience can be manipulated by applying an emotion regulation strategy during music listening and if individual differences in effects of strategies can be explained by person characteristics. Adults (N = 466) completed questionnaires and rated

  4. Effects of emotion regulation strategies on music elicited emotions : An experimental study explaining individual differences

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    Karreman, A.; Laceulle, O.M.; Hanser, W.E.; Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M.

    2017-01-01

    This experimental study examined if emotional experience can be manipulated by applying an emotion regulation strategy during music listening and if individual differences in effects of strategies can be explained by person characteristics. Adults (N = 466) completed questionnaires and rated

  5. Paradoxical cardiovascular effects of implementing adaptive emotion regulation strategies in generalized anxiety disorder.

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    Aldao, Amelia; Mennin, Douglas S

    2012-02-01

    Recent models of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have expanded on Borkovec's avoidance theory by delineating emotion regulation deficits associated with the excessive worry characteristic of this disorder (see Behar, DiMarco, Hekler, Mohlman, & Staples, 2009). However, it has been difficult to determine whether emotion regulation is simply a useful heuristic for the avoidant properties of worry or an important extension to conceptualizations of GAD. Some of this difficulty may arise from a focus on purported maladaptive regulation strategies, which may be confounded with symptomatic distress components of the disorder (such as worry). We examined the implementation of adaptive regulation strategies by participants with and without a diagnosis of GAD while watching emotion-eliciting film clips. In a between-subjects design, participants were randomly assigned to accept, reappraise, or were not given specific regulation instructions. Implementation of adaptive regulation strategies produced differential effects in the physiological (but not subjective) domain across diagnostic groups. Whereas participants with GAD demonstrated lower cardiac flexibility when implementing adaptive regulation strategies than when not given specific instructions on how to regulate, healthy controls showed the opposite pattern, suggesting they benefited from the use of adaptive regulation strategies. We discuss the implications of these findings for the delineation of emotion regulation deficits in psychopathology. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. The relations between interpersonal self-support traits and emotion regulation strategies: a longitudinal study.

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    Xia, Ling-Xiang; Gao, Xin; Wang, Qian; Hollon, Steven D

    2014-08-01

    Although several cross-sectional surveys have shown that certain traits such as extraversion and neuroticism are related to emotion regulation, few studies have explored the nature of this relationship. The present study tried to explore the longitudinal relation between traits and emotion regulation strategies. The Interpersonal Self-Support Scale for Middle School Students (ISSS-MSS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were administrated to 374 middle school students two times across a 6-month interval. A path analysis via structural equation modeling of the five interpersonal self-support traits and the two emotion regulation strategies was tested. The results showed that interpersonal independence predicted expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal, and that interpersonal initiative also predicted reappraisal, while reappraisal predicted interpersonal flexibility and interpersonal openness 6 month later. These results support the hypotheses that some personality traits influence certain emotion regulation strategies, while other traits may be influenced by specific emotion regulation strategies. Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Emotion regulation in interpersonal problems: the role of cognitive-emotional complexity, emotion regulation goals, and expressivity.

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    Coats, Abby Heckman; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

    2008-03-01

    Young, middle-aged, and older adults' emotion regulation strategies in interpersonal problems were examined. Participants imagined themselves in anger- or sadness-eliciting situations with a close friend. Factor analyses of a new questionnaire supported a 4-factor model of emotion regulation strategies, including passivity, expressing emotions, seeking emotional information or support, and solving the problem. Results suggest that age differences in emotion regulation (such as older adults' increased endorsement of passive emotion regulation relative to young adults) are partially due to older adults' decreased ability to integrate emotion and cognition, increased prioritization of emotion regulation goals, and decreased tendency to express anger. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

  8. A Comparison of Emotion Regulation Strategies of Blind Students With Sighted Students

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    Samaneh Salimi

    2016-06-01

    Discussion: Emotion regulation is a possible influential factor in many problems that blind people suffer from, more than sighted ones, and using interventions that target emotion regulation strategies would be useful.

  9. Repertoires of emotion regulation: A person-centered approach to assessing emotion regulation strategies and links to psychopathology.

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    Dixon-Gordon, Katherine L; Aldao, Amelia; De Los Reyes, Andres

    2015-01-01

    Despite growing research on emotion regulation (ER) strategies and psychopathology, research has primarily focused on identifying one-to-one associations between ER strategies and symptoms. Thus, little is known about how patterns in the repertoires of ER strategies are associated with different mental disorders. We utilised latent class analysis to identify distinct repertoires of ER strategies, and their links with various psychopathology domains (i.e., anxiety, depression, disordered eating, borderline personality). Participants (N = 531) reported on their use of seven ER strategies in six recalled stressful contexts, as well as on their symptoms of psychopathology. We identified five classes of ER strategies: Low Regulators (n = 168), High Regulators (n = 140), Adaptive Regulators (n = 99), Worriers/Ruminators (n = 96) and Avoiders (n = 28). Generally, High Regulators and Worriers/Ruminators endorsed greater levels of psychopathology, relative to Low and Adaptive Regulators. Our findings underscore the importance of characterising the dynamics of ER repertoires when seeking to understand links between ER strategies and psychopathology.

  10. Big Five Personality Traits, Cognitive Appraisals and Emotion Regulation Strategies as Predictors of Achievement Emotions

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    Izabela Sorić

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available In academic settings, emotions can arise in a variety of contexts and have adverse and interfering effects on learning and performance, especially those of negative valence. Thus, the investigation of their personal antecedents and different strategies implemented by students in order to regulate them, are important topics of research. The aim of this study was to examine the unique contribution of Big Five personality traits (as distal personal antecedents of emotions, cognitive control and value appraisals (as their proximal antecedents and students' tendencies to reappraise or suppress their emotions (as most important emotion regulation strategies for experiencing academic emotions of unhappiness, anger, anxiety and humiliation. The sample consisted of 500 high school students who completed the self-report questionnaire during their regular scheduled classes. The series of multiple hierarchical regression analyses showed that all groups of predictors have made significant and independent contribution to the explanation of all analysed emotions.

  11. The Effectiveness of the Unified Protocol on Emotional Dysregulation and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies in Patients with Psychosomatic Disorders

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    Mina Mazaheri

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The unified treatment approach (UP is an emotion-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy in which the main object of treatment is emotional processes. The aim of the present research was to examine the effectiveness of The Unified Protocol (UP on emotional dysregulation and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in patients with psychosomatic disorders. Methods: Emotion-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (ECBT, a unified treatment, with 12 weekly group sessions of 2 hours, was presented to 14 patients with psychosomatic complaints at the Subspecialty Center of Psychiatry in Isfahan in 2013. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were done by means of the self-report tests of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ. Results: Significant reductions in post-test scores of total emotional dysregulation (P < 0.01 as well as the factors of non-acceptance (P < 0.05 and strategy (P < 0.01 were seen, while the other factors (goal, impulse, awareness, and clarity did not change. Moreover, a significant reduction was observed in the catastrophizing strategy score (P < 0.05, in comparison with other cognitive strategies. Conclusion: This pilot study including 14 patients with psychosomatic disorders indicates that the Unified treatment approach is an effective treatment in improvement of emotional dysregulation and in reduction of utilizing maladaptive cognitive strategies.

  12. Age-Related Differences in Emotion Regulation Strategies: Examining the Role of Contextual Factors

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    Schirda, Brittney; Valentine, Thomas R.; Aldao, Amelia; Prakash, Ruchika Shaurya

    2016-01-01

    Increasing age is characterized by greater positive affective states. However, there is mixed evidence on the implementation of emotion regulation strategies across the life span. To clarify the discrepancies in the literature, we examined the modulating influence of contextual factors in understanding emotion regulation strategy use in older and…

  13. Emotion Regulation Strategies in European American and Hong Kong Chinese Middle School Children

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    Wan, Kayan Phoebe; Savina, Elena

    2016-01-01

    This study explored emotion regulation strategies in middle school European American (N = 54) and Hong Kong Chinese (N = 89) children. Children were presented with scenarios describing a fictitious girl/boy who encountered situations eliciting sadness, anger, and fear. Based on Gross' theory (1998), the survey of emotion regulation strategies was…

  14. The effects of emotion regulation on explicit memory depend on strategy and testing method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knight, Marisa; Ponzio, Allison

    2013-12-01

    Although previous work has shown that emotion regulation strategies can influence memory, the mechanisms through which different strategies produce different memory outcomes are not well understood. We examined how two cognitive reappraisal strategies with similar elaboration demands but diverging effects on visual attention and emotional arousal influenced explicit memory for emotional stimuli and for the strategies used to evaluate the stimuli. At encoding, participants used reappraisal to increase and decrease the personal relevance of neutral and emotional pictures. In two experiments, recall accuracy was highest for emotional pictures featured on increase trials, intermediate for emotional pictures featured on look (respond naturally) trials, and lowest for emotional pictures featured on decrease trials. This recall pattern emerged after a short delay (15 min) and persisted over a longer delay (48 hr). Memory accuracy for the strategies used to evaluate the pictures showed a different pattern: Strategy memory was better for emotional pictures featured on decrease and increase trials than for pictures featured on look trials. Our findings show that the effects of emotion regulation on memory depend both on the particular strategy engaged and the particular aspect of memory being tested.

  15. The Process Model of Group-Based Emotion: Integrating Intergroup Emotion and Emotion Regulation Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldenberg, Amit; Halperin, Eran; van Zomeren, Martijn; Gross, James J

    2016-05-01

    Scholars interested in emotion regulation have documented the different goals and strategies individuals have for regulating their emotions. However, little attention has been paid to the regulation of group-based emotions, which are based on individuals' self-categorization as a group member and occur in response to situations perceived as relevant for that group. We propose a model for examining group-based emotion regulation that integrates intergroup emotions theory and the process model of emotion regulation. This synergy expands intergroup emotion theory by facilitating further investigation of different goals (i.e., hedonic or instrumental) and strategies (e.g., situation selection and modification strategies) used to regulate group-based emotions. It also expands emotion regulation research by emphasizing the role of self-categorization (e.g., as an individual or a group member) in the emotional process. Finally, we discuss the promise of this theoretical synergy and suggest several directions for future research on group-based emotion regulation. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  16. Positive emotion in distress as a potentially effective emotion regulation strategy for depression: A preliminary investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamaguchi, Keiko; Ito, Masaya; Takebayashi, Yoshitake

    2018-03-12

    Emotion regulation utilizing positive emotion during negative emotional states might be one of the effective ways to alleviate depression and anxiety problems among people with emotional disorders. This study examined the psychometric properties and incremental validity of the Positive Emotion In Distress Scale (PEIDS), a newly developed self-report scale, in a sample of university students in Japan. To examine the psychometric properties of the PEIDS, the scale was completed by Japanese university students (396 men and 363 women; mean age of 19.92). Participants additionally answered the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Rumination and Reflection Questionnaire - Shorter Version, Affective Style Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Affective Schedule, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The survey was conducted at two time points separated by 1 month to assess test-retest reliability and validity of the PEIDS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a one-factor structure. Reliability was confirmed by high internal consistency and test-retest stability; the convergent and discriminant validity was confirmed by correlations with related and unrelated variables. The results of hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that positive emotion in distress might predict depression above and beyond the effect of baseline depression and other common emotion regulation strategies. The PEIDS showed acceptable reliability and validity within young adults and a non-clinical population in Japan. Further research will be needed to examine the effect of positive emotion among clinical populations. Previous research suggests that positive emotions play a key role in recovery from depression and anxiety problems through some forms of psychotherapy. The Positive Emotion In Distress Scale (PEIDS) measures individual differences regarding the extent to which people can experience positive emotions in negative emotional states. Results suggested that the

  17. Reappraise the Situation but Express Your Emotions: Impact of Emotion Regulation Strategies on ad libitum Food Intake

    OpenAIRE

    Taut, Diana; Renner, Britta; Baban, Adriana

    2012-01-01

    Research investigating the role of maladaptive emotion regulation on food intake has exclusively focused on food intake in a forced consumption situation. In contrast, the present study examined the effect of negative emotions (fear, negative affect) and emotion regulation strategies (suppression, reappraisal) on food intake in a non-forced, free eating setting where participants (N = 165) could choose whether and how much they ate. This free (ad libitum) eating approach enabled, for the firs...

  18. Emotion regulation and psychopathology: the role of gender.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan

    2012-01-01

    This review addresses three questions regarding the relationships among gender, emotion regulation, and psychopathology: (a) are there gender differences in emotion regulation strategies, (b) are emotion regulation strategies similarly related to psychopathology in men and women, and (c) do gender differences in emotion regulation strategies account for gender differences in psychopathology? Women report using most emotion regulation strategies more than men do, and emotion regulation strategies are similarly related to psychopathology in women and men. More rumination in women compared to men partially accounts for greater depression and anxiety in women compared to men, while a greater tendency to use alcohol to cope partially accounts for more alcohol misuse in men compared to women. The literature on emotion regulation is likely missing vital information on how men regulate their emotions. I discuss lessons learned and questions raised about the relationships between gender differences in emotion regulation and gender differences in psychopathology.

  19. Emotion regulation strategy selection in daily life: The role of social context and goals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ihno A.; John, Oliver P.; Gross, James J.

    2016-01-01

    Recent studies have begun to document the diversity of ways people regulate their emotions. However, one unanswered question is why people regulate their emotions as they do in everyday life. In the present research, we examined how social context and goals influence strategy selection in daily high points and low points. As expected, suppression was particularly tied to social features of context: it was used more when others were present, especially non-close partners, and when people had instrumental goals, especially more interpersonal ones (e.g., avoid conflict). Distraction and reappraisal were used more when regulating for hedonic reasons (e.g., to feel better), but these strategies were also linked to certain instrumental goals (e.g., getting work done). When contra-hedonic regulation occurred, it primarily took the form of dampening positive emotion during high points. Suppression was more likely to be used for contra-hedonic regulation, whereas reappraisal and distraction were used more for pro-hedonic regulation. Overall, these findings highlight the social nature of emotion regulation and underscore the importance of examining regulation in both positive and negative contexts. PMID:28652647

  20. Emotion regulation strategy selection in daily life: The role of social context and goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    English, Tammy; Lee, Ihno A; John, Oliver P; Gross, James J

    2017-04-01

    Recent studies have begun to document the diversity of ways people regulate their emotions. However, one unanswered question is why people regulate their emotions as they do in everyday life. In the present research, we examined how social context and goals influence strategy selection in daily high points and low points. As expected, suppression was particularly tied to social features of context: it was used more when others were present, especially non-close partners, and when people had instrumental goals, especially more interpersonal ones (e.g., avoid conflict). Distraction and reappraisal were used more when regulating for hedonic reasons (e.g., to feel better), but these strategies were also linked to certain instrumental goals (e.g., getting work done). When contra-hedonic regulation occurred, it primarily took the form of dampening positive emotion during high points. Suppression was more likely to be used for contra-hedonic regulation, whereas reappraisal and distraction were used more for pro-hedonic regulation. Overall, these findings highlight the social nature of emotion regulation and underscore the importance of examining regulation in both positive and negative contexts.

  1. Work Environment Characteristics and Teacher Well-Being: The Mediation of Emotion Regulation Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Hongbiao; Huang, Shenghua; Wang, Wenlan

    2016-09-13

    Based on an adjusted Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model that considers the mediation of personal resources, this study examined the relationships between two characteristics of teachers' work environment (i.e., emotional job demands and trust in colleagues) and two indicators of teachers' well-being (i.e., teaching satisfaction and emotional exhaustion). In particular, the study focused on how emotion regulation strategies (i.e., reappraisal and suppression) mediate these relationships. Data collected from a questionnaire survey of 1115 primary school teachers in Hong Kong was analyzed to test the hypothesized relationships. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that: (1) the emotional job demands of teaching were detrimental to teacher well-being, whereas trust in colleagues was beneficial; (2) both emotion regulation strategies mediated the relationships between both emotional job demands and trust in colleagues and teacher well-being; and (3) teachers who tend to use more reappraisal may be psychologically healthier than those tend to adopt more suppression. These findings support the applicability of the JD-R model to school settings and highlight the role of teachers' emotion regulation in teachers' well-being. Implications for the improvement of school environments and teachers' well-being are identified.

  2. Work Environment Characteristics and Teacher Well-Being: The Mediation of Emotion Regulation Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Hongbiao; Huang, Shenghua; Wang, Wenlan

    2016-01-01

    Based on an adjusted Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model that considers the mediation of personal resources, this study examined the relationships between two characteristics of teachers’ work environment (i.e., emotional job demands and trust in colleagues) and two indicators of teachers’ well-being (i.e., teaching satisfaction and emotional exhaustion). In particular, the study focused on how emotion regulation strategies (i.e., reappraisal and suppression) mediate these relationships. Data collected from a questionnaire survey of 1115 primary school teachers in Hong Kong was analyzed to test the hypothesized relationships. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that: (1) the emotional job demands of teaching were detrimental to teacher well-being, whereas trust in colleagues was beneficial; (2) both emotion regulation strategies mediated the relationships between both emotional job demands and trust in colleagues and teacher well-being; and (3) teachers who tend to use more reappraisal may be psychologically healthier than those tend to adopt more suppression. These findings support the applicability of the JD-R model to school settings and highlight the role of teachers’ emotion regulation in teachers’ well-being. Implications for the improvement of school environments and teachers’ well-being are identified. PMID:27649216

  3. Adolescents' Emotion Regulation Strategies, Self-Concept, and Internalizing Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Manying; Stright, Anne Dopkins

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the relationships among adolescents' emotion regulation strategies (suppression and cognitive reappraisal), self-concept, and internalizing problems using structural equation modeling. The sample consisted of 438 early adolescents (13 to 15 years old) in Taiwan, including 215 boys and 223 girls. For both boys and girls,…

  4. Infant emotion regulation: relations to bedtime emotional availability, attachment security, and temperament.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Bo-Ram; Stifter, Cynthia A; Philbrook, Lauren E; Teti, Douglas M

    2014-11-01

    The present study examines the influences of mothers' emotional availability toward their infants during bedtime, infant attachment security, and interactions between bedtime parenting and attachment with infant temperamental negative affectivity, on infants' emotion regulation strategy use at 12 and 18 months. Infants' emotion regulation strategies were assessed during a frustration task that required infants to regulate their emotions in the absence of parental support. Whereas emotional availability was not directly related to infants' emotion regulation strategies, infant attachment security had direct relations with infants' orienting toward the environment and tension reduction behaviors. Both maternal emotional availability and security of the mother-infant attachment relationship interacted with infant temperamental negative affectivity to predict two strategies that were less adaptive in regulating frustration. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. The Effectiveness of Group Training of Procedural Emotion Regulation Strategies in Cognitive Coping of Individuals Suffering Substance Abuse

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ali ghaedniay jahromi

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of group training of procedural emotion regulation strategies in cognitive coping of individuals suffering substance abuse. Method: A quasi-experimental design along with pretest-posttest and control group was used for this study. Then, 16 patients suffering substance abuse were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to two control and experimental groups. The experimental group received 10 sessions of group training of procedural emotion regulation strategies while the control group received no treatment. Both groups before and after the treatment completed the Persian version of cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire (Hasani, 2011. Results: The results showed that group training of e procedural motion regulation strategies leads to a reduction in maladaptive strategies such as self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing, and other-blame and an increase in adaptive strategies such as refocus on planning, positive reappraisal, and perspective development. Conclusion: Training of procedural emotion regulation strategies via the reduction of maladaptive and increase of adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies can provide the opportunity for the improvement and non-return to substance abuse.

  6. (How) do medical students regulate their emotions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doulougeri, Karolina; Panagopoulou, Efharis; Montgomery, Anthony

    2016-12-12

    Medical training can be a challenging and emotionally intense period for medical students. However the emotions experienced by medical students in the face of challenging situations and the emotion regulation strategies they use remains relatively unexplored. The aim of the present study was to explore the emotions elicited by memorable incidents reported by medical students and the associated emotion regulation strategies. Peer interviewing was used to collect medical students' memorable incidents. Medical students at both preclinical and clinical stage of medical school were eligible to participate. In total 104 medical students provided memorable incidents. Only 54 narratives included references to emotions and emotion regulation and thus were further analyzed. The narratives of 47 clinical and 7 preclinical students were further analyzed for their references to emotions and emotion regulation strategies. Forty seven out of 54 incidents described a negative incident associated with negative emotions. The most frequently mentioned emotion was shock and surprise followed by feelings of embarrassment, sadness, anger and tension or anxiety. The most frequent reaction was inaction often associated with emotion regulation strategies such as distraction, focusing on a task, suppression of emotions and reappraisal. When students witnessed mistreatment or disrespect exhibited towards patients, the regulation strategy used involved focusing and comforting the patient. The present study sheds light on the strategies medical students use to deal with intense negative emotions. The vast majority reported inaction in the face of a challenging situation and the use of more subtle strategies to deal with the emotional impact of the incident.

  7. Believing Is Doing: Emotion Regulation Beliefs Are Associated With Emotion Regulation Behavioral Choices and Subjective Well-Being

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine Nicole Marie Ortner

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Research in emotion regulation has begun to examine various predictors of emotion regulation choices, including individual differences and contextual variables. However, scant attention has been paid to the extent to which people’s beliefs about the specific consequences of emotion regulation strategies for the components of an emotional response and long-term well-being predict their behavioral regulatory choices and, in turn, their subjective well-being. Participants completed measures to assess their beliefs about the consequences of functional and dysfunctional strategies, behavioral choices of emotion regulation strategies in negative scenarios, and subjective well-being. The model that fit the data indicated partial mediation whereby beliefs were associated with approximately 9% of the variance in choices. Emotion regulation choices were related to subjective well-being, with an additional direct effect between beliefs and well-being. This suggests beliefs play a role in people’s regulatory choices. Future research should explore how beliefs interact with individual differences and contextual variables to better understand why people regulate their emotions in different ways and, ultimately, to help individuals make healthy emotion regulation choices.

  8. Believing Is Doing: Emotion Regulation Beliefs Are Associated With Emotion Regulation Behavioral Choices and Subjective Well-Being.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortner, Catherine Nicole Marie; Briner, Esther Lydia; Marjanovic, Zdravko

    2017-03-01

    Research in emotion regulation has begun to examine various predictors of emotion regulation choices, including individual differences and contextual variables. However, scant attention has been paid to the extent to which people's beliefs about the specific consequences of emotion regulation strategies for the components of an emotional response and long-term well-being predict their behavioral regulatory choices and, in turn, their subjective well-being. Participants completed measures to assess their beliefs about the consequences of functional and dysfunctional strategies, behavioral choices of emotion regulation strategies in negative scenarios, and subjective well-being. The model that fit the data indicated partial mediation whereby beliefs were associated with approximately 9% of the variance in choices. Emotion regulation choices were related to subjective well-being, with an additional direct effect between beliefs and well-being. This suggests beliefs play a role in people's regulatory choices. Future research should explore how beliefs interact with individual differences and contextual variables to better understand why people regulate their emotions in different ways and, ultimately, to help individuals make healthy emotion regulation choices.

  9. Work Environment Characteristics and Teacher Well-Being: The Mediation of Emotion Regulation Strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongbiao Yin

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Based on an adjusted Job Demands-Resources (JD-R model that considers the mediation of personal resources, this study examined the relationships between two characteristics of teachers’ work environment (i.e., emotional job demands and trust in colleagues and two indicators of teachers’ well-being (i.e., teaching satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. In particular, the study focused on how emotion regulation strategies (i.e., reappraisal and suppression mediate these relationships. Data collected from a questionnaire survey of 1115 primary school teachers in Hong Kong was analyzed to test the hypothesized relationships. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that: (1 the emotional job demands of teaching were detrimental to teacher well-being, whereas trust in colleagues was beneficial; (2 both emotion regulation strategies mediated the relationships between both emotional job demands and trust in colleagues and teacher well-being; and (3 teachers who tend to use more reappraisal may be psychologically healthier than those tend to adopt more suppression. These findings support the applicability of the JD-R model to school settings and highlight the role of teachers’ emotion regulation in teachers’ well-being. Implications for the improvement of school environments and teachers’ well-being are identified.

  10. Reappraise the Situation but Express Your Emotions: Impact of Emotion Regulation Strategies on ad libitum Food Intake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taut, Diana; Renner, Britta; Baban, Adriana

    2012-01-01

    Research investigating the role of maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) on food intake has exclusively focused on food intake in a forced consumption situation. In contrast, the present study examined the effect of negative emotions (fear, negative affect) and ER strategies (suppression, reappraisal) on food intake in a non-forced, free eating setting where participants (N = 165) could choose whether and how much they ate. This free (ad libitum) eating approach enabled, for the first time, the testing of (1) whether eating (yes/no) is used as a secondary ER strategy and (2) whether the amount of food intake differed, depending on the ER strategy. In order to produce a more ecologically valid design, ER strategy manipulation was realized while exposing participants to emotion induction procedures. To induce an initial negative emotional state, a movie clip was presented without ER instruction. The instructions to regulate emotions (suppression, reappraisal, no ER instruction) then preceded a second clip. The results show that whereas about two-thirds of the control (no ER instruction) and suppression groups began to eat, only one-third of the reappraisal group did. However, when reappraisers began to eat, they ate as much as participants in the suppression and control groups. Accordingly, the results suggest that when people are confronted with a negative event, eating is used as a secondary coping strategy when the enacted ER is ineffective. Conversely, an adaptive ER such as reappraisal decreases the likelihood of eating in the first place, even when ER is employed during rather than before the unfolding of the negative event. Consequently, the way we deal with negative emotions might be more relevant for explaining emotional eating than the distress itself.

  11. Implications of emotion regulation strategies for empathic concern, social attitudes, and helping behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebowitz, Matthew S; Dovidio, John F

    2015-04-01

    Empathic concern-a sense of caring and compassion in response to the needs of others-is a type of emotional response to the plights and misfortunes of others that predicts positive social attitudes and altruistic interpersonal behaviors. One psychological process that has been posited to facilitate empathic concern is the ability to regulate one's own emotions. However, existing research links some emotion-regulation approaches (e.g., suppression) to social outcomes that would appear at odds with empathic concern, such as decreased interpersonal closeness. In the present research, we tested whether relying on suppression to regulate one's emotions would lead to decreases in empathic concern-and related downstream variables, such as negative social attitudes and unwillingness to engage in altruistic behavior-when learning about another person's misfortune. In Study 1, dispositional and instructionally induced suppression was negatively associated with empathic concern, which led to increased stigmatizing attitudes. By contrast, instructing participants to use another emotion-regulation strategy examined for comparison-reappraisal-did not decrease empathic concern, and dispositional reliance on reappraisal was actually positively associated with empathic concern. In Study 2, the findings of Study 1 regarding the effects of habitual use of reappraisal and suppression were replicated, and reliance on suppression was also found to be associated with reluctance to engage in helping behaviors. These findings are situated within the existing literature and employed to shed new light on the interpersonal consequences of intrapersonal emotion-regulation strategies. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Talking about Emotion: Prosody and Skin Conductance Indicate Emotion Regulation

    OpenAIRE

    Matejka, Moritz; Kazzer, Philipp; Seehausen, Maria; Bajbouj, Malek; Klann-Delius, Gisela; Menninghaus, Winfried; Jacobs, Arthur M.; Heekeren, Hauke R.; Prehn, Kristin

    2013-01-01

    Talking about emotion and putting feelings into words has been hypothesized to regulate emotion in psychotherapy as well as in everyday conversation. However, the exact dynamics of how different strategies of verbalization regulate emotion and how these strategies are reflected in characteristics of the voice has received little scientific attention. In the present study, we showed emotional pictures to 30 participants and asked them to verbally admit or deny an emotional experience or a neut...

  13. Facets of emotional awareness and associations with emotion regulation and depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boden, Matthew Tyler; Thompson, Renee J

    2015-06-01

    Emotion theories posit that effective emotion regulation depends upon the nuanced information provided by emotional awareness; attending to and understanding one's own emotions. Additionally, the strong associations between facets of emotional awareness and various forms of psychopathology may be partially attributable to associations with emotion regulation. These logically compelling hypotheses are largely uninvestigated, including which facets compose emotional awareness and how they relate to emotion regulation strategies and psychopathology. We used exploratory structural equation modeling of individual difference measures among a large adult sample (n = 919) recruited online. Results distinguished 4 facets of emotional awareness (type clarity, source clarity, involuntary attention to emotion, and voluntary attention to emotion) that were differentially associated with expressive suppression, acceptance of emotions, and cognitive reappraisal. Facets were associated with depression both directly and indirectly via associations with emotion regulation strategies. We discuss implications for theory and research on emotional awareness, emotion regulation, and psychopathology. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. The relationship between emotion regulation strategies and job search behavior among fourth-year university students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ling; Xu, Huihui; Zhang, Xue; Fang, Ping

    2017-08-01

    The job search process is a stressful experience. This study investigated the effect of emotion regulation strategies on job search behavior in combination with anxiety and job search self-efficacy among Chinese university fourth-year students (N = 816, mean age = 21.98, 31.5% male, 34.9% majored in science, 18.0% from "211 Project" universities). Results showed that cognitive reappraisal was positively related to job search behavior, while expressive suppression was negatively related to job search behavior. Additionally, anxiety was negatively related to job search behavior, while job search self-efficacy was positively associated with job search behavior. Moreover, both anxiety and job search self-efficacy mediated the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and job search behavior. In general, emotion regulation strategies played an important role in job search behavior. Implications include the notion that emotion regulation interventions may be helpful to increase job search behavior among university students. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Validation of the FEEL-KJ: An Instrument to Measure Emotion Regulation Strategies in Children and Adolescents.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emiel Cracco

    Full Text Available Although the field of emotion regulation in children and adolescents is growing, there is need for age-adjusted measures that assess a large variety of strategies. An interesting instrument in this respect is the FEEL-KJ because it measures 7 adaptive and 5 maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in response to three different emotions. However, the FEEL-KJ has not yet been validated extensively. Therefore, the current study aims to test the internal structure and validity of the FEEL-KJ in a large sample of Dutch-speaking Belgian children and adolescents (N = 1102, 8-18 years old. The investigation of the internal structure confirms earlier reports of a two-factor structure with Adaptive and Maladaptive Emotion Regulation as overarching categories. However, it also suggests that the two-factor model is more complex than what was previously assumed. The evaluation of the FEEL-KJ validity furthermore provides evidence for its construct and external validity. In sum, the current study confirms that the FEEL-KJ is a valuable and reliable measure of emotion regulation strategies in children and adolescents.

  16. Neural pathways in 'emotional approach' as experiential emotion regulation strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandekerckhove, M; Van Hecke, W; Quirin, M; De Mey, J

    2018-02-15

    Current research on emotion shows an increasing interest in the neuronal correlates of emotion regulation (ER). While previous research on ER has focused on gray matter correlates, this study represents the first exploratory study on white matter integrity and brain networks of ER. Responding to the gap between cognitive and affective approaches of ER, pertaining to some of the daily emotional stressors, the present study investigates a complementary experiential approach such as 'Emotional approach' or the tendency to affectively acknowledge, understand and express emotional experience (cf. Stanton et al., 2000). Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI-MRI) measures of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) evaluated dispositional ER in a group of 21 women with (1) a 'high emotional approach' (HEA) (N = 11) and (2) a 'low emotional approach' (LEA) (N= 10). HEA exhibited more FA of the cingulum supporting emotion processing and regulation, whereas LEA showed a higher FA in the right corticospinal tracts supporting automatic action tendencies and, together with a higher FA in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), cognitive control tasks and monitoring of emotion. LEA also correlated with a significant increase in MD in the body (p. = 0.05) and in the splenium of the corpus callosum (CC). A higher FA in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (IFL) may indicate higher visual- affective integration within emotion processing, whereas more MD in the body and splenium of the CC may decrease the interhemispheric integration of emotional information within emotion processing and regulation. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  17. Emotional labor actors: a latent profile analysis of emotional labor strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabriel, Allison S; Daniels, Michael A; Diefendorff, James M; Greguras, Gary J

    2015-05-01

    Research on emotional labor focuses on how employees utilize 2 main regulation strategies-surface acting (i.e., faking one's felt emotions) and deep acting (i.e., attempting to feel required emotions)-to adhere to emotional expectations of their jobs. To date, researchers largely have considered how each strategy functions to predict outcomes in isolation. However, this variable-centered perspective ignores the possibility that there are subpopulations of employees who may differ in their combined use of surface and deep acting. To address this issue, we conducted 2 studies that examined surface acting and deep acting from a person-centered perspective. Using latent profile analysis, we identified 5 emotional labor profiles-non-actors, low actors, surface actors, deep actors, and regulators-and found that these actor profiles were distinguished by several emotional labor antecedents (positive affectivity, negative affectivity, display rules, customer orientation, and emotion demands-abilities fit) and differentially predicted employee outcomes (emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and felt inauthenticity). Our results reveal new insights into the nature of emotion regulation in emotional labor contexts and how different employees may characteristically use distinct combinations of emotion regulation strategies to manage their emotional expressions at work. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  18. Emotion Regulation Strategies in Preschoolers with Autism: Associations with Parent Quality of Life and Family Functioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nuske, Heather Joy; Hedley, Darren; Tseng, Chen Hsiang; Begeer, Sander; Dissanayake, Cheryl

    2018-01-01

    Children with autism experience challenges with emotion regulation. It is unclear how children's management of their emotions is associated with their family's quality of life. Forty-three preschoolers with autism and 28 typically developing preschoolers were coded on emotion regulation strategies used during low-level stress tasks. Parents…

  19. Emotion regulation strategies mediate the associations of positive and negative affect to upper extremity physical function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talaei-Khoei, Mojtaba; Nemati-Rezvani, Hora; Fischerauer, Stefan F; Ring, David; Chen, Neal; Vranceanu, Ana-Maria

    2017-05-01

    The Gross process model of emotion regulation holds that emotion-eliciting situations (e.g. musculoskeletal illness) can be strategically regulated to determine the final emotional and behavioral response. Also, there is some evidence that innate emotional traits may predispose an individual to a particular regulating coping style. We enrolled 107 patients with upper extremity musculoskeletal illness in this cross-sectional study. They completed self-report measures of positive and negative affect, emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), upper extremity physical function, pain intensity, and demographics. We used Preacher and Hayes' bootstrapping approach to process analysis to infer the direct effect of positive and negative affect on physical function as well as their indirect effects through activation of emotion regulation strategies. Negative affect was associated with decreased physical function. The association was partly mediated by expressive suppression (b (SE)=-.10 (.05), 95% BCa CI [-.21, -.02]). Positive affect was associated with increased physical function. Cognitive reappraisal partially mediated this association (b (SE)=.11 (.05), 95% BCa CI [.03, .24]). After controlling for pain intensity, the ratio of the mediated effect to total effect grew even larger in controlled model comparing to uncontrolled model (33% vs. 26% for expressive suppression and 32% vs. 30% for cognitive reappraisal). The relationships between affect, emotion regulation strategies and physical function appear to be more dependent on the emotional response to an orthopedic condition rather than the intensity of the nociceptive stimulation of the pain. Findings support integration of emotion regulation training in skill-based psychotherapy in this population to mitigate the effect of negative affect and enhance the influence of positive affect on physical function. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. The Process Model of Group-Based Emotion : Integrating Intergroup Emotion and Emotion Regulation Perspectives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goldenberg, Amit; Halperin, Eran; van Zomeren, Martijn; Gross, James J.

    Scholars interested in emotion regulation have documented the different goals and strategies individuals have for regulating their emotions. However, little attention has been paid to the regulation of group-based emotions, which are based on individuals' self-categorization as a group member and

  1. Bottom-up and top-down emotion generation: implications for emotion regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misra, Supriya; Prasad, Aditya K.; Pereira, Sean C.; Gross, James J.

    2012-01-01

    Emotion regulation plays a crucial role in adaptive functioning and mounting evidence suggests that some emotion regulation strategies are often more effective than others. However, little attention has been paid to the different ways emotions can be generated: from the ‘bottom-up’ (in response to inherently emotional perceptual properties of the stimulus) or ‘top-down’ (in response to cognitive evaluations). Based on a process priming principle, we hypothesized that mode of emotion generation would interact with subsequent emotion regulation. Specifically, we predicted that top-down emotions would be more successfully regulated by a top-down regulation strategy than bottom-up emotions. To test this hypothesis, we induced bottom-up and top-down emotions, and asked participants to decrease the negative impact of these emotions using cognitive reappraisal. We observed the predicted interaction between generation and regulation in two measures of emotional responding. As measured by self-reported affect, cognitive reappraisal was more successful on top-down generated emotions than bottom-up generated emotions. Neurally, reappraisal of bottom-up generated emotions resulted in a paradoxical increase of amygdala activity. This interaction between mode of emotion generation and subsequent regulation should be taken into account when comparing of the efficacy of different types of emotion regulation, as well as when reappraisal is used to treat different types of clinical disorders. PMID:21296865

  2. Identifying the role of emotion regulation strategies in predicting school adjustment in late childhood and adolescence

    OpenAIRE

    Murphy, Rebecca Jane

    2013-01-01

    Emotion regulation (ER) strategies, as conceptualised within the influential process model of ER (Gross, 1998), are found to be important predictors of psychological outcomes in adults. Less research has examined the use of ER strategies in late childhood and adolescence. However adolescence is a key period of pubertal and environmental changes leading to higher demands to regulate emotions. This thesis had two goals; to understand the origins of ER strategy use in late childhood and adolesce...

  3. Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies among Left and Right –Handed Students: Gender and Month of Birth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H Zare

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Background & aim: Understanding the brain-behavior relationships based on gender and individual indifferences provide recommendations for more effective educational and behavioral interventions. This study was designed to compare cognitive emotion regulation strategies in left and right –handed students with the emphasis on gender and month of birth. Methods: This descriptive-comparative causal study was performed on 597 (309 girls, 288, boys high school students. Samples were chosen by cluster sampling method. Subjects completed two scales: Chapman handedness inventory and Garnefski cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Data were analyzed using t-test, Goodness of fit and Chi Square test. Results: The left handed students were reported to use rumination strategy more than right handed students, while the mean score of right handed students in refocus on planning strategy was higher than left handed students, which was statistically significant (P<0.05. Data showed that higher prevalence of left handedness in boys than girls, and results did not provide support for month of birth role on handedness. Conclusion: The results of this study provide another support for the role of lateralization in emotion regulation. The findings also have implication for designed intervention programs focused on cognitive emotion regulation strategies.

  4. Health-related quality of life and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the unemployed: a cross-sectional survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Extremera, Natalio; Rey, Lourdes

    2014-11-29

    The loss of one's job has been conceptualized as a major stressful life event in an adult's life and has consistently been associated with lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies after the experience of stressful events has emerged as an important predictor of adverse psychological and health outcomes. However, the effect of these coping strategies on the HRQoL of unemployed people has not been examined until now. We aimed to study the associations of these cognitive emotion regulation strategies on HRQoL of unemployed people. Using cross-sectional data, 1,125 unemployed adults were assessed using a Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for cognitive coping and SF-12 to assess HRQoL. We studied the effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on mental and physical health composite separately, adjusting for gender, age, educational level and length of unemployment, using hierarchical regression analyses. Results showed unemployed men tended to express greater use of self-blame, other-blame, and catastrophizing, and lower use of perspective taking strategies when confronted with unemployment. Moreover, self-blame (for mental health composite only), blaming others, rumination, and catastrophizing negatively correlated, while positive reappraisal, putting into perspective, planning, and positive refocusing positively correlated with both mental and physical health composite in unemployed people. Further hierarchical regression analyses indicate that five strategies (a lower reported use of self-blame, rumination, and catastrophizing, as well as higher scores of positive reappraisal and positive refocusing) and three strategies (lower scores of catastrophizing and rumination and high scores in planning) have significant and independent contributions, beyond gender, age, educational level and length of unemployment, to the prediction of mental health and physical health composite, respectively

  5. Emotion regulation strategies in bipolar II disorder and borderline personality disorder: differences and relationships with perceived parental style.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fletcher, Kathryn; Parker, Gordon; Bayes, Adam; Paterson, Amelia; McClure, Georgia

    2014-03-01

    Bipolar II disorder (BP II) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) share common features and can be difficult to differentiate, contributing to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. Research contrasting phenomenological features of both conditions is limited. The current study sought to identify differences in emotion regulation strategies in BP II and BPD in addition to examining relationships with perceived parental style. Participants were recruited from a variety of outpatient and community settings. Eligible participants required a clinical diagnosis of BP II or BPD, subsequently confirmed via structured diagnostic interviews assessing DSM-IV criteria. Participants completed a series of self-reported questionnaires assessing emotion regulation strategies and perceived parental style. The sample comprised 48 (n=24 BP II and n=24 BPD) age and gender-matched participants. Those with BPD were significantly more likely to use maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, less likely to use adaptive emotion regulation strategies, and scored significantly higher on the majority of (perceived) dysfunctional parenting sub-scales than participants with BP II. Dysfunctional parenting experiences were related to maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in participants with BP II and BPD, however differential associations were observed across groups. Relatively small sample sizes; lack of a healthy control comparator group; lack of statistical control for differing sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, medication and psychological treatments; no assessment of state or trait anxiety; over-representation of females in both groups limiting generalisability of results; and reliance on self-report measures. Differences in emotion regulation strategies and perceived parental style provide some support for the validity of distinguishing BP II and BPD. Development of intervention strategies targeting the differing forms of emotion regulatory pathology in these groups

  6. Individual Differences in Automatic Emotion Regulation Interact with Primed Emotion Regulation during an Anger Provocation

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Jing; Lipp, Ottmar V.; Hu, Ping

    2017-01-01

    The current study investigated the interactive effects of individual differences in automatic emotion regulation (AER) and primed emotion regulation strategy on skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate during provoked anger. The study was a 2 × 2 [AER tendency (expression vs. control) × priming (expression vs. control)] between subject design. Participants were assigned to two groups according to their performance on an emotion regulation-IAT (differentiating automatic emotion control tend...

  7. Metacognitive emotion regulation: children's awareness that changing thoughts and goals can alleviate negative emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Elizabeth L; Levine, Linda J; Lench, Heather C; Quas, Jodi A

    2010-08-01

    Metacognitive emotion regulation strategies involve deliberately changing thoughts or goals to alleviate negative emotions. Adults commonly engage in this type of emotion regulation, but little is known about the developmental roots of this ability. Two studies were designed to assess whether 5- and 6-year-old children can generate such strategies and, if so, the types of metacognitive strategies they use. In Study 1, children described how story protagonists could alleviate negative emotions. In Study 2, children recalled times that they personally had felt sad, angry, and scared and described how they had regulated their emotions. In contrast to research suggesting that young children cannot use metacognitive regulation strategies, the majority of children in both studies described such strategies. Children were surprisingly sophisticated in their suggestions for how to cope with negative emotions and tailored their regulatory responses to specific emotional situations. Copyright 2010 APA

  8. Individual Differences in Automatic Emotion Regulation Interact with Primed Emotion Regulation during an Anger Provocation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping Hu

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The current study investigated the interactive effects of individual differences in automatic emotion regulation (AER and primed emotion regulation strategy on skin conductance level (SCL and heart rate during provoked anger. The study was a 2 × 2 [AER tendency (expression vs. control × priming (expression vs. control] between subject design. Participants were assigned to two groups according to their performance on an emotion regulation-IAT (differentiating automatic emotion control tendency and automatic emotion expression tendency. Then participants of the two groups were randomly assigned to two emotion regulation priming conditions (emotion control priming or emotion expression priming. Anger was provoked by blaming participants for slow performance during a subsequent backward subtraction task. In anger provocation, SCL of individuals with automatic emotion control tendencies in the control priming condition was lower than of those with automatic emotion control tendencies in the expression priming condition. However, SCL of individuals with automatic emotion expression tendencies did no differ in the automatic emotion control priming or the automatic emotion expression priming condition. Heart rate during anger provocation was higher in individuals with automatic emotion expression tendencies than in individuals with automatic emotion control tendencies regardless of priming condition. This pattern indicates an interactive effect of individual differences in AER and emotion regulation priming on SCL, which is an index of emotional arousal. Heart rate was only sensitive to the individual differences in AER, and did not reflect this interaction. This finding has implications for clinical studies of the use of emotion regulation strategy training suggesting that different practices are optimal for individuals who differ in AER tendencies.

  9. Relationship Between Emotions, Emotion Regulation, and Well-Being of Professional Caregivers of People With Dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bassal, Catherine; Czellar, Judith; Kaiser, Susanne; Dan-Glauser, Elise S

    2016-05-01

    So far, limited research has been carried out to better understand the interplay between the emotions, the use of emotion regulation strategies, and the well-being of professional caregivers of People with Dementia (PwD). This pilot study (N = 43 professional caregivers) aimed to (1) describe the type and frequency of emotions experienced at work; (2) analyze the associations between experienced emotions, emotion regulation strategies, and well-being; and (3) test whether the use of specific emotion regulation strategies moderates the relationship between experienced emotions and emotional exhaustion. In the challenging context of professionally caring for PwD, results suggest that (1) caregivers experience positive emotions more frequently than negative emotions; (2) caregivers using relatively inappropriate regulation strategies are more likely to experience negative emotions, less likely to experience positive emotions, and have poorer physical and mental health; and (3) expressive suppression significantly moderates the relationship between positive experienced emotions and emotional exhaustion. © The Author(s) 2015.

  10. Discrete Emotion Regulation Strategy Repertoires and Parasympathetic Physiology Characterize Psychopathology Symptoms in Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quiñones-Camacho, Laura E.; Davis, Elizabeth L.

    2018-01-01

    Certain psychopathologies are often linked to dysregulation of specific emotions (e.g., anxiety is associated with dysregulation of fear), but few studies have examined how regulatory repertoires for specific emotions (e.g., the strategies a person uses to regulate fear) relate to psychopathology, and fewer still have examined this in childhood. A…

  11. Emotion regulation mediates age differences in emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeung, Dannii Y; Wong, Carmen K M; Lok, David P P

    2011-04-01

    This study aimed at testing the proposition of socioemotional selectivity theory whether older people would use more antecedent-focused emotion regulatory strategies like cognitive reappraisal but fewer response-focused strategies like suppression. It also aimed at investigating the mediating role of emotion regulation on the relationship between age and emotions. The sample consisted of 654 younger and older adults aged between 18 and 64. Results showed that age was significantly associated with positive emotions and cognitive reappraisal. No difference was found in negative emotions and suppression between younger and older adults. Cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the effect of age on positive emotions. Findings of this study contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanism of age variations in emotional experiences.

  12. Emotions, Cognitions, and Well-Being: The Role of Perfectionism, Emotional Overexcitability, and Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perrone-McGovern, Kristin M.; Simon-Dack, Stephanie L.; Beduna, Kerry N.; Williams, Cady C.; Esche, Aaron M.

    2015-01-01

    In this study, we examined interrelationships among emotional overexcitability, perfectionism, emotion regulation, and subjective well-being. Dabrowski and Piechowski's theoretical conceptualization of overexcitabilities and J. J. Gross and John's constructs of emotion regulation strategies provided a framework to guide hypotheses in the present…

  13. Emotion regulation and psychological problems among Indian college youth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T P Lavanya

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Study of emotion regulation strategies used by youth becomes necessary in the background of the high prevalence of emotional disorders in this population. This study examined emotion regulation and psychological problems among college youth as well as the relationship between the two. Methodology: Four hundred and nineteen students, who were divided into two groups (older adolescents, aged 16-17 years - group 1, n = 217; young adults aged 18-25 years - group 2, n = 202 participated in this exploratory study. Results: Predominantly positive emotion regulation strategies were used by group 1 (positive refocusing, refocus on planning, and positive reappraisal, respectively. The sample as a whole used more positive strategies (positive refocusing: 82% and 64% and refocus on planning: 93% and 87% in groups 1 and 2, respectively. Significant correlations between emotion regulation strategies (CERQ and psychological problems (YSR/YASR were found, thereby indicating that negative emotion regulation strategies were associated with psychological problems and vice versa. Females were found to have more of anxiety problems as opposed to males with more of conduct problems. However with increase in age, increase in the percentage of psychological problems and usage of negative emotion regulation strategies was observed. Conclusion: The findings of the present study contribute to understanding the patterns of emotion regulation in various emotional disorders. Findings could also contribute to developing an intervention program to help students having difficulty in regulation of their emotions.

  14. Analysis of emotion regulation in Spanish adolescents: Validation of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga eGómez-Ortiz

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Emotion regulation (ER is a basic psychological process that has been broadly linked to psychosocial adjustment. Due to its relationship with psychosocial adjustment, a significant number of instruments have been developed to assess emotion regulation in a reliable and valid manner. Among these, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003 is one of the most widely used, having shown good psychometric properties with adult samples from different cultures. Studies of validation in children and adolescents are, however, scarce and have only been developed for the Australian and Portuguese populations. The aim of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the ERQ for use in adolescents and determine possible differences according to the gender and age of young people. The sample consisted of 2060 adolescents (52.1% boys. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA, multi-group analysis and two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA were performed and the percentiles calculated. The results of the AFE and CFA corroborated the existence of two factors related to the emotion regulation strategies of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, showing acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Both factors also showed good criterion validity with personality traits, self-esteem, and social anxiety. Differences in cognitive reappraisal were found with regard to age, with younger students exhibiting the greatest mastery of this strategy. Gender differences were observed regarding the expressive suppression strategy, with boys being more likely to use this strategy than girls. A gender-age interaction effect was also observed, revealing that the use of the expressive suppression strategy did not vary by age in girls, and was more widely used by boys aged 12-14 years than those aged 15-16 years. However, we found evidence of measurement invariance across sex and age groups. The results

  15. The importance of distinguishing between the different eating disorders (sub)types when assessing emotion regulation strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danner, Unna N; Sternheim, Lot; Evers, Catharine

    2014-03-30

    People with eating disorders (ED) have difficulties regulating their emotions adaptively. Little is known about differences and similarities between different types of ED and how these regulation difficulties relate to other emotional problems. The present study examines maladaptive (suppression) and adaptive (cognitive reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies in women with different ED and relationships with anxiety and depression levels. In 32 women with AN restrictive subtype (ANR), 32 with AN binge-purge subtype (ANBP), 30 with bulimia nervosa (BN), 29 with binge eating disorder (BED), and 64 healthy women, the ERQ (emotion regulation) as well as STAI-T (anxiety), BDI-SF (depression), and EDDS (eating pathology) were administered. Women across different ED subtypes were inclined to suppress emotions and lacked the capacity to reappraise emotions (except women with ANBP). Correlational relations of suppression and reappraisal with anxiety and depression levels differed across ED groups. Emotion regulation problems were found across ED subtypes. However, the types of emotion regulation problems, and the effect of coexisting other emotional problems such as anxiety and depression may differ across ED subtypes. These findings illustrate the importance to of considering ED subtypes in emotion regulation research rather than consider ED as a whole. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Comprehending emotional eating in obese youngsters: the role of parental rejection and emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandewalle, J; Moens, E; Braet, C

    2014-04-01

    The present study examined the role of emotion regulation in the relation between parental rejection and emotional eating of obese youngsters. Participants were 110 obese youngsters between the ages of 10 and 16 years who were referred to a Belgian treatment centre for obesity. Participants completed questionnaires assessing maternal and paternal rejection, emotion regulation strategies and emotional eating during their intake at the treatment centre. Bootstrapping procedure was used to test if emotion regulation mediated the relationship between maternal and paternal rejection on the one hand and emotional eating of the youngster on the other hand. Results revealed that the use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies mediated the relation between maternal rejection and emotional eating. Paternal rejection was neither associated with the emotion regulation nor with the emotional eating of the youngster. The findings highlight the importance of assessing the emotional bond between mother and child and the emotion regulation of the youngster in the treatment of pediatric obesity.

  17. Emotional Intensity and Emotion Regulation in Response to Autobiographical Memories During Dysphoria

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    del Palacio Gonzalez, Adriana; Berntsen, Dorthe; Watson, Lynn Ann

    2017-01-01

    Retrieving personal memories may provoke different emotions and a need for emotion regulation. Emotional responses have been studied scarcely in relation to autobiographical memory retrieval. We examined the emotional response to everyday involuntary (spontaneously arising) and voluntary...... (strategically retrieved) memories, and how this response may be different during dysphoria. Participants (20 dysphoric and 23 non-depressed) completed a structured diary where the intensity of basic emotions and regulation strategies employed upon retrieval of memories were rated. Brooding, memory suppression......, and emotional suppression were higher for all individuals’ involuntary memories than voluntary memories. Negative emotions and regulation strategies were greater for dysphoric individuals for both involuntary and voluntary memories after controlling for the valence of the remembered events. The results provide...

  18. Emotion Risk-Factor in Patients with Cardiac Diseases: The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies, Positive Affect and Negative Affect (A Case-Control Study).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahremand, Mostafa; Alikhani, Mostafa; Zakiei, Ali; Janjani, Parisa; Aghei, Abbas

    2015-05-17

    Application of psychological interventions is essential in classic treatments for patient with cardiac diseases. The present study compared cognitive emotion regulation strategies, positive affect, and negative affect for cardiac patients with healthy subjects. This study was a case-control study. Fifty subjects were selected using convenient sampling method from cardiac (coronary artery disease) patients presenting in Imam Ali medical center of Kermanshah, Iran in the spring 2013. Fifty subjects accompanied the patients to the medical center, selected as control group, did not have any history of cardiac diseases. For collecting data, the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire and positive and negative affect scales were used. For data analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) Was applied using the SPSS statistical software (ver. 19.0). In all cognitive emotion regulation strategies, there was a significant difference between the two groups. A significant difference was also detected regarding positive affect between the two groups, but no significant difference was found regarding negative affect. We found as a result that, having poor emotion regulation strategies is a risk factor for developing heart diseases.

  19. Emotion Risk-Factor in Patients With Cardiac Diseases: The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies, Positive Affect and Negative Affect (A Case-Control Study)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahremand, Mostafa; Alikhani, Mostafa; Zakiei, Ali; Janjani, Parisa; Aghaei, Abbas

    2016-01-01

    Application of psychological interventions is essential in classic treatments for patient with cardiac diseases. The present study compared cognitive emotion regulation strategies, positive affect, and negative affect for cardiac patients with healthy subjects. This study was a case-control study. Fifty subjects were selected using convenient sampling method from cardiac (coronary artery disease) patients presenting in Imam Ali medical center of Kermanshah, Iran in the spring 2013. Fifty subjects accompanied the patients to the medical center, selected as control group, did not have any history of cardiac diseases. For collecting data, the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire and positive and negative affect scales were used. For data analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was applied using the SPSS statistical software (ver. 19.0). In all cognitive emotion regulation strategies, there was a significant difference between the two groups. A significant difference was also detected regarding positive affect between the two groups, but no significant difference was found regarding negative affect. We found as a result that, having poor emotion regulation strategies is a risk factor for developing heart diseases. PMID:26234976

  20. Beyond the technical: The role of emotion regulation in lacrosse officiating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friesen, Andrew P; Devonport, Tracey J; Lane, Andrew M

    2017-03-01

    Emotions can influence the performance of referees leading to a need to examine emotions experienced, and regulation strategies used by referees. The present study assessed emotions and emotion regulation strategies of 19 referees officiating at an Under-19 Lacrosse World Championship. Using survey methods and focus group interviews, officials responded to five questions: (a) What emotions were experienced? (b) What events elicited emotions? (c) How did lacrosse officials manage their own emotional states prior to, throughout, and following a competitive game? (d) How did officials manage others' emotional states? (e) What were the perceived consequences of these strategies? Results indicate that emotions fluctuated throughout the tournament as referees encountered intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion-eliciting events. These fluctuations are suggested to come from a progressively diminished capacity for emotion regulation. Participants used emotion regulation strategies that could be classified into Gross' (1999) families of emotion regulation strategies, often relying on suppression, emotion contagion, and preventative refereeing. Collectively, the results offer new insights into referee emotion regulation at international events.

  1. [Emotion Regulation and Emotional Vulnerability in Adolescents with Anxiety Disorders].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmermann, Peter; Iwanski, Alexandra; Çelik, Fatma

    2015-01-01

    From an attachment perspective, insecure attachment patterns in both infancy and adolescence are risk factors for the development of anxiety disorders in adolescence. Dysfunctional emotion regulation and biased social information processing are possible mediating processes. This study examines differences in emotion regulation, emotional vulnerability, and behaviour inhibition in adolescents with clinical diagnosis of anxiety disorder and healthy controls. Adolescents with anxiety disorder reported more maladaptive emotion regulation depending on the specific emotion and a higher incidence of reporting hurt feelings in social interactions. In contrast, behaviour inhibition did not explain additional variance. The results suggest that adolescents with anxiety disorders show a bias in the interpretation of social interactions as frequently emotionally hurting, and the use of dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies that minimize the possibility for effective social emotion regulation by close others or therapists. The results are interpreted within attachment framework.

  2. Emotion Regulation: A Theme in Search of Definition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Ross A.

    1994-01-01

    This essay considers how emotion regulation should be defined, the various components of the management of emotion, how emotion regulation strategies fit into the dynamics of social interaction, and how individual differences in emotion regulation should be conceptualized and measured. (MDM)

  3. The effect of strategies, goals and stimulus material on the neural mechanisms of emotion regulation: A meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morawetz, Carmen; Bode, Stefan; Derntl, Birgit; Heekeren, Hauke R

    2017-01-01

    Emotion regulation comprises all extrinsic and intrinsic control processes whereby people monitor, evaluate and modify the occurrence, intensity and duration of emotional reactions. Here we sought to quantitatively summarize the existing neuroimaging literature to investigate a) whether different emotion regulation strategies are based on different or the same neural networks; b) which brain regions in particular support the up- and down-regulation of emotions, respectively; and c) to which degree the neural networks realising emotion regulation depend on the stimulus material used to elicit emotions. The left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), the anterior insula and the supplementary motor area were consistently activated independent of the regulation strategy. VLPFC and posterior cingulate cortex were the main regions consistently found to be recruited during the up-regulation as well as the down-regulation of emotion. The down-regulation compared to the up-regulation of emotions was associated with more right-lateralized activity while up-regulating emotions more strongly modulated activity in the ventral striatum. Finally, the process of emotion regulation appeared to be unaffected by stimulus material. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Maternal emotion socialization differentially predicts third-grade children's emotion regulation and lability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, Megan L; Halberstadt, Amy G; Castro, Vanessa L; MacCormack, Jennifer K; Garrett-Peters, Patricia

    2016-03-01

    Numerous parental emotion socialization factors have been implicated as direct and indirect contributors to the development of children's emotional competence. To date, however, no study has combined parents' emotion-related beliefs, behaviors, and regulation strategies in one model to assess their cumulative-as well as unique-contributions to children's emotion regulation. We considered the 2 components that have recently been distinguished: emotion regulation and emotional lability. We predicted that mothers' beliefs about the value of and contempt for children's emotions, mothers' supportive and nonsupportive reactions to their children's emotions, as well as mothers' use of cognitive reappraisal and suppression of their own emotions would each contribute unique variance to their children's emotion regulation and lability, as assessed by children's teachers. The study sample consisted of an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse group of 165 mothers and their third-grade children. Different patterns emerged for regulation and lability: Controlling for family income, child gender, and ethnicity, only mothers' lack of suppression as a regulatory strategy predicted greater emotion regulation in children, whereas mothers' valuing of children's emotions, mothers' lack of contempt for children's emotions, mothers' use of cognitive reappraisal to reinterpret events, and mothers' lack of emotional suppression predicted less lability in children. These findings support the divergence of emotion regulation and lability as constructs and indicate that, during middle childhood, children's lability may be substantially and uniquely affected by multiple forms of parental socialization. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. Age differences among older adults in the use of emotion regulation strategies. What happens among over 85s and centenarians?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Etxeberria, Igone; Etxebarria, Itziar; Urdaneta, Elena; Yanguas, Jose Javier

    2016-09-01

    Past research on emotion regulation strategies has concluded that older adults use more passive strategies than young adults. However, we found scarce research in this field focusing on the oldest old (i.e. those aged 85 and over). The aim of this study was to analyze whether or not differences exist in the way older adults aged 85 and over (centenarians included) use emotion regulation strategies, in comparison with younger age groups (65-74 and 75-84 years old). Participants were 257 older adults from Spain, all aged between 65 and 104. The sample was divided into four age groups: 65-74; 75-84; 85-94; and 95-104 years old. Participants completed the Strategy Questionnaire after reading each of the vignettes designed to elicit feelings of either sadness or anger. The questionnaire measures four types of regulation strategies: Passive, Express, Solve and Seek. The 85-94 age group and centenarians were found to use proactive (Express, Seek) and Solve strategies less in comparison with younger age groups when regulating sadness and anger. In contrast, an increased use of Passive strategies was observed in the regulation of both emotions in the 85-94 age group. Significant differences were also found between centenarians and younger age groups in the use of Passive strategies for sadness, although not for anger. Age differences were observed in the use of emotion regulation strategies, with older age groups using proactive strategies less and passive strategies more.

  6. Measuring emotion regulation and emotional expression in breast cancer patients: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandão, Tânia; Tavares, Rita; Schulz, Marc S; Matos, Paula Mena

    2016-02-01

    The important role of emotion regulation and expression in adaptation to breast cancer is now widely recognized. Studies have shown that optimal emotion regulation strategies, including less constrained emotional expression, are associated with better adaptation. Our objective was to systematically review measures used to assess the way women with breast cancer regulate their emotions. This systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Nine different databases were searched. Data were independently extracted and assessed by two researchers. English-language articles that used at least one instrument to measure strategies to regulate emotions in women with breast cancer were included. Of 679 abstracts identified 59 studies were deemed eligible for inclusion. Studies were coded regarding their objectives, methods, and results. We identified 16 instruments used to measure strategies of emotion regulation and expression. The most frequently employed instrument was the Courtauld Emotional Control Scale. Few psychometric proprieties other than internal consistency were reported for most instruments. Many studies did not include important information regarding descriptive characteristics and psychometric properties of the instruments used. The instruments used tap different aspects of emotion regulation. Specific instruments should be explored further with regard to content, validity, and reliability in the context of breast cancer. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Dealing with Feeling: A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Strategies Derived from the Process Model of Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Thomas L.; Miles, Eleanor; Sheeran, Paschal

    2012-01-01

    The present meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation in modifying emotional outcomes as indexed by experiential, behavioral, and physiological measures. A systematic search of the literature identified 306 experimental comparisons of different emotion regulation (ER)…

  8. GameTeen: new tools for evaluating and training emotional regulation strategies

    OpenAIRE

    Rodriguez Ortega, Alejandro; Rey, Beatriz; Alcañiz Raya, Mariano Luis; BAÑOS, R.; Guixeres Provinciale, Jaime; Wrzesien, Maja; Gómez Martínez, Mario; Pérez Lopez, David Clemente; Rasal, Paloma; Parra Vargas, Elena

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to describe GameTeen, a novel instrument for the assessment and training of Emotional Regulation (ER) strategies in adolescent population. These new tools are based on the use of 3D serious games that can be played under different settings. The evolution of ER strategies will be monitored in two ways depending on the setting where the tool is presented. Firstly, in the laboratory, physiological signals and facial expressions of participants will be recorded. Secondly,...

  9. Toward a Personalized Science of Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doré, Bruce P.; Silvers, Jennifer A.; Ochsner, Kevin N.

    2018-01-01

    The ability to successfully regulate emotion plays a key role in healthy development and the maintenance of psychological well-being. Although great strides have been made in understanding the nature of regulatory processes and the consequences of deploying them, a comprehensive understanding of emotion regulation that can specify what strategies are most beneficial for a given person in a given situation is still a far-off goal. In this review, we argue that moving toward this goal represents a central challenge for the future of the field. As an initial step, we propose a concrete framework that (i) explicitly considers emotion regulation as an interaction of person, situation, and strategy, (ii) assumes that regulatory effects vary according to these factors, and (iii) sets as a primary scientific goal the identification of person-, situation-, and strategy-based contingencies for successful emotion regulation. Guided by this framework, we review current questions facing the field, discuss examples of contextual variation in emotion regulation success, and offer practical suggestions for continued progress in this area. PMID:29750085

  10. The Assessment of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies, Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Anxiety Sensitivity in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esmeil Soleymani

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the cognitive emotional regulation strategies, sensory processing sensitivity and anxiety sensitivity in patients with multiple sclerosis and normal people. Materials and Methods: Statistical population of this study was all of patients with multiple sclerosis that referred to M.S association of Iran in the tehran. Sample of this study was 30 individuals of patients with multiple sclerosis selected by available sampling method and were matched with 30 individuals of normal people. Two groups completed cognitive emotion regulation, high sensory processing sensitivity and anxiety sensitivity questionnaires. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Results: The results indicated that there is significant difference between two groups in view of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in which the mean of scores of patients with multiple sclerosis in maladaptive strategies of self- blame, catastrophizing and other blame were more than normal people and mean of scores of them in adaptive strategies of positive refocusing, positive reappraisal and putting into perspective were less than normal people. The results also indicated that there is a significant difference between two groups in anxiety sensitivity and sensory processing sensitivity. Conclusion: The most of emotional problems in patients with multiple sclerosis can be the result of more application of maladaptive strategies of cognitive emotion regulation, high sensory processing sensitivity and high anxiety sensitivity.

  11. Dampening or savoring positive emotions: a dialectical cultural script guides emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyamoto, Yuri; Ma, Xiaoming

    2011-12-01

    Four studies examined the hypothesis that, although people may generally want to savor, rather than to dampen, their positive emotions (i.e., hedonic emotion regulation), such a hedonic emotion regulation tendency should be less pronounced for Easterners than for Westerners. Using retrospective memory procedures, Study 1 found that Easterners recalled engaging in hedonic emotion regulation less than Westerners did, even after controlling for their initial emotional reactions. Studies 2-3 showed that cultural differences in emotion regulation were mediated by dialectical beliefs about positive emotions. Study 4 replicated the findings by examining online reports of emotion regulation strategies on the day students received a good grade. Furthermore, there were cultural differences in actual emotion change over time, which was partly explained by dialectical beliefs about positive emotions. These findings highlight the active role cultural scripts play in shaping emotion regulation and emotional experiences. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

  12. Effects of emotion regulation strategies on smoking craving, attentional bias, and task persistence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szasz, Paul Lucian; Szentagotai, Aurora; Hofmann, Stefan G

    2012-05-01

    The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of different strategies for regulating emotions associated with smoking on subjective, cognitive, and behavioral correlates of smoking. Emotion regulation was manipulated by instructing participants to reappraise (n = 32), accept (n = 31), or suppress (n = 31) their emotions associated with smoking. The dependent measures included subjective reports of craving, negative affect, and attentional biases, as measured by a modified dot-probe task, and persistence during a task to measure distress tolerance. Individuals who were encouraged to reappraise the consequences of smoking showed diminished craving, lower negative affect, had reduced attentional biases for smoking-related cues, and exhibited greater task persistence than those who were instructed to accept and suppress their urge to smoke. These findings suggest that reappraisal techniques are more effective than acceptance or suppression strategies for targeting smoking-related problems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Social anxiety and emotion regulation flexibility: considering emotion intensity and type as contextual factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Toole, Mia S; Zachariae, Robert; Mennin, Douglas S

    2017-11-01

    Individuals with social anxiety disorder have often been considered inflexible in their emotion regulation. The aim of this study was to investigate emotion regulation flexibility in socially anxious individuals in response to two contextual factors, namely different levels of emotion intensity and emotion type. A daily diary approach was employed, investigating emotion regulation (i.e., experiential avoidance, expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal) in college students scoring high (N = 62; HSA) and low (N = 52; LSA) on social anxiety. Results revealed that HSAs were found to use more experiential avoidance than LSAs, especially at higher levels of negative intensity. The use of this emotion regulation strategy appeared to be driven by guilt, nervousness, and sadness. There were no between-group differences concerning the other strategies in response to varying levels of emotional intensity. Together, the results provide evidence for inflexible emotion regulation in HSAs, reflected in an unwillingness to experience negative emotions.

  14. Successful emotion regulation requires both conviction and skill: beliefs about the controllability of emotions, reappraisal, and regulation success.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutentag, Tony; Halperin, Eran; Porat, Roni; Bigman, Yochanan E; Tamir, Maya

    2017-09-01

    To succeed in self-regulation, people need to believe that it is possible to change behaviour and they also need to use effective means to enable such a change. We propose that this also applies to emotion regulation. In two studies, we found that people were most successful in emotion regulation, the more they believed emotions can be controlled and the more they used an effective emotion regulation strategy - namely, cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal moderated the link between beliefs about the controllability of emotion and success in emotion regulation, when reappraisal was measured as a trait (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2). Such moderation was found when examining the regulation of disgust elicited by emotion-inducing films (Study 1), and the regulation of anger elicited by real political events (Study 2). We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice in emotion regulation.

  15. Maternal depressive symptoms, toddler emotion regulation, and subsequent emotion socialization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Premo, Julie E; Kiel, Elizabeth J

    2016-03-01

    Although many studies have examined how maternal depressive symptoms relate to parenting outcomes, less work has examined how symptoms affect emotion socialization, a parenting construct linked to a myriad of socioemotional outcomes in early childhood. In line with a transactional perspective on the family, it is also important to understand how children contribute to these emotional processes. The current study examined how toddler emotion regulation strategies moderated the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and emotion socialization responses, including nonsupportive responses (e.g., minimizing, responding punitively to children's negative emotions) and wish-granting, or the degree to which mothers give in to their children's demands in order to decrease their children's and their own distress. Mothers (n = 91) and their 24-month-old toddlers participated in laboratory tasks from which toddler emotion regulation behaviors were observed. Mothers reported depressive symptoms and use of maladaptive emotion socialization strategies concurrently and at a 1-year follow-up. The predictive relation between maternal depressive symptoms and emotion socialization was then examined in the context of toddlers' emotion regulation. Toddlers' increased use of caregiver-focused regulation interacted with depressive symptoms in predicting increased wish-granting socialization responses at 36 months. At high levels of toddlers' caregiver-focused regulation, depressive symptoms related to increased wish-granting socialization at 36 months. There was no relation for nonsupportive socialization responses. Results suggest that toddler emotional characteristics influence how depressive symptoms may put mothers at risk for maladaptive parenting. Family psychologists must strive to understand the role of both parent and toddler characteristics within problematic emotional interactions. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. Social anxiety and emotion regulation flexibility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    O'Toole, Mia S.; Zachariae, Robert; Mennin, Douglas S.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Individuals with social anxiety disorder have often been considered inflexible in their emotion regulation. The aim of this study was to investigate emotion regulation flexibility in socially anxious individuals in response to two contextual factors, namely...... different levels of emotion intensity and emotion type. METHODS: A daily diary approach was employed, investigating emotion regulation (i.e., experiential avoidance, expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal) in college students scoring high (N = 62; HSA) and low (N = 52; LSA) on social anxiety....... RESULTS: Results revealed that HSAs were found to use more experiential avoidance than LSAs, especially at higher levels of negative intensity. The use of this emotion regulation strategy appeared to be driven by guilt, nervousness, and sadness. There were no between-group differences concerning the other...

  17. The Emotional Stroop as an Emotion Regulation Task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kappes, Cathleen; Bermeitinger, Christina

    2016-01-01

    The present studies investigate age differences observed when performing the emotional Stroop task considered as an expression of emotion regulation. Previous studies employing this task showed mixed findings regarding age differences, with a lack of evidence for positivity effects. However, moderating factors such as arousal or dispositional (emotion) regulation strategies were mostly not taken into account. Moreover, relations between Stroop effects and emotional reactions were not examined. In two studies (Study 1/2: nyoung = 26/41; nold = 19/39), an emotional Stroop task was employed and valence (negative, neutral, positive [Study 2 only]) and arousal of the word stimuli were varied. Additionally, flexible goal adjustment (FGA), positive and negative affect in the last 12 months, and change in momentary affect (Study 2 only) were measured. Study 1 showed larger emotional Stroop effects (ESE) in older than younger adults with medium arousing negative words. We also found correlations between FGA (positive correlation) as well as negative affect (negative correlation) and the ESE with medium arousing negative words. Study 2 corroborates these findings by exhibiting positive change in momentary affect with larger ESEs for medium arousing negative words in the older age group. The findings emphasize the importance of including arousal level and dispositional regulation measures (such as FGA) as moderating factors in age differences and within-group differences in emotion regulation. Although we did not find evidence for a positivity effect, processing in the emotional Stroop task was related to positive change in momentary affect and less negative affect in the older age group. Taken together, our experiments demonstrate that the emotional Stroop task is suited as a measure for emotion induction and related emotion regulation mechanisms.

  18. Emotion experience and regulation in China and the United States: how do culture and gender shape emotion responding?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Elizabeth; Greenberger, Ellen; Charles, Susan; Chen, Chuansheng; Zhao, Libo; Dong, Qi

    2012-01-01

    Culture and gender shape emotion experience and regulation, in part because the value placed on emotions and the manner of their expression is thought to vary across these groups. This study tested the hypothesis that culture and gender would interact to predict people's emotion responding (emotion intensity and regulatory strategies). Chinese (n=220; 52% female) and American undergraduates (n=241; 62% female) viewed photos intended to elicit negative emotions after receiving instructions to either "just feel" any emotions that arose (Just Feel), or to "do something" so that they would not experience any emotion while viewing the photos (Regulate). All participants then rated the intensity of their experienced emotions and described any emotion-regulation strategies that they used while viewing the photos. Consistent with predictions, culture and gender interacted with experimental condition to predict intensity: Chinese men reported relatively low levels of emotion, whereas American women reported relatively high levels of emotion. Disengagement strategies (especially distancing) were related to lower emotional intensity and were reported most often by Chinese men. Taken together, findings suggest that emotion-regulation strategies may contribute to differences in emotional experience across Western and East Asian cultures.

  19. [Regulation of Positive and Negative Emotions as Mediator between Maternal Emotion Socialization and Child Problem Behavior].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fäsche, Anika; Gunzenhauser, Catherine; Friedlmeier, Wolfgang; von Suchodoletz, Antje

    2015-01-01

    The present study investigated five to six year old children's ability to regulate negative and positive emotions in relation to psychosocial problem behavior (N=53). It was explored, whether mothers' supportive and nonsupportive strategies of emotion socialization influence children's problem behavior by shaping their emotion regulation ability. Mothers reported on children's emotion regulation and internalizing and externalizing problem behavior via questionnaire, and were interviewed about their preferences for socialization strategies in response to children's expression of negative affect. Results showed that children with more adaptive expression of adequate positive emotions had less internalizing behavior problems. When children showed more control of inadequate negative emotions, children were less internalizing as well as externalizing in their behavior. Furthermore, results indicated indirect relations of mothers' socialization strategies with children's problem behavior. Control of inadequate negative emotions mediated the link between non-supportive strategies on externalizing problem behavior. Results suggest that emotion regulatory processes should be part of interventions to reduce the development of problematic behavior in young children. Parents should be trained in dealing with children's emotions in a constructive way.

  20. Individual differences in the effects of emotion regulation strategies : The role of personality and trait affect intensity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Karreman, A.; Laceulle, O.; Hanser, W.E.; Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M.

    This experimental study examined if (1) emotion experience can be manipulated by applying an emotion regulation strategy (suppression, giving in, neutral) when listening to a well-known rock music fragment, and if (2) personality and trait affect intensity can predict individual differences in

  1. Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: Insights from Neurobiological, Psychological, and Clinical Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guendelman, Simón; Medeiros, Sebastián; Rampes, Hagen

    2017-01-01

    There is increasing interest in the beneficial clinical effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Research has demonstrated their efficacy in a wide range of psychological conditions characterized by emotion dysregulation. Neuroimaging studies have evidenced functional and structural changes in a myriad of brain regions mainly involved in attention systems, emotion regulation, and self-referential processing. In this article we review studies on psychological and neurobiological correlates across different empirically derived models of research, including dispositional mindfulness, mindfulness induction, MBIs, and expert meditators in relation to emotion regulation. From the perspective of recent findings in the neuroscience of emotion regulation, we discuss the interplay of top-down and bottom-up emotion regulation mechanisms associated with different mindfulness models. From a phenomenological and cognitive perspective, authors have argued that mindfulness elicits a “mindful emotion regulation” strategy; however, from a clinical perspective, this construct has not been properly differentiated from other strategies and interventions within MBIs. In this context we propose the distinction between top-down and bottom-up mindfulness based emotion regulation strategies. Furthermore, we propose an embodied emotion regulation framework as a multilevel approach for understanding psychobiological changes due to mindfulness meditation regarding its effect on emotion regulation. Finally, based on clinical neuroscientific evidence on mindfulness, we open perspectives and dialogues regarding commonalities and differences between MBIs and other psychotherapeutic strategies for emotion regulation. PMID:28321194

  2. Back to basics: a naturalistic assessment of the experience and regulation of emotion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heiy, Jane E; Cheavens, Jennifer S

    2014-10-01

    Emotion regulation research links regulatory responding to important outcomes in psychological well-being, physical health, and interpersonal relations, but several fundamental questions remain. As much of the previous research has addressed generalized regulatory habits, far less is known about the ways in which individuals respond to emotions in daily life. The literature is particularly sparse in explorations of positive emotion regulation. In the current study, we provide an assessment of naturalistic experiences and regulation of emotion, both positive and negative in valence. Using an electronic experience sampling methodology, participants reported on their use of 40 regulatory strategies in response to 14 emotions for 10 consecutive days. On average, participants used 15 different regulatory strategies in response to negative emotions over this time, most frequently relying on acceptance, behavioral activation, and rumination. Participants used a similarly large repertoire of strategies, approximately 16 total, in response to positive emotions, particularly savoring, future focus, and behavioral activation. Participants' mood ratings following strategy use, however, indicated that the most frequently used strategies were often not the most effective strategies. The results of this study provide estimates of the frequency and effectiveness of a large number of emotion regulation strategies in response to both negative and positive emotions. Such findings characterize naturalistic emotion regulation, and estimates of normative emotion regulation processes are imperative to determining the ways in which deviations (e.g., small emotion regulation repertoires, insufficient attention to regulation of positive emotions) impact emotional functioning. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  3. Effectiveness of Gross Model-Based Emotion Regulation Strategies Training on Anger Reduction in Drug-Dependent Individuals and its Sustainability in Follow-up.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Massah, Omid; Sohrabi, Faramarz; A'azami, Yousef; Doostian, Younes; Farhoudian, Ali; Daneshmand, Reza

    2016-03-01

    Emotion plays an important role in adapting to life changes and stressful events. Difficulty regulating emotions is one of the problems drug abusers often face, and teaching these individuals to express and manage their emotions can be effective on improving their difficult circumstances. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Gross model-based emotion regulation strategies training on anger reduction in drug-dependent individuals. The present study had a quasi-experimental design wherein pretest-posttest evaluations were applied using a control group. The population under study included addicts attending Marivan's methadone maintenance therapy centers in 2012 - 2013. Convenience sampling was used to select 30 substance-dependent individuals undergoing maintenance treatment who were then randomly assigned to the experiment and control groups. The experiment group received its training in eight two-hour sessions. Data were analyzed using analysis of co-variance and paired t-test. There was significant reduction in anger symptoms of drug-dependent individuals after gross model based emotion regulation training (ERT) (P emotion regulation strategies training. Based on the results of this study, we may conclude that the gross model based emotion regulation strategies training can be applied alongside other therapies to treat drug abusers undergoing rehabilitation.

  4. Emotional maltreatment and disordered eating in adolescents: testing the mediating role of emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mills, Pamela; Newman, Emily Frances; Cossar, Jill; Murray, George

    2015-01-01

    The present study aimed to determine if emotion regulation mediates the relationship between emotional maltreatment and disordered eating behavior in adolescents. Participants were 222 secondary school pupils (aged 14-18 years) from a state high school in the UK. Standardized questionnaire measures were used to gather self-report data on emotional abuse and emotional neglect, functional and dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies and disordered eating behavior. Results showed that disordered eating was associated with emotional abuse, dysfunctional emotion regulation and being female. Multiple mediation analysis found an indirect relationship between emotional abuse and disordered eating through dysfunctional emotion regulation. Interestingly, emotional neglect predicted lower levels of functional emotion regulation. The findings support previous research showing emotion regulation to mediate the relationship between childhood abuse and disordered eating in adults and a differential effect of abuse and neglect on emotion regulation. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm the direction of relationships; however these data suggest that dysfunctional emotion regulation is a significant variable in the development of disordered eating and may be a useful target for intervention. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  5. Age and Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation Strategies: Autobiographical Memory, Rumination, Problem Solving and Distraction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricarte Trives, Jorge Javier; Navarro Bravo, Beatriz; Latorre Postigo, José Miguel; Ros Segura, Laura; Watkins, Ed

    2016-07-18

    Our study tested the hypothesis that older adults and men use more adaptive emotion regulatory strategies but fewer negative emotion regulatory strategies than younger adults and women. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that rumination acts as a mediator variable for the effect of age and gender on depression scores. Differences in rumination, problem solving, distraction, autobiographical recall and depression were assessed in a group of young adults (18-29 years) compared to a group of older adults (50-76 years). The older group used more problem solving and distraction strategies when in a depressed state than their younger counterparts (ps .06). Ordinary least squares regression analyses with bootstrapping showed that rumination mediated the association between age, gender and depression scores. These results suggest that older adults and men select more adaptive strategies to regulate emotions than young adults and women with rumination acting as a significant mediator variable in the association between age, gender, and depression.

  6. Educators' emotion regulation strategies and their physiological indicators of chronic stress over 1 year.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katz, Deirdre A; Harris, Alexis; Abenavoli, Rachel; Greenberg, Mark T; Jennings, Patricia A

    2018-04-01

    Studies show teaching is a highly stressful profession and that chronic work stress is associated with adverse health outcomes. This study analysed physiological markers of stress and self-reported emotion regulation strategies in a group of middle school teachers over 1 year. Chronic physiological stress was assessed with diurnal cortisol measures at three time points over 1 year (fall, spring, fall). The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the changes in educators' physiological level of stress. Results indicate that compared to those in the fall, cortisol awakening responses were blunted in the spring. Further, this effect was ameliorated by the summer break. Additionally, self-reported use of the emotion regulation strategy reappraisal buffered the observed blunting that occurred in the spring. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. The state of the heart: Emotional labor as emotion regulation reviewed and revised.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grandey, Alicia A; Melloy, Robert C

    2017-07-01

    Emotional labor has been an area of burgeoning research interest in occupational health psychology in recent years. Emotional labor was conceptualized in the early 1980s by sociologist Arlie Hochschild (1983) as occupational requirements that alienate workers from their emotions. Almost 2 decades later, a model was published in Journal of Occupational Health Psychology ( JOHP ) that viewed emotional labor through a psychological lens, as emotion regulation strategies that differentially relate to performance and wellbeing. For this anniversary issue of JOH P, we review the emotional labor as emotion regulation model, its contributions, limitations, and the state of the evidence for its propositions. At the heart of our article, we present a revised model of emotional labor as emotion regulation, that incorporates recent findings and represents a multilevel and dynamic nature of emotional labor as emotion regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Which emotional regulatory strategy makes Chinese adolescents happier? A longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sang, Biao; Deng, Xinmei; Luan, Ziyan

    2014-12-01

    Growing interest in emotion regulation is reflected in the studies of cognitive and social development. However, the extant studies mainly highlight how emotion regulation develops based on a western value system. This study utilised a longitudinal design to examine the development of emotion regulation and explored the contributions of different regulatory strategies to emotion experience regarding the early adolescent development period in a Chinese population. A total of 303 Chinese adolescents (age range = 10-14 years) were followed up in a three-phase longitudinal study for 3 years. In each phase of the study, participants completed Adolescents Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and Daily Emotion Scale. Results of hierarchical linear regressions revealed that Chinese adolescents reported more down-regulation. Down-regulation is more effective than up-regulation in enhancing desirable emotion experience and reducing undesirable emotion experience during adolescents' development. Also, the adaptive functions of emotional regulatory strategies in Chinese background were discussed. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

  9. Age Differences in the Influence of Induced Negative Emotion on Decision-Making: The Role of Emotion Regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    You, Xuqun; Ju, Chengting; Wang, Mo; Zhang, Baoshan; Liu, Pei

    2017-11-19

    In this study, we hypothesized that there is an age difference in the influence of negative emotion on decision-making and that this age difference is related to emotion regulation strategies. We carried out two studies. In the first, the older and younger adults completed the ultimatum game (UG) while in either an induced negative emotional or a neutral context. In the second, both the older and younger adults completed the UG while in an induced negative emotion while using either emotion reappraisal or expressive suppression to regulate their emotions during the task. The first study showed that, unlike younger adults, the older adults made similar choices in the neutral and negative induction groups. In addition, the older adults predominantly used a reappraisal strategy in both the negative and neutral emotional states, whereas the younger adults predominantly used a suppression strategy in the negative emotional state. In the second study, after the emotion regulation strategies were experimentally manipulated so that both age groups used the same strategy, we found no age difference in decision-making. Our findings indicated that the influence of negative emotion on decision-making differs between older and younger adults and that this age difference was associated with their different emotion regulation processes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  10. Emotional Regulation in Young Adults with Internet Gaming Disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ju-Yu Yen

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available People diagnosed with Internet gaming disorder (IGD have been frequently reported to experience depression, anxiety, and hostility. Emotional regulation contributes to these mood symptoms. This study evaluated emotional regulation in subjects with IGD and examined relationships between emotional regulation, depression, anxiety, and hostility in young adults with IGD. We recruited 87 people with IGD and a control group of 87 people without a history of IGD. All participants underwent a diagnostic interview based on the IGD criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, and they completed a questionnaire on emotional regulation, depression, anxiety, and hostility. We found that subjects with IGD were less likely to practice cognitive reappraisal and were more likely to suppress their emotions. Linear regression revealed the higher cognitive reappraisal and lower expressive suppression associated with depression, anxiety, and hostility among subjects with IGD. The emotional regulation strategies that characterize those with IGD could be contributing factors to the depression and hostility tendencies of these people. When treating patients with IGD, in addition to providing appropriate interventions to relieve depression and hostility, practitioners should effectively assess emotional regulation strategies and provide emotional regulation therapy to prevent a vicious cycle of negative emotions.

  11. Emotional Regulation in Young Adults with Internet Gaming Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yen, Ju-Yu; Yeh, Yi-Chun; Wang, Peng-Wei; Liu, Tai-Ling; Chen, Yun-Yu; Ko, Chih-Hung

    2017-12-25

    People diagnosed with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) have been frequently reported to experience depression, anxiety, and hostility. Emotional regulation contributes to these mood symptoms. This study evaluated emotional regulation in subjects with IGD and examined relationships between emotional regulation, depression, anxiety, and hostility in young adults with IGD. We recruited 87 people with IGD and a control group of 87 people without a history of IGD. All participants underwent a diagnostic interview based on the IGD criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, and they completed a questionnaire on emotional regulation, depression, anxiety, and hostility. We found that subjects with IGD were less likely to practice cognitive reappraisal and were more likely to suppress their emotions. Linear regression revealed the higher cognitive reappraisal and lower expressive suppression associated with depression, anxiety, and hostility among subjects with IGD. The emotional regulation strategies that characterize those with IGD could be contributing factors to the depression and hostility tendencies of these people. When treating patients with IGD, in addition to providing appropriate interventions to relieve depression and hostility, practitioners should effectively assess emotional regulation strategies and provide emotional regulation therapy to prevent a vicious cycle of negative emotions.

  12. Incidental emotions in moral dilemmas: the influence of emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szekely, Raluca D; Miu, Andrei C

    2015-01-01

    Recent theories have argued that emotions play a central role in moral decision-making and suggested that emotion regulation may be crucial in reducing emotion-linked biases. The present studies focused on the influence of emotional experience and individual differences in emotion regulation on moral choice in dilemmas that pit harming another person against social welfare. During these "harm to save" moral dilemmas, participants experienced mostly fear and sadness but also other emotions such as compassion, guilt, anger, disgust, regret and contempt (Study 1). Fear and disgust were more frequently reported when participants made deontological choices, whereas regret was more frequently reported when participants made utilitarian choices. In addition, habitual reappraisal negatively predicted deontological choices, and this effect was significantly carried through emotional arousal (Study 2). Individual differences in the habitual use of other emotion regulation strategies (i.e., acceptance, rumination and catastrophising) did not influence moral choice. The results of the present studies indicate that negative emotions are commonly experienced during "harm to save" moral dilemmas, and they are associated with a deontological bias. By efficiently reducing emotional arousal, reappraisal can attenuate the emotion-linked deontological bias in moral choice.

  13. Living emotions, avoiding emotions: Behavioral investigation of the regulation of socially driven emotions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandro eGrecucci

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Emotion regulation is very important for psychological well-being. Although it is known that alternative regulation strategies may have different emotional consequences, the effectiveness of such strategies for socially driven emotions remains unclear. In this study we investigated the efficacy of different forms of reappraisal on responses to the selfish and altruistic behavior of others in the Dictator Game. In Experiment 1, subjects mentalized the intentions of the other player in one condition, and took distance from the situation in the other. Emotion ratings were recorded after each offer. Compared with a baseline condition, mentalizing led subjects to experience their emotions as more positive when receiving both selfish and altruistic proposals, whereas distancing decreased the valence when receiving altruistic offers, but did not affect the perception of selfish behaviors. In Experiment 2, subjects played with both computer and human partners while reappraising the meaning of the player’s intentions (in case of a human partner or the meaning of the situation (in case of a computer partner. Results showed that both contexts were effectively modulated by reappraisal, however a stronger effect was observed when the donor was a human partner as compared to a computer. Taken together, these results demonstrate that socially driven emotions can be successfully modulated by reappraisal strategies that focus on the reinterpretation of others’ intentions.

  14. Living Emotions, Avoiding Emotions: Behavioral Investigation of the Regulation of Socially Driven Emotions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecucci, Alessandro; Giorgetta, Cinzia; Bonini, Nicolao; Sanfey, Alan G.

    2013-01-01

    Emotion regulation is important for psychological well-being. Although it is known that alternative regulation strategies may have different emotional consequences, the effectiveness of such strategies for socially driven emotions remains unclear. In this study we investigated the efficacy of different forms of reappraisal on responses to the selfish and altruistic behavior of others in the Dictator Game. In Experiment 1, subjects mentalized the intentions of the other player in one condition, and took distance from the situation in the other. Emotion ratings were recorded after each offer. Compared with a baseline condition, mentalizing led subjects to experience their emotions more positively when receiving both selfish and altruistic proposals, whereas distancing decreased the valence when receiving altruistic offers, but did not affect the perception of selfish behavior. In Experiment 2, subjects played with both computer and human partners while reappraising the meaning of the player’s intentions (with a human partner) or the meaning of the situation (with a computer partner). Results showed that both contexts were effectively modulated by reappraisal, however a stronger effect was observed when the donor was a human partner, as compared to a computer partner. Taken together, these results demonstrate that socially driven emotions can be successfully modulated by reappraisal strategies that focus on the reinterpretation of others’ intentions. PMID:23349645

  15. Emotion regulation: Exploring the impact of stress and sex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valerie L. Kinner

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Emotion regulation is a major prerequisite for adaptive behavior. The capacity to regulate emotions is particularly important during and after the encounter of a stressor. However the impact of acute stress and its associated neuroendocrine alterations on emotion regulation have received little attention so far. This study aimed to explore how stress-induced cortisol increases affect three different emotion regulation strategies. 72 healthy men and women were either exposed to a stressor or a control condition. Subsequently participants viewed positive and negative images and were asked to up- or down-regulate their emotional responses or simultaneously required to solve an arithmetic task (distraction. The factors stress, sex and strategy were operationalized as between group factors (n = 6 per cell. Stress caused an increase in blood pressure and higher subjective stress ratings. An increase in cortisol was observed in male participants only. In contrast to controls, stressed participants were less effective in distracting themselves from the emotional pictures. The results further suggest that in women stress enhances the ability to decrease negative emotions. These findings characterize the impact of stress and sex on emotion regulation and provide initial evidence that these factors may interact.

  16. Self-reported emotion regulation in adults with Tourette's syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drury, Helena; Wilkinson, Verity; Robertson, Mary M; Channon, Shelley

    2016-11-30

    Recent work has reported mild impairments in social and emotional processing in Tourette's syndrome (TS), but deliberate attempts to use specific emotion regulation strategies have not been investigated previously. In the present study, adult participants with TS and no comorbidities (TS-alone) were compared to healthy control participants on several self-report measures assessing habitual use of reappraisal and suppression emotion regulation strategies. There were no group differences on measures of reappraisal, but the TS-alone group reported using suppression more frequently than the control group and this was true across a range of negative emotions. The groups did not differ on symptomatology scores of anxiety or depression, although more frequent use of suppression was associated with higher depressive symptomatology for the TS-alone group only. Further work is needed to examine potential factors that may influence emotion regulation in TS, including increased emotional reactivity or expertise in applying strategies to suppress tic symptoms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. The effect of emotion regulation strategies on anger.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szasz, Paul Lucian; Szentagotai, Aurora; Hofmann, Stefan G

    2011-02-01

    This study examined the effects of different emotion regulation strategies on the experience and expression of anger. Participants consisted of undergraduate students who endorsed at least a moderate level of state anger. As part of a laboratory experiment, they were instructed to reappraise (n = 24), suppress (n = 24), or accept (n = 25) their anger during a frustrating task. Reappraisal was more effective at reducing anger than attempts to suppress or accept it. Furthermore, participants in the reappraisal condition persisted significantly longer with the frustrating task than those who were instructed to suppress or accept their negative feelings. These findings suggest that reappraisal techniques are more effective than acceptance and suppression techniques for modulating the experience and expression of anger. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Integrating emotion regulation and emotional intelligence traditions: a meta-analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña-Sarrionandia, Ainize; Mikolajczak, Moïra; Gross, James J.

    2015-01-01

    Two relatively independent research traditions have developed that address emotion management. The first is the emotion regulation (ER) tradition, which focuses on the processes which permit individuals to influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions. The second is the emotional intelligence (EI) tradition, which focuses—among other things—on individual differences in ER. To integrate these two traditions, we employed the process model of ER (Gross, 1998b) to review the literature on EI. Two key findings emerged. First, high EI individuals shape their emotions from the earliest possible point in the emotion trajectory and have many strategies at their disposal. Second, high EI individuals regulate their emotions successfully when necessary but they do so flexibly, thereby leaving room for emotions to emerge. We argue that ER and EI traditions stand to benefit substantially from greater integration. PMID:25759676

  19. Integrating emotion regulation and emotional intelligence traditions: a meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ainize ePeña-Sarrionandia

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Two relatively independent research traditions have developed that address emotion management. The first is the emotion regulation (ER tradition, which focuses on the processes which permit individuals to influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions. The second is the emotional intelligence (EI tradition, which focuses – among other things - on individual differences in ER. To integrate these two traditions, we employed the process model of ER (Gross, 1998 to review the literature on EI. Two key findings emerged. First, high EI individuals shape their emotions from the earliest possible point in the emotion trajectory and have many strategies at their disposal. Second, high EI individuals regulate their emotions successfully when necessary but they do so flexibly, thereby leaving room for emotions to emerge. We argue that ER and EI traditions stand to benefit substantially from greater integration.

  20. Integrating emotion regulation and emotional intelligence traditions: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña-Sarrionandia, Ainize; Mikolajczak, Moïra; Gross, James J

    2015-01-01

    Two relatively independent research traditions have developed that address emotion management. The first is the emotion regulation (ER) tradition, which focuses on the processes which permit individuals to influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions. The second is the emotional intelligence (EI) tradition, which focuses-among other things-on individual differences in ER. To integrate these two traditions, we employed the process model of ER (Gross, 1998b) to review the literature on EI. Two key findings emerged. First, high EI individuals shape their emotions from the earliest possible point in the emotion trajectory and have many strategies at their disposal. Second, high EI individuals regulate their emotions successfully when necessary but they do so flexibly, thereby leaving room for emotions to emerge. We argue that ER and EI traditions stand to benefit substantially from greater integration.

  1. Reappraising social emotions: the role of inferior frontal gyrus, temporo-parietal junction and insula in interpersonal emotion regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandro eGrecucci

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have reported the effect of emotion regulation strategies on both individual and social decision making, however the effect of regulation on socially driven emotions independent of decisions is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the neural effects of using reappraisal to both up- and down-regulate socially driven emotions. Participants played the Dictator Game in the role of recipient while undergoing fMRI, and concurrently applied the strategies of either up-regulation (reappraising the proposer’s intentions as more negative, down-regulation (reappraising the proposer’s intentions as less negative, as well as a baseline ‘look’ condition. Results showed that regions responding to the implementation of reappraisal (effect of strategy, that is, regulating regions were the inferior and middle frontal gyrus, temporo parietal junction and insula bilaterally. Importantly, the middle frontal gyrus activation correlated with the frequency of regulatory strategies in daily life, with the insula activation correlating with the perceived ability to reappraise the emotions elicited by the social situation. Regions regulated by reappraisal (effect of regulation, that is, regulated regions were the striatum, the posterior cingulate and the insula, showing increased activation for the up-regulation and reduced activation for down-regulation, both compared to the baseline condition. When analyzing the separate effects of partners’ behavior, selfish behavior produced an activation of the insula, not observed when subjects were treated altruistically. Here we show for the first time that interpersonal emotion regulation strategies can strongly affect neural responses when experiencing socially driven emotions. Clinical implications of these findings are also discussed to understand how the way we interpret others’ intentions may affect the way we emotionally react.

  2. Specificity of emotion regulation deficits in social anxiety: an internet study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusch, Silke; Westermann, Stefan; Lincoln, Tania M

    2012-09-01

    There is evidence for an association between social anxiety and emotion regulation difficulties. This study investigates that emotion regulation difficulties are specific to two domains of social anxiety. An explorative study was conducted to examine the associations between emotion regulation facets and social anxiety in the normal population. N= 149 healthy volunteers participated in an internet-based survey. Emotion regulation deficits were measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale which consists of six subscales. Social anxiety was measured by the Social Phobia Scale and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that anxiety of interactive social situations is associated with non-acceptance of negative emotions, impulse control difficulties, and lack of functional emotion regulation strategies over and above the impact of age and general psychopathology. In contrast, anxiety of being observed by others was not specifically associated with emotion regulation strategies. The results support the hypothesis that specific emotion regulation deficits are relevant to specific aspects of social anxiety. Implications for further research and therapy are discussed. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

  3. Emotion Regulation in Binge Eating Disorder: A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dingemans, Alexandra; Danner, Unna; Parks, Melissa

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of the present review is to provide a summary of the research findings on emotion regulation in Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Negative emotions and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies play a role in the onset and maintenance of binge eating in BED. Anger and sadness, along with negative emotions related to interpersonal experiences (i.e., disappointment, being hurt or loneliness), seem to be particularly relevant. Individuals with BED have a tendency to suppress and ruminate on their unwanted emotions, which leads to increased psychopathological thoughts and symptoms. Compared to healthy controls, they use adaptive strategies, such as reappraisal, less frequently. Evidence concerning the causal relation between negative affect and binge eating is inconclusive and still very limited. While experimental studies in a laboratory setting lack ecological validity, ecological momentary assessment studies offer more promise at unraveling the causal relationship between emotions and binge eating. Increases in negative affect are found to be antecedents of binge eating in BED. However, there seems to be less support for the possibility that binge eating serves as a means to alleviate negative affect. Finally, BED seems to be related to other forms of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as substance abuse and self-harm. PMID:29165348

  4. Emotion Regulation in Binge Eating Disorder: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandra Dingemans

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the present review is to provide a summary of the research findings on emotion regulation in Binge Eating Disorder (BED. Negative emotions and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies play a role in the onset and maintenance of binge eating in BED. Anger and sadness, along with negative emotions related to interpersonal experiences (i.e., disappointment, being hurt or loneliness, seem to be particularly relevant. Individuals with BED have a tendency to suppress and ruminate on their unwanted emotions, which leads to increased psychopathological thoughts and symptoms. Compared to healthy controls, they use adaptive strategies, such as reappraisal, less frequently. Evidence concerning the causal relation between negative affect and binge eating is inconclusive and still very limited. While experimental studies in a laboratory setting lack ecological validity, ecological momentary assessment studies offer more promise at unraveling the causal relationship between emotions and binge eating. Increases in negative affect are found to be antecedents of binge eating in BED. However, there seems to be less support for the possibility that binge eating serves as a means to alleviate negative affect. Finally, BED seems to be related to other forms of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as substance abuse and self-harm.

  5. Baseline and strategic effects behind mindful emotion regulation: behavioral and physiological investigation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandro Grecucci

    Full Text Available One of the consequences of extensive mindfulness practice is a reduction of anxiety and depression, but also a capacity to regulate negative emotions. In this study, we explored four key questions concerning mindfulness training: (1 What are the processes by which mindfulness regulates our emotions? (2 Can mindfulness be applied to social emotions? (3 Does mindfulness training affect emotionally driven behavior towards others? (4 Does mindfulness alter physiological reactivity? To address these questions, we tested, in two experiments, the ability of mindfulness meditators to regulate interpersonal emotions (Experiment 1 and interactive behaviors (Experiment 2 as compared to naïve controls. To better understand the mechanisms by which mindfulness regulates emotions, we asked participants to apply two strategies: a cognitive strategy (mentalizing, a form of reappraisal focused on the intentions of others and an experiential strategy derived from mindfulness principles (mindful detachment. Both groups were able to regulate interpersonal emotions by means of cognitive (mentalizing and experiential (mindful detachment strategies. In Experiment 1, a simple effect of meditation, independent from the implementation of the strategies, resulted in reduced emotional and physiological reactivity, as well as in increased pleasantness for meditators when compared to controls, providing evidence of baseline regulation. In Experiment 2, one visible effect of the strategy was that meditators outperformed controls in the experiential (mindful detachment but not in the cognitive (mentalize strategy, showing stronger modulation of their interactive behavior (less punishments and providing evidence of a strategic behavioral regulation. Based on these results, we suggest that mindfulness can influence interpersonal emotional reactions through an experiential mechanism, both at a baseline level and a strategic level, thereby altering the subjective and physiological

  6. Music as Emotional Self-Regulation throughout Adulthood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saarikallio, Suvi

    2011-01-01

    Emotional self-regulation is acknowledged as one of the most important reasons for musical engagement at all ages. Yet there is little knowledge on how this self-regulatory use of music develops across the life span. A qualitative study was conducted to initially explore central processes and strategies of the emotional self-regulation during…

  7. The influence of emotion regulation on decision-making under risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Laura N; Delgado, Mauricio R

    2011-09-01

    Cognitive strategies typically involved in regulating negative emotions have recently been shown to also be effective with positive emotions associated with monetary rewards. However, it is less clear how these strategies influence behavior, such as preferences expressed during decision-making under risk, and the underlying neural circuitry. That is, can the effective use of emotion regulation strategies during presentation of a reward-conditioned stimulus influence decision-making under risk and neural structures involved in reward processing such as the striatum? To investigate this question, we asked participants to engage in imagery-focused regulation strategies during the presentation of a cue that preceded a financial decision-making phase. During the decision phase, participants then made a choice between a risky and a safe monetary lottery. Participants who successfully used cognitive regulation, as assessed by subjective ratings about perceived success and facility in implementation of strategies, made fewer risky choices in comparison with trials where decisions were made in the absence of cognitive regulation. Additionally, BOLD responses in the striatum were attenuated during decision-making as a function of successful emotion regulation. These findings suggest that exerting cognitive control over emotional responses can modulate neural responses associated with reward processing (e.g., striatum) and promote more goal-directed decision-making (e.g., less risky choices), illustrating the potential importance of cognitive strategies in curbing risk-seeking behaviors before they become maladaptive (e.g., substance abuse).

  8. The Influence of Emotion Regulation on Decision-making under Risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Laura N.; Delgado, Mauricio R.

    2011-01-01

    Cognitive strategies typically involved in regulating negative emotions have recently been shown to also be effective with positive emotions associated with monetary rewards. However, it is less clear how these strategies influence behavior, such as preferences expressed during decision-making under risk, and the underlying neural circuitry. That is, can the effective use of emotion regulation strategies during presentation of a reward-conditioned stimulus influence decision-making under risk and neural structures involved in reward processing such as the striatum? To investigate this question, we asked participants to engage in imagery-focused regulation strategies during the presentation of a cue that preceded a financial decision-making phase. During the decision phase, participants then made a choice between a risky and a safe monetary lottery. Participants who successfully used cognitive regulation, as assessed by subjective ratings about perceived success and facility in implementation of strategies, made fewer risky choices in comparison to trials where decisions were made in the absence of cognitive regulation. Additionally, blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses in the striatum were attenuated during decision-making as a function of successful emotion regulation. These findings suggest that exerting cognitive control over emotional responses can modulate neural responses associated with reward processing (e.g., striatum), and promote more goal-directed decision-making (e.g., less risky choices), illustrating the potential importance of cognitive strategies in curbing risk-seeking behaviors before they become maladaptive (e.g., substance abuse). PMID:21254801

  9. Assessing brain activations associated with emotional regulation during virtual reality mood induction procedures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rodriguez, A.; Rey, B.; Clemente, M.; Wrzesien, M.; Alcañiz, M.

    2015-01-01

    Emotional regulation strategies are used by people to influence their emotional responses to external or internal emotional stimuli. The aim of this study is to evaluate the brain activations that are associated with the application of two different emotional regulation strategies (cognitive

  10. Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Toddler Emotion Regulation, and Subsequent Emotion Socialization

    OpenAIRE

    Premo, Julie E.; Kiel, Elizabeth J.

    2015-01-01

    Although many studies have examined how maternal depressive symptoms relate to parenting outcomes, less work has examined how symptoms affect emotion socialization, a parenting construct linked to a myriad of socioemotional outcomes in early childhood. In line with a transactional perspective on the family, it is also important to understand how children contribute to these emotional processes. The current study examined how toddler emotion regulation strategies moderated the relation between...

  11. FKBP5 moderation of the relationship between childhood trauma and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halldorsdottir, Thorhildur; de Matos, Ana Paula Soares; Awaloff, Yvonne; Arnarson, Eiríkur Örn; Craighead, W Edward; Binder, Elisabeth B

    2017-10-01

    Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as rumination and catastrophizing, are transdiagnostic risk factors for psychopathology. FK506-binding protein 51 (FKBP5) has been found to moderate the relationship between stressful life events and various psychiatric disorders. Given the cross-disorder moderation effect of FKBP5 at the diagnostic level, the aim of the current study was to examine whether the relationship between exposure to childhood trauma and transdiagnostic maladaptive emotion regulation processes would also be moderated by genetic FKBP5 variation in a community sample of adolescents. We hypothesized that adolescent carriers of the FKBP5 CATT haplotype composed of rs9296158, rs3800373, rs1360780, and rs9470080, that has been associated with increased risk for psychiatric disorders in adulthood, would also show higher levels of rumination and catastrophizing. Participants included 1345 genotyped adolescents (M age =13.95, 64.2% female; 100% European Caucasians of Portuguese descent) who completed self-report measures on exposure to childhood trauma and emotion regulation strategies. Genotypes of rs9296158, rs3800373, rs1360780, and rs9470080 were used to estimate the CATT haplotype (carriers versus non-carriers). Consistent with our hypotheses and previous findings, adolescent CATT haplotype carriers with higher levels of childhood trauma endorsed higher levels of both rumination and catastrophizing compared to non-carriers. Given the association of these maladaptive emotion regulation processes and psychiatric disorders, the findings suggest possible psychological mechanisms why FKBP5 haplotype carriers exposed to childhood trauma are more vulnerable to developing a psychiatric disorder later in life. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  12. Reappraising social emotions: the role of inferior frontal gyrus, temporo-parietal junction and insula in interpersonal emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecucci, Alessandro; Giorgetta, Cinzia; Bonini, Nicolao; Sanfey, Alan G

    2013-01-01

    Previous studies have reported the effect of emotion regulation (ER) strategies on both individual and social decision-making, however, the effect of regulation on socially driven emotions independent of decisions is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the neural effects of using reappraisal to both up- and down-regulate socially driven emotions. Participants played the Dictator Game (DG) in the role of recipient while undergoing fMRI, and concurrently applied the strategies of either up-regulation (reappraising the proposer's intentions as more negative), down-regulation (reappraising the proposer's intentions as less negative), as well as a baseline "look" condition. Results showed that regions responding to the implementation of reappraisal (effect of strategy, that is, "regulating regions") were the inferior and middle frontal gyrus, temporo parietal junction and insula bilaterally. Importantly, the middle frontal gyrus activation correlated with the frequency of regulatory strategies in daily life, with the insula activation correlating with the perceived ability to reappraise the emotions elicited by the social situation. Regions regulated by reappraisal (effect of regulation, that is, "regulated regions") were the striatum, the posterior cingulate and the insula, showing increased activation for the up-regulation and reduced activation for down-regulation, both compared to the baseline condition. When analyzing the separate effects of partners' behavior, selfish behavior produced an activation of the insula, not observed when subjects were treated altruistically. Here we show for the first time that interpersonal ER strategies can strongly affect neural responses when experiencing socially driven emotions. Clinical implications of these findings are also discussed to understand how the way we interpret others' intentions may affect the way we emotionally react.

  13. Reappraising social emotions: the role of inferior frontal gyrus, temporo-parietal junction and insula in interpersonal emotion regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecucci, Alessandro; Giorgetta, Cinzia; Bonini, Nicolao; Sanfey, Alan G.

    2013-01-01

    Previous studies have reported the effect of emotion regulation (ER) strategies on both individual and social decision-making, however, the effect of regulation on socially driven emotions independent of decisions is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the neural effects of using reappraisal to both up- and down-regulate socially driven emotions. Participants played the Dictator Game (DG) in the role of recipient while undergoing fMRI, and concurrently applied the strategies of either up-regulation (reappraising the proposer's intentions as more negative), down-regulation (reappraising the proposer's intentions as less negative), as well as a baseline “look” condition. Results showed that regions responding to the implementation of reappraisal (effect of strategy, that is, “regulating regions”) were the inferior and middle frontal gyrus, temporo parietal junction and insula bilaterally. Importantly, the middle frontal gyrus activation correlated with the frequency of regulatory strategies in daily life, with the insula activation correlating with the perceived ability to reappraise the emotions elicited by the social situation. Regions regulated by reappraisal (effect of regulation, that is, “regulated regions”) were the striatum, the posterior cingulate and the insula, showing increased activation for the up-regulation and reduced activation for down-regulation, both compared to the baseline condition. When analyzing the separate effects of partners' behavior, selfish behavior produced an activation of the insula, not observed when subjects were treated altruistically. Here we show for the first time that interpersonal ER strategies can strongly affect neural responses when experiencing socially driven emotions. Clinical implications of these findings are also discussed to understand how the way we interpret others' intentions may affect the way we emotionally react. PMID:24027512

  14. Dealing with Feelings : Characterization of Trait Alexithymia on Emotion Regulation Strategies and Cognitive-Emotional Processing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Swart, M.; Kortekaas, R; Aleman, A.

    2009-01-01

    Background: Alexithymia, or "no words for feelings'', is a personality trait which is associated with difficulties in emotion recognition and regulation. It is unknown whether this deficit is due primarily to regulation, perception, or mentalizing of emotions. In order to shed light on the core

  15. An Investigation into the Capacity of Student Motivation and Emotion Regulation Strategies to Predict Engagement and Resilience in the Middle School Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fried, Leanne; Chapman, Elaine

    2012-01-01

    Although most of the initial research on self-regulated learning focused on cognitive and meta-cognitive aspects, there has been a growing interest in the emotion and motivation domains of self-regulation. This article reports on research undertaken to investigate specific motivation and emotion regulation strategies used by middle school students…

  16. The BASES expert statement on emotion regulation in sport.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lane, Andrew M; Beedie, Chris J; Jones, Marc V; Uphill, Mark; Devonport, Tracey J

    2012-01-01

    Emotions experienced before and during sports competition have been found to influence sports performance. Emotion regulation is defined as the automatic or deliberate use of strategies to initiate, maintain, modify or display emotions (Gross & Thompson, 2007) and is proposed to occur when a discrepancy exists between current and desired emotions. Two distinct motivations to regulate emotion - hedonic and instrumental (in short, for pleasure or for purpose) - have been proposed (Tamir, 2009). The instrumental approach might provide a more fruitful area of investigation for sports researchers as some athletes hold beliefs that supposedly pleasant emotions such as happiness and calmness associate with poor performance and supposedly unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and anger associate with good performance (Hanin, 2010). Athletes are more likely to try to regulate an emotion if they believe that doing so will facilitate performance. Strategies that encourage re-appraisal of factors that trigger emotions are proposed to be preferable. In this British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) expert statement, a summary of the key theoretical issues are offered leading to evidence-based recommendations for practitioners and researchers.

  17. The Influence of Motivational Regulation Strategies on Online Students' Behavioral, Emotional, and Cognitive Engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sanghoon; Yun, Heoncheol

    2018-01-01

    Providing effective motivational support is a critical determinant of a successful online distance learning experience for students in higher education. In this study, we examined how students' academic level and use of 8 motivational regulation strategies influence 3 types of student engagement: behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and…

  18. Regulation of positive and negative emotion: Effects of sociocultural context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara A. Snyder

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Previous research has demonstrated that the use of emotion regulation strategies can vary by sociocultural context. In a previous study, we reported changes in the use of two different emotion regulation strategies at an annual alternative cultural event, Burning Man (McRae, Heller, John, & Gross, 2011. In this sociocultural context, as compared to home, participants reported less use of expressive suppression (a strategy generally associated with maladaptive outcomes, and greater use of cognitive reappraisal (a strategy associated with adaptive outcomes. What remained unclear was whether these changes in self-reported emotion regulation strategy use were characterized by changes in the regulation of positive emotion, negative emotion, or both. We addressed this issue in the current study by asking Burning Man participants separate questions about positive and negative emotion. Using multiple datasets, we not only replicated our previous findings, but also found that the decreased use of suppression is primarily driven by reports of decreased suppression of positive emotion at Burning Man. By contrast, the reported increased use of reappraisal is not characterized by differential reappraisal of positive and negative emotion at Burning Man. Moreover, we observed novel individual differences in the magnitude of these effects. The contextual changes in self-reported suppression that we report are strongest for men and younger participants. For those who had previously attended Burning Man, we observed lower levels of self-reported suppression in both sociocultural contexts: Burning Man and home. These findings have implications for understanding the ways in which certain sociocultural contexts may decrease suppression, and possibly minimize its associated maladaptive effects.

  19. Age-Related Differences in Neural Recruitment During the Use of Cognitive Reappraisal and Selective Attention as Emotion Regulation Strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric S Allard

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The present study examined age differences in the timing and neural recruitment within lateral and medial PFC while younger and older adults hedonically regulated their responses to unpleasant film clips. When analyses focused on activity during the emotional peak of the film clip (the most emotionally salient portion of the film, several age differences emerged. When comparing regulation to passive viewing (combined effects of selective attention and reappraisal younger adults showed greater regulation related activity in lateral PFC (DLPFC, VLPFC, OFC and medial PFC (ACC while older adults showed greater activation within a region DLPFC. When assessing distinct effects of the regulation conditions, an ANOVA revealed a significant Age X Regulation Condition interaction within bilateral DLPFC and ACC; older adults but not young adults showed greater recruitment within these regions for reappraisal than selective attention. When examining activity at the onset of the film clip and at its emotional peak, the timing of reappraisal-related activity within VLPFC differed between age groups: Younger adults showed greater activity at film onset while older adults showed heightened activity during the peak. Our results suggest that older adults rely more heavily on PFC recruitment when engaging cognitively demanding reappraisal strategies while PFC-mediated regulation might not be as task-specific for younger adults. Older adults’ greater reliance on cognitive control processing during emotion regulation may also be reflected in the time needed to implement these strategies.

  20. Attentional deployment is not necessary for successful emotion regulation via cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bebko, Genna M; Franconeri, Steven L; Ochsner, Kevin N; Chiao, Joan Y

    2014-06-01

    According to appraisal theories of emotion, cognitive reappraisal is a successful emotion regulation strategy because it involves cognitively changing our thoughts, which, in turn, change our emotions. However, recent evidence has challenged the importance of cognitive change and, instead, has suggested that attentional deployment may at least partly explain the emotion regulation success of cognitive reappraisal. The purpose of the current study was to examine the causal relationship between attentional deployment and emotion regulation success. We examined 2 commonly used emotion regulation strategies--cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression-because both depend on attention but have divergent behavioral, experiential, and physiological outcomes. Participants were either instructed to regulate emotions during free-viewing (unrestricted image viewing) or gaze-controlled (restricted image viewing) conditions and to self-report negative emotional experience. For both emotion regulation strategies, emotion regulation success was not altered by changes in participant control over the (a) direction of attention (free-viewing vs. gaze-controlled) during image viewing and (b) valence (negative vs. neutral) of visual stimuli viewed when gaze was controlled. Taken together, these findings provide convergent evidence that attentional deployment does not alter subjective negative emotional experience during either cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression, suggesting that strategy-specific processes, such as cognitive appraisal and response modulation, respectively, may have a greater impact on emotional regulation success than processes common to both strategies, such as attention.

  1. Experiential avoidance as a generalized psychological vulnerability: comparisons with coping and emotion regulation strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashdan, Todd B; Barrios, Velma; Forsyth, John P; Steger, Michael F

    2006-09-01

    Extending previous work, we conducted two studies concerning the toxic influences of experiential avoidance (EA) as a core mechanism in the development and maintenance of psychological distress, and disruption of pleasant, engaging, and spontaneous activity. Of particular interest was whether EA accounted for relationships between coping and emotion regulation strategies on anxiety-related pathology (Study 1) and psychological distress and hedonic functioning over the course of a 21-day monitoring period (Study 2). In Study 1, EA mediated the effects of maladaptive coping, emotional responses styles, and uncontrollability on anxiety-related distress (e.g., anxiety sensitivity, trait anxiety, suffocation fears, and body sensation fears). In Study 2, EA completely mediated the effects of two emotion regulation strategies (i.e., suppression and reappraisal) on daily negative and positive experiences and was associated with diminished daily positive affective experiences and healthy life appraisals, diminished frequency of positive events and more frequent negative life events, and greater negative affective experiences. The present data show that cognitive reappraisal, a primary process of traditional cognitive-behavior therapy, was much less predictive of the quality of psychological experiences and events in everyday life compared with EA. Further consideration of experiential avoidance as a generalized diathesis and toxic process will be useful in improving our understanding of the etiology, phenomenology, and treatment of anxiety conditions, general human suffering, and disruptions in hedonic capacity.

  2. What our eyes tell us about feelings: Tracking pupillary responses during emotion regulation processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinner, Valerie L; Kuchinke, Lars; Dierolf, Angelika M; Merz, Christian J; Otto, Tobias; Wolf, Oliver T

    2017-04-01

    Emotion regulation is essential for adaptive behavior and mental health. Strategies applied to alter emotions are known to differ in their impact on psychological and physiological aspects of the emotional response. However, emotion regulation outcome has primarily been assessed via self-report, and studies comparing regulation strategies with regard to their peripheral physiological mechanisms are limited in number. In the present study, we therefore aimed to investigate the effects of different emotion regulation strategies on pupil dilation, skin conductance responses, and subjective emotional responses. Thirty healthy females were presented with negative and neutral pictures and asked to maintain or up- and downregulate their upcoming emotional responses through reappraisal or distraction. Pupil dilation and skin conductance responses were significantly enhanced when viewing negative relative to neutral pictures. For the pupil, this emotional arousal effect manifested specifically late during the pupillary response. In accordance with subjective ratings, increasing negative emotions through reappraisal led to the most prominent pupil size enlargements, whereas no consistent effect for downregulation was found. In contrast, early peak dilations were enhanced in all emotion regulation conditions independent of strategy. Skin conductance responses were not further modulated by emotion regulation. These results indicate that pupil diameter is modulated by emotional arousal, but is initially related to the extent of mental effort required to regulate automatic emotional responses. Our data thus provide first evidence that the pupillary response might comprise two distinct temporal components reflecting cognitive emotion regulation effort on the one hand and emotion regulation success on the other hand. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  3. Mobile Phone Use, Emotion Regulation, and Well-Being.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffner, Cynthia A; Lee, Sangmi

    2015-07-01

    This study examined the use of mobile phones to regulate negative emotions, considering both the role of different aspects of phone use and individual differences in emotion regulation strategies. A total of 287 young adult smartphone users completed an online survey that addressed use of mobile phones for negative emotion regulation. They responded to a phone loss scenario by rating how much they would miss various uses/functions of the phone (which could be involved in emotion regulation). Habitual use of reappraisal to regulate emotion was associated with missing both interpersonal contact and social support, but not access to entertainment/information. In contrast, habitual use of emotion suppression was associated only with missing entertainment/information content. Regulating negative emotions via mobile phone was associated with missing all three uses/functions of the phone, but perception that the phone was effective in remediating negative emotion was associated only with missing social support. Well-being was related to greater use and perceived effectiveness of the mobile phone for emotion regulation. Overall, this study demonstrates that mobile phones can yield psychological benefits, depending on how they are used. Findings suggest that using the phone for social support is most likely to lead to effective remediation of negative emotion. Interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed.

  4. Emotions and emotion regulation in survivors of childhood sexual abuse: the importance of "disgust" in traumatic stress and psychopathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coyle, Eimear; Karatzias, Thanos; Summers, Andy; Power, Mick

    2014-01-01

    Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has the potential to compromise socio-emotional development of the survivor resulting in increased vulnerability to difficulties regulating emotions. In turn, emotion regulation is thought to play a key part in a number of psychological disorders which CSA survivors are at increased risk of developing. A better understanding of the basic emotions experienced in this population and emotion regulation strategies will inform current treatment. This paper examines the relationships between type of emotions experienced, emotion regulation strategies, and psychological trauma symptoms in a sample of survivors of CSA. A consecutive case series of CSA survivors (n=109) completed the Basic Emotions Scale (BES)-Weekly, General, and Coping versions; the Regulation of Emotions Questionnaire; the Post-traumatic Stress Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C); and the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure. Significantly higher levels of disgust than other levels of emotions were reported on the weekly version of the BES. In addition, significantly higher levels of disgust and lower levels of happiness were reported on the BES-General subscale. Regression analyses revealed that sadness, fear, disgust, and external dysfunctional coping strategies predicted global post-traumatic stress disorder and re-experiencing symptomatology measured by the PCL-C. Global distress, as measured by CORE, was predicted by the emotions of sadness, disgust, and low happiness, as well as dysfunctional regulatory strategies. In addition, preliminary exploratory factor analyses supported the structure of all three versions of the BES, with disgust explaining the largest percentage of variance, followed by happiness. The findings highlight the utility of profiling basic emotions in understanding the strong associations between emotional phenomena, particularly the emotion of disgust and psychopathology in CSA survivors.

  5. Preschool Boys' Development of Emotional Self-regulation Strategies in a Sample At-risk for Behavior Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Supplee, Lauren H.; Skuban, Emily Moye; Trentacosta, Christopher J.; Shaw, Daniel S.; Stoltz, Emilee

    2011-01-01

    Little longitudinal research has been conducted on changes in children's emotional self-regulation strategy (SRS) use after infancy, particularly for children at risk. The current study examined changes in boys' emotional SRS from toddlerhood through preschool. Repeated observational assessments using delay of gratification tasks at ages 2, 3, and 4 were examined with both variable- and person-oriented analyses in a low-income sample of boys (N = 117) at-risk for early problem behavior. Results were consistent with theory on emotional SRS development in young children. Children initially used more emotion-focused SRS (e.g., comfort seeking) and transitioned to greater use of planful SRS (e.g., distraction) by age 4. Person-oriented analysis using trajectory analysis found similar patterns from 2–4, with small groups of boys showing delayed movement away from emotion-focused strategies or delay in the onset of regular use of distraction. The results provide a foundation for future research to examine the development of SRS in low-income young children. PMID:21675542

  6. Emotion regulation reduces loss aversion and decreases amygdala responses to losses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sokol-Hessner, Peter; Camerer, Colin F; Phelps, Elizabeth A

    2013-03-01

    Emotion regulation strategies can alter behavioral and physiological responses to emotional stimuli and the neural correlates of those responses in regions such as the amygdala or striatum. The current study investigates the brain systems engaged when using an emotion regulation technique during financial decisions. In decision making, regulating emotion with reappraisal-focused strategies that encourage taking a different perspective has been shown to reduce loss aversion as observed both in choices and in the relative arousal responses to actual loss and gain outcomes. In the current study, we find using fMRI that behavioral loss aversion correlates with amygdala activity in response to losses relative to gains. Success in regulating loss aversion also correlates with the reduction in amygdala responses to losses but not to gains. Furthermore, across both decisions and outcomes, we find the reappraisal strategy increases baseline activity in dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the striatum. The similarity of the neural circuitry observed to that seen in emotion regulation, despite divergent tasks, serves as further evidence for a role of emotion in decision making, and for the power of reappraisal to change assessments of value and thereby choices.

  7. The structural model of pain, cognitive strategies, and negative emotions in functional gastrointestinal disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mina Mazaheri

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs may use specific coping strategies. We intend to provide a mediating role of the relationship between pain (intensity and acceptance, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and negative emotions in patients with FGIDs. Materials and Methods: Participants were 176 inpatients, all experiencing significant FGIDs symptomatology as confirmed by gastroenterologists. Patients completed data on cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, short form of depression, anxiety, stress scale, chronic pain acceptance questionnaire-revised, and pain intensity scale. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling method. Results: The pain intensity had significantly direct effect on cognitive emotion regulation strategies and indirect effect on negative emotions. Besides, the mediating role of negative emotions in the relationship between the strategies and pain acceptance were supported, whereas indirect relationships between pain intensity and acceptance through cognitive strategies were not confirmed. Conclusion: The results of the study emphasize the role of pain intensity in the development of negative emotions through cognitive strategies and the role of the strategies in pain acceptance through negative emotions. In fact, cognitive strategies to be related to pain and emotions.

  8. The Influence of Emotion Down-Regulation on the Expectation of Sexual Reward

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brom, Mirte; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip; Cousijn, Janna; Both, Stephanie

    2015-01-01

    Emotion regulation research has shown successful altering of unwanted aversive emotional reactions. Cognitive strategies can also regulate expectations of reward arising from conditioned stimuli. However, less is known about the efficacy of such strategies with expectations elicited by conditioned

  9. A pathway from neuroticism to depression: examining the role of emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Kathleen Lira; Maltby, John; Joormann, Jutta

    2013-09-01

    We examined whether the relation between neuroticism and the severity of depressive symptoms is mediated by emotion regulation. At the same time, we examined whether the type of emotion regulation strategy (maladaptive vs. adaptive) moderates the effects of neuroticism on depression severity. Community participants (N=533; 235 women and 298 men) completed a set of questionnaires over the Internet. We used structural equation modeling to examine the mediational role of emotion regulation in linking neuroticism and the levels of depressive symptoms. The well-documented relation between neuroticism and depression is mediated by individual differences in the use of different emotion regulation strategies. More specifically, the use of maladaptive forms of emotion regulation, but not reappraisal, fully mediated the association between neuroticism and the severity of depressive symptoms.

  10. Facial expression recognition and emotional regulation in narcolepsy with cataplexy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayard, Sophie; Croisier Langenier, Muriel; Dauvilliers, Yves

    2013-04-01

    Cataplexy is pathognomonic of narcolepsy with cataplexy, and defined by a transient loss of muscle tone triggered by strong emotions. Recent researches suggest abnormal amygdala function in narcolepsy with cataplexy. Emotion treatment and emotional regulation strategies are complex functions involving cortical and limbic structures, like the amygdala. As the amygdala has been shown to play a role in facial emotion recognition, we tested the hypothesis that patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy would have impaired recognition of facial emotional expressions compared with patients affected with central hypersomnia without cataplexy and healthy controls. We also aimed to determine whether cataplexy modulates emotional regulation strategies. Emotional intensity, arousal and valence ratings on Ekman faces displaying happiness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust, sadness and neutral expressions of 21 drug-free patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy were compared with 23 drug-free sex-, age- and intellectual level-matched adult patients with hypersomnia without cataplexy and 21 healthy controls. All participants underwent polysomnography recording and multiple sleep latency tests, and completed depression, anxiety and emotional regulation questionnaires. Performance of patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy did not differ from patients with hypersomnia without cataplexy or healthy controls on both intensity rating of each emotion on its prototypical label and mean ratings for valence and arousal. Moreover, patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy did not use different emotional regulation strategies. The level of depressive and anxious symptoms in narcolepsy with cataplexy did not differ from the other groups. Our results demonstrate that narcolepsy with cataplexy accurately perceives and discriminates facial emotions, and regulates emotions normally. The absence of alteration of perceived affective valence remains a major clinical interest in narcolepsy with cataplexy

  11. Mothers' responses to children's negative emotions and child emotion regulation: the moderating role of vagal suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, Nicole B; Calkins, Susan D; Nelson, Jackie A; Leerkes, Esther M; Marcovitch, Stuart

    2012-07-01

    The current study examined the moderating effect of children's cardiac vagal suppression on the association between maternal socialization of negative emotions (supportive and nonsupportive responses) and children's emotion regulation behaviors. One hundred and ninety-seven 4-year-olds and their mothers participated. Mothers reported on their reactions to children's negative emotions and children's regulatory behaviors. Observed distraction, an adaptive self-regulatory strategy, and vagal suppression were assessed during a laboratory task designed to elicit frustration. Results indicated that children's vagal suppression moderated the association between mothers' nonsupportive emotion socialization and children's emotion regulation behaviors such that nonsupportive reactions to negative emotions predicted lower observed distraction and lower reported emotion regulation behaviors when children displayed lower levels of vagal suppression. No interaction was found between supportive maternal emotion socialization and vagal suppression for children's emotion regulation behaviors. Results suggest physiological regulation may serve as a buffer against nonsupportive emotion socialization. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Attachment, emotion regulation and coping in Portuguese emerging adults: a test of a mediation hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabral, Joana; Matos, Paula M; Beyers, Wim; Soenens, Bart

    2012-11-01

    Although the quality of parent-adolescent emotional bonds has consistently been proposed as a major influence on young adult's psycho-emotional functioning, the precise means by which these bonds either facilitate or impede adaptive coping are not well-understood. In an effort to advance this inquiry, the present study examined interrelationships among measures of parental attachment, emotion regulation processes, and preferred coping strategies within a sample of 942 college freshmen. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test whether the link between attachment to parents and the use of particular coping strategies is mediated by differences in emotion regulation mechanisms. As hypothesized, differences in attachment to parents predicted differences in the use of emotion regulation mechanisms and coping strategies. More specifically, having a close emotional bond, feeling supported in autonomy processes and having (moderately) low levels of separation anxiety toward parents predict more constructive emotion regulation mechanisms and coping strategies. Additionally emotion regulation was found to (partly or totally) mediate the association between attachment and coping.

  13. The influence of emotion regulation on social interactive decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van't Wout, Mascha; Chang, Luke J; Sanfey, Alan G

    2010-12-01

    Although adequate emotion regulation is considered to be essential in every day life, it is especially important in social interactions. However, the question as to what extent two different regulation strategies are effective in changing decision-making in a consequential socially interactive context remains unanswered. We investigated the effect of expressive suppression and emotional reappraisal on strategic decision-making in a social interactive task, that is, the Ultimatum Game. As hypothesized, participants in the emotional reappraisal condition accepted unfair offers more often than participants in the suppression and no-regulation condition. Additionally, the effect of emotional reappraisal influenced the amount of money participants proposed during a second interaction with partners that had treated them unfairly in a previous interaction. These results support and extend previous findings that emotional reappraisal as compared to expressive suppression, is a powerful regulation strategy that influences and changes how we interact with others even in the face of inequity.

  14. The influence of emotion regulation on social interactive decision-making

    Science.gov (United States)

    van ’t Wout, Mascha; Chang, Luke J.; Sanfey, Alan G.

    2010-01-01

    Although adequate emotion regulation is considered to be essential in every day life, it is especially important in social interactions. However, the question as to what extent two different regulation strategies are effective in changing decision-making in a consequential socially interactive context remains unanswered. We investigated the effect of expressive suppression and emotional reappraisal on strategic decision-making in a social interactive task, i.e. the Ultimatum Game. As hypothesized, participants in the emotional reappraisal condition accepted unfair offers more often than participants in the suppression and no-regulation condition. Additionally, the effect of emotional reappraisal influenced the amount of money participants proposed during a second interaction with partners that had treated them unfairly in a previous interaction. These results support and extend previous findings that emotional reappraisal as compared to expressive suppression, is a powerful regulation strategy that influences and changes how we interact with others even in the face of inequity. PMID:21171756

  15. Anxiety, Depression and Emotion Regulation Among Regular Online Poker Players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrault, Servane; Bonnaire, Céline; Herrmann, Florian

    2017-12-01

    Poker is a type of gambling that has specific features, including the need to regulate one's emotion to be successful. The aim of the present study is to assess emotion regulation, anxiety and depression in a sample of regular poker players, and to compare the results of problem and non-problem gamblers. 416 regular online poker players completed online questionnaires including sociodemographic data, measures of problem gambling (CPGI), anxiety and depression (HAD scale), and emotion regulation (ERQ). The CPGI was used to divide participants into four groups according to the intensity of their gambling practice (non-problem, low risk, moderate risk and problem gamblers). Anxiety and depression were significantly higher among severe-problem gamblers than among the other groups. Both significantly predicted problem gambling. On the other hand, there was no difference between groups in emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), which was linked neither to problem gambling nor to anxiety and depression (except for cognitive reappraisal, which was significantly correlated to anxiety). Our results underline the links between anxiety, depression and problem gambling among poker players. If emotion regulation is involved in problem gambling among poker players, as strongly suggested by data from the literature, the emotion regulation strategies we assessed (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) may not be those involved. Further studies are thus needed to investigate the involvement of other emotion regulation strategies.

  16. Behavioural laterality as a factor in emotional regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rempala, Daniel M

    2014-01-01

    Individuals who perform a variety of tasks using one side of their bodies (i.e., high-dominance people) are thought to differ from individuals who perform a variety of tasks with both sides of their body (i.e., low-dominance people) in several neurological and cognitive characteristics. We examined whether behavioural laterality predicted the efficacy of different emotional regulation strategies. Specifically, we thought that behavioural laterality would influence verbal strategies (associated with left hemisphere activation) when regulating anxiety (associated with right hemisphere activation). In three studies participants presented in front of small audiences. Behavioural laterality (as measured by a modified handedness inventory) positively correlated with presentation anxiety, such that "low-dominance" participants reported less anxiety than "high-dominance" participants, but only when using cognitive reappraisal (a verbal strategy), not attention deployment or response modulation (behavioural strategies). These results provide preliminary evidence that individual differences in behavioural laterality mediate the efficacy of certain emotional regulation strategies.

  17. Functional imaging studies of emotion regulation: A synthetic review and evolving model of the cognitive control of emotion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ochsner, Kevin N.; Silvers, Jennifer A.; Buhle, Jason T.

    2014-01-01

    This paper reviews and synthesizes functional imaging research that over the past decade has begun to offer new insights into the brain mechanisms underlying emotion regulation. Towards that end, the first section of the paper outlines a model of the processes and neural systems involved in emotion generation and regulation. The second section surveys recent research supporting and elaborating the model, focusing primarily on studies of the most commonly investigated strategy, which is known as reappraisal. At its core, the model specifies how prefrontal and cingulate control systems modulate activity in perceptual, semantic and affect systems as a function of one's regulatory goals, tactics, and the nature of the stimuli and emotions being regulated. This section also shows how the model can be generalized to understand the brain mechanisms underlying other emotion regulation strategies as well as a range of other allied phenomena. The third and last section considers directions for future research, including how basic models of emotion regulation can be translated to understand changes in emotion across the lifespan and in clinical disorders. PMID:23025352

  18. Emotion regulation and risk taking: predicting risky choice in deliberative decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panno, Angelo; Lauriola, Marco; Figner, Bernd

    2013-01-01

    Only very recently has research demonstrated that experimentally induced emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) affect risky choice (e.g., Heilman et al., 2010). However, it is unknown whether this effect also operates via habitual use of emotion regulation strategies in risky choice involving deliberative decision making. We investigated the role of habitual use of emotion regulation strategies in risky choice using the "cold" deliberative version of the Columbia Card Task (CCT; Figner et al., 2009). Fifty-three participants completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003) and--one month later--the CCT and the PANAS. Greater habitual cognitive reappraisal use was related to increased risk taking, accompanied by decreased sensitivity to changes in probability and loss amount. Greater habitual expressive suppression use was related to decreased risk taking. The results show that habitual use of reappraisal and suppression strategies predict risk taking when decisions involve predominantly cognitive-deliberative processes.

  19. The influence of emotion down-regulation on the expectation of sexual reward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brom, Mirte; Laan, Ellen; Everaerd, Walter; Spinhoven, Philip; Cousijn, Janna; Both, Stephanie

    2015-05-01

    Emotion regulation research has shown successful altering of unwanted aversive emotional reactions. Cognitive strategies can also regulate expectations of reward arising from conditioned stimuli. However, less is known about the efficacy of such strategies with expectations elicited by conditioned appetitive sexual stimuli, and possible sex differences therein. In the present study it was examined whether a cognitive strategy (attentional deployment) could successfully down-regulate sexual arousal elicited by sexual reward-conditioned cues in men and women. A differential conditioning paradigm was applied, with genital vibrostimulation as unconditioned stimulus (US) and sexually relevant pictures as conditional stimuli (CSs). Evidence was found for emotion down-regulation to effect extinction of conditioned sexual responding in men. In women, the emotion down-regulatory strategy resulted in attenuated conditioned approach tendencies towards the CSs. The findings support that top-down modulation may indeed influence conditioned sexual responses. This knowledge may have implications for treating disturbances in sexual appetitive responses. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  20. The Relationship Between Symptoms of Eating Disorders and Worry About Body Image, Attachment Styles, and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies Among Students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Davodi

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Background There are different assumptions about the factors responsible for the genesis and maintenance of eating disorders. Each of the two main types of eating disorders results from a complex interaction of emotional and psychological factors. Objectives The purpose of the current research was to study the relationship between symptoms of eating disorders and worry about body image, attachment styles, and cognitive emotion regulation strategies, among a sample of students at Ahvaz Jundishapur University. Materials and Methods The study sample consisted of students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, 2011 - 2012. The research participants were selected with use of multistage random sample from various colleges. Our research tools were the eating attitudes questionnaire (EAT-26, the Worry about body image questionnaire, the attachment styles questionnaire, and a questionnaire on cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Pearson correlation and stepwise regression methods, with inter and stepwise methods, were used during data analysis. Results The results of this research indicated that worry about body image, an avoidant attachment style, negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and secure attachment style in regression equation remained significant (P < 0.0001. Results also showed that worry about body image, an anxious attachment style, an avoidant attachment style, and negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies were significant in the regression equation, predicting 19% of the variance in the eating disorder symptoms. Conclusions Concerns about body image, an avoidant attachment style, and cognitive strategies to regulate negative emotions were the strongest predictors for eating disorder symptoms. Based on current research findings, an avoidance attachment style, concerns about body image, and negative emotion regulation cognitive strategies increase eating disorder symptoms in students. Because attachment

  1. A multi-method laboratory investigation of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation abilities in borderline personality disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuo, Janice R; Fitzpatrick, Skye; Metcalfe, Rebecca K; McMain, Shelley

    2016-03-01

    Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is conceptualized as a disorder of heightened emotional reactivity and difficulties with emotion regulation. However, findings regarding emotional reactivity in BPD are mixed and there are limited studies examining emotion regulation capabilities in this population. Twenty-five individuals with BPD and 30 healthy controls (HCs) engaged in a baseline assessment followed by the presentation of neutral and BPD-relevant negative images. Participants were instructed to react as they naturally would to the image, or to use a mindfulness-based or distraction-based strategy to feel less negative. Self-reported and physiological (i.e., heart rate, electrodermal activity, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia) measures were collected. Compared with the HCs, the BPD group exhibited elevated heart rate and reduced respiratory sinus arrhythmia at baseline. However, there were no differences in emotional reactivity in self-report or physiological indices between the two groups. In addition, the BPD group did not exhibit deficits in the ability to implement either emotion regulation strategy, with the exception that the BPD group reported less positive emotions while distracting compared with the HCs. This study is limited by a small sample size and the inclusion of a medicated BPD sample. Emotion dysregulation in BPD might be better accounted for by abnormal baseline emotional functioning rather than heightened emotional reactivity or deficits in emotion regulation. Treatments for BPD might be enhanced by directly targeting resting state emotional functioning rather than emotional reactions or regulatory attempts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Culture and emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Brett Q; Mauss, Iris B

    2015-06-01

    While anthropological research has long emphasized cultural differences in whether emotions are viewed as beneficial versus harmful, psychological science has only recently begun to systematically examine those differences and their implications for emotion regulation and well-being. Underscoring the pervasive role of culture in people's emotions, we summarize research that has examined links between culture, emotion regulation, and well-being. Specifically, we focus on two questions. First, how does culture lead individuals to regulate their emotions? And second, how does culture modulate the link between emotion regulation and well-being? We finish by suggesting directions for future research to advance the study of culture and emotion regulation.

  3. Comparing Life Quality Strategies and Emotion Regulation in People with Congenital and Non-Congenital Motor Disability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyedeh Zeynab Miraghaei

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The purpose of the present study was to compare emotion regulation strategies and life quality of people with congenital and non-congenital motor disabilities. Method: This study is a casual-comparative study and its population consisted of all people with congenital and non-congenital motor disability in Kahrizak Charity Foundation in Tehran in 2016. To conduct the study, available sampling method was used, and congenital and non-congenital disabled people were selected (200 people. To collect data, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Scale by Granovsky and life quality questionnaire were used. Research hypotheses were tested using multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The findings of this study showed that there is a significant difference between emotion regulation components in people with congenital and non-congenital disabilities (p<0.05. Also, according to the findings, a significant difference was observed between life quality dimensions (physical and mental health in people with congenital and non-congenital disabilities (p<0.05. Conclusion: According to the significant difference between two groups of subjects, necessary measures regarding consultation and psychotherapy should be taken into consideration to let people benefit from desirable mental health level.

  4. Effectiveness emotion focused therapy approach on cognitive emotion regulation on emotional breakdown girl students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeynab Karaminezhad

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background : Love Trauma refers to a state of frustration and humiliation felt by the person who is rejected by his/her beloved. The present study was aimed at studying the effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Approach for cognitive emotion regulation of female university students who experienced Love Trauma. Materials and Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental research including a pre-test, a post-test, and a follow-up test with the control group. The statistical population included all female students of Ahvaz universities who had experienced Love Trauma in 2014-2015. The total number of participants was 22, out of which 11 participants (who showed willingness were chosen for the experimental group. The remaining 11 participants were placed in the control group. The Love Trauma Inventory and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire were used as the instruments of the research. All participants answered both questionnaires. Then the members of experimental group received the treatment intervention during eight personal 60-minute sessions held twice a week. After that, both groups answered CERQ again. One month after the experiment, the follow-up test was conducted for both groups. The collected data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and Multivariable Analyze of Covariance (MANCOVA. Results: The findings indicated that the Emotion-Focused Approach in the post-test and follow-up test has provoked more positive strategies for cognitive emotion regulation in the experimental group in comparison with the control group Conclusion: Since love and other feelings associated with Love Trauma are classified under the category of emotions, the Emotionally-Focused Therapy can have a significant influence on the cognitive emotion regulation of female students suffering from Love Trauma.

  5. Smiling is fun: a Coping with Stress and Emotion Regulation Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botella, Cristina; Mira, Adriana; Garcia-Palacios, Azucena; Quero, Soledad; Navarro, Ma Vicenta; Riera López Del Amo, Antonio; Molinari, Guadalupe; Castilla, Diana; Moragrega, Inés; Soler, Carla; Alcañiz, Mariano; Baños, Rosa Maria

    2012-01-01

    Emotional disorders (Anxiety disorders and Mood disorders) are one of the most common health problems worldwide, and their economic costs are very high. People suffering from emotional disorders often use maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and have low coping behaviour that contributes to the presence of clinical symptoms. For this reason, it is important to develop strategies to monitor coping and promote emotion regulation in people exposed to high levels of stress. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can help us in this task. Recent systematic reviews of literature on evidence-based CBT treatments delivered via the Internet show that these approaches are effective. We have developed an intervention program ICT based: Coping with Stress and Emotion Regulation Program (Smiling is Fun), a self-applied program via the Internet. Smiling is Fun follows a transdiagnostic perspective, and it is based on CBT techniques. However, it also includes other psychological strategies to improve positive mood. The aim of the present work is to describe Smiling is Fun and the study designed to test its efficacy.

  6. Why Do People Regulate Their Emotions? A Taxonomy of Motives in Emotion Regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamir, Maya

    2016-08-01

    Emotion regulation involves the pursuit of desired emotional states (i.e., emotion goals) in the service of superordinate motives. The nature and consequences of emotion regulation, therefore, are likely to depend on the motives it is intended to serve. Nonetheless, limited attention has been devoted to studying what motivates emotion regulation. By mapping the potential benefits of emotion to key human motives, this review identifies key classes of motives in emotion regulation. The proposed taxonomy distinguishes between hedonic motives that target the immediate phenomenology of emotions, and instrumental motives that target other potential benefits of emotions. Instrumental motives include behavioral, epistemic, social, and eudaimonic motives. The proposed taxonomy offers important implications for understanding the mechanism of emotion regulation, variation across individuals and contexts, and psychological function and dysfunction, and points to novel research directions. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  7. Neuro Emotional Literacy Program: Does Teaching the Function of Affect and Affect Regulation Strategies Improve Affect Management and Well-Being?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patten, Kathryn E.; Campbell, Stephen R.

    2016-01-01

    Although research on Emotion Regulation (ER) is developing at a rapid rate, much of it lacks a clear theoretical framework and most focuses on a narrow set of ER strategies. This work presents the details of a pilot project, the Neuro Emotional Literacy Program (NELP), designed for parents and based on the Somatic Appraisal Model of Affect (SAMA).…

  8. Distract or reappraise? Age-related differences in emotion-regulation choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheibe, Susanne; Sheppes, Gal; Staudinger, Ursula M

    2015-12-01

    Does aging impact strategy choice with regard to regulating negative emotions? Based on the assumption that older adults are highly motivated to quickly defuse negative states, we predicted that older adults, relative to young adults, would show an increased preference for distraction (a cognitive disengagement strategy) over reappraisal (a cognitive engagement strategy) in the face of negative material. A stronger preference for distraction, in turn, should be associated with higher affective well-being at older ages, as it helps to avoid high physiological arousal. Young (19-28 years, n = 38) and older (65-75 years, n = 39) adults completed a laboratory task of emotion-regulation choice in which they viewed negative pictures of high and low intensity and chose between distraction and reappraisal to regulate their emotional response. Confirming predictions, age was associated with an increased preference to choose distraction over reappraisal. Among older but not young adults, the relative preference for distraction to reappraisal predicted higher state-affective well-being. In addition, across age groups, the preference for distraction over reappraisal was positively predicted by stimulus intensity and negatively by cognitive resources. Findings support the notion of an age-related shift toward disengagement strategies to regulate negative emotions, which maps onto older adults' prohedonic orientation and holds affective benefits. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Emotion and Emotion Regulation: From Another Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langlois, Judith H.

    2004-01-01

    An overview of the content of the From Another Perspective collection on emotion and emotion regulation is provided. The lead article identifies fundamental issues of definition and the commentaries represent varying theoretical and methodological perspectives on emotion and emotion regulation. Together, the articles discuss the promises and…

  10. Choosing how to feel: emotion regulation choice in bipolar disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hay, Aleena C; Sheppes, Gal; Gross, James J; Gruber, June

    2015-04-01

    Individuals with bipolar disorder experience emotion regulation difficulties, even during remission, but are able to effectively employ emotion regulation strategies when instructed. We hypothesized that this puzzling discrepancy might be due to their maladaptive emotion regulation choices. To test this hypothesis, we used a previously validated paradigm (Sheppes, Scheibe, Suri, & Gross, 2011; Sheppes et al., 2014), and asked remitted individuals with bipolar I disorder (n = 25) and healthy individuals (n = 26) to view standardized positive and negative images of high and low intensity, and choose reappraisal or distraction to decrease their emotion intensity. Replicating and extending prior results, participants across both groups showed a pattern of choosing distraction more for high versus low intensity positive and negative images, but no between-groups differences were evident. These results suggest that emotion regulation choice patterns may be robust across samples, and add to growing evidence that several basic emotion regulation elements may remain intact in bipolar disorder. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. Leadership styles, emotion regulation, and burnout.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, Kara A; Connelly, Catherine E; Walsh, Megan M; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A

    2015-10-01

    This study investigated the potential impact of leadership style on leaders' emotional regulation strategies and burnout. Drawing on the full-range model of leadership and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we tested whether transformational, contingent reward, management by exception-active and -passive, or laissez-faire leadership exert direct effects on leaders' reported use of surface acting, deep acting, and genuine emotion. In turn, we hypothesized and tested the indirect effect of leadership on burnout through surface acting. Three waves of data from 205 leaders were analyzed using OLS regression. Transformational leadership predicted deep acting and genuine emotion. Contingent reward predicted both surface and deep acting. Management by exception-active and -passive predicted surface acting, and laissez faire predicted genuine emotion. The indirect effects of management by exception-active and -passive on burnout through surface acting were not significant. Indirect effects of transformational leadership and laissez-faire on burnout through genuine emotion, however, were significant. This study provides empirical evidence for the hypothesized relationships between leadership style, emotion regulation, and burnout, and provides the basis for future research and theory building on this topic. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Cultural and gender differences in emotion regulation: relation to depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Hoin; Yoon, K Lira; Joormann, Jutta; Kwon, Jung-Hye

    2013-01-01

    In the last decade, studies have shown that the use of specific emotion regulation strategies contributes to an increased risk for depression. Past research, however, has overlooked potential cultural and gender differences in emotion regulation. The present study examined the relation between the use of emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms among college students in two different cultures (n=380 in Seoul, Korea; n=384 in Miami, USA). Koreans, compared with American students, reported more frequent use of brooding, whereas Americans reported more anger suppression than Koreans. Women were more likely than men to use both types of rumination (i.e., reflective pondering and brooding) and anger suppression in both countries, but these gender differences disappeared once levels of depressive symptoms were controlled for. In addition, the association between the use of reappraisal and depressive symptoms was significantly stronger in the Korean compared to the US sample. In contrast, the association between anger suppression and depressive symptoms was significantly stronger in the American compared to the Korean sample. These findings highlight the importance of considering the role of culture in emotion regulation.

  13. Emotion regulation as a mediator in the relationship between attachment and depressive symptomatology: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malik, Sonia; Wells, Adrian; Wittkowski, Anja

    2015-02-01

    Attachment theory has been conceptualised as an emotion regulation theory. Research attributes the occurrence of depressive symptoms to a dysfunction of emotion regulation. Anxious attachment and avoidant attachment, which are two dimensions of insecure attachment, are hypothesised to lead to the development of hyperactivating and deactivating emotion regulation strategies. This systematic review examines the literature on the role of emotion regulation and its relationship with attachment and depressive symptomatology. Furthermore, we examined evidence for hyperactivating and deactivating strategies. Nineteen papers were identified. Adolescent studies demonstrated associations of varying strength and found unreliable and contradictory results for emotion regulation as a mediator. Conversely, adult studies provided strong evidence for emotion regulation as a mediator. The hypothesis that hyperactivating strategies mediate anxious attachment and depressive symptoms was consistently supported. Mixed evidence was provided for deactivating strategies as mediators to avoidant attachment and depressive symptomatology. Limitations of methodology and quality of studies are identified with particular attention drawn to problems with conceptual singularity and multicollinearity. Despite mixed variable findings, this review indicates that emotion regulation is a mediator between attachment and depression. Hyperactivating strategies, in particular, have been consistently noted as mediators for anxious attachment and depressive symptomatology, whereas evidence for deactivating strategies as mediators between avoidant attachment and depressive symptoms has been mixed. Future research should test the mediators of attachment and symptoms and examine theoretically grounded models of psychopathology, such as metacognitive and cognitive models using clinical samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Emotion Regulation of Memories Central to Our Identity: The Relationship with Concurrent and Prospective Psychological Symptoms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    del Palacio Gonzalez, Adriana; Berntsen, Dorthe

    examined. Non-clinical participants (N = 216) identified low and high-centrality events and reported the extent to which they employed a selection of emotion regulation strategies when remembering each event. Dispositional emotion regulation, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were also...... and posttraumatic stress symptoms beyond event valence and dispositional emotion regulation. Memory suppresion and reflection upon central events were not related to psychological symptoms. None of the emotion regulation strategies employed for low-centrality events were related to psychological symptoms...

  15. Emotion regulation in spider phobia: role of the medial prefrontal cortex

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schäfer, Axel; Walter, Bertram; Stark, Rudolf; Vaitl, Dieter; Schienle, Anne

    2009-01-01

    Phobic responses are strong emotional reactions towards phobic objects, which can be described as a deficit in the automatic regulation of emotions. Difficulties in the voluntary cognitive control of these emotions suggest a further phobia-specific deficit in effortful emotion regulation mechanisms. The actual study is based on this emotion regulation conceptualization of specific phobias. The aim is to investigate the neural correlates of these two emotion regulation deficits in spider phobics. Sixteen spider phobic females participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in which they were asked to voluntarily up- and down-regulate their emotions elicited by spider and generally aversive pictures with a reappraisal strategy. In line with the hypothesis concerning an automatic emotion regulation deficit, increased activity in the insula and reduced activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was observed. Furthermore, phobia-specific effortful regulation within phobics was associated with altered activity in medial prefrontal cortex areas. Altogether, these results suggest that spider phobic subjects are indeed characterized by a deficit in the automatic as well as the effortful regulation of emotions elicited by phobic compared with aversive stimuli. These two forms of phobic emotion regulation deficits are associated with altered activity in different medial prefrontal cortex subregions. PMID:19398537

  16. Adolescent Depression and Negative Life Events, the Mediating Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stikkelbroek, Yvonne; Bodden, Denise H. M.; Kleinjan, Marloes; Reijnders, Mirjam; van Baar, Anneloes L.

    2016-01-01

    Background Depression during adolescence is a serious mental health problem. Difficulties in regulating evoked emotions after stressful life events are considered to lead to depression. This study examined if depressive symptoms were mediated by various cognitive emotion regulation strategies after stressful life events, more specifically, the loss of a loved one, health threats or relational challenges. Methods We used a sample of 398 adolescents (Mage = 16.94, SD = 2.90), including 52 depressed outpatients, who all reported stressful life event(s). Path analyses in Mplus were used to test mediation, for the whole sample as well as separately for participants scoring high versus low on depression, using multigroup analyses. Results Health threats and relational challenging stressful life events were associated with depressive symptoms, while loss was not. More frequent use of maladaptive strategies was related to more depressive symptoms. More frequent use of adaptive strategies was related to less depressive symptoms. Specific life events were associated with specific emotion regulation strategies. The relationship between challenging, stressful life events and depressive symptoms in the whole group was mediated by maladaptive strategies (self-blame, catastrophizing and rumination). No mediation effect was found for adaptive strategies. Conclusion The association between relational challenging, stressful life events and depressive symptoms was mediated by maladaptive, cognitive emotion regulation strategies. PMID:27571274

  17. Difficulties in emotion regulation in patients with eating disorders

    OpenAIRE

    Ruscitti, Catherine; Rufino, Katrina; Goodwin, Natalie; Wagner, Rebecca

    2016-01-01

    Background A defining characteristic of eating disorders (EDs) is difficulty with emotion regulation (ER). Previous research indicates that ED subtypes demonstrate differing ER difficulties. Specifically, individuals with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) or Bulimia Nervosa (BN) show greater impairment in their ability to regulate emotions in areas such as achieving goals while upset, reacting impulsively to distress, and effectively using coping strategies, as compared to those with Binge Eating Disorde...

  18. Does Emotion Regulation Change in Treatment? An Investigation of cognitive-oriented therapies.

    OpenAIRE

    Finsrud, Ingvild

    2016-01-01

    Objective: Recently, there has been increased interest in the study of emotion regulation difficulties in psychopathology. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses, and growing research suggests that emotion regulation difficulties function as a maintaining factor in these disorders. A common characteristic of the various types of anxiety disorders is the use of inhibited emotion regulation strategies such as worry, suppression, and avoidance. Hence, our understanding of t...

  19. Emotion Regulation Ability and Resilience in a Sample of Adolescents from a Suburban Area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José M. Mestre

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Earlier research has identified a remarkable number of related factors to resilience during adolescence. Historically, theoretical treatments of resilience have been focused almost exclusively on psychosocial levels of analysis to derive explanatory models. However, there is insufficient understanding of the role of emotion regulation explaining competent functioning despite the experience of adversity (resilience, especially during adolescence. This study explores the relationship between both, emotional regulation abilities and strategies, and resilience in a sample of adolescents from suburbs high-schools (Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. The study also examines how using different emotional regulation strategies may help the development of resilience levels at this stage. Participants of the study were 164 adolescents ranging from 13 to 16 years old (M = 13.98; SD = 0.66. Emotion regulation was measured using the Cognitive Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ, Garnefski et al., 2001, and sections D and H of Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, a performance test (Emotion Regulation Ability sections, MSCEIT, Spanish version, Mayer et al., 2003. Resilience was evaluated with ERE (Educative Resilience Scale for children and adolescents, Saavedra and Castro, 2009. Verbal Intelligence (Yuste, 1997 and personality traits (Cattell and Cattell, 1986 were assessed as two independent variables. Results supported the idea that emotion regulation ability (MSCEIT, D and H sections, Extremera et al., 2006 is a significant predictor of adolescents' resilience. Moreover, cognitive regulation strategies, such as positive reappraisal, predicted perceived resilience among students. Sociability (A factor of HSPQ, sociability also correlated with resilience levels. Hence, these results are promising, implying that emotion regulation ability may act as a helpful tool preventing adolescents from irrational risky behaviors, commonly assumed at this

  20. Difficulties in emotion regulation and risky driving among Lithuanian drivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Šeibokaitė, Laura; Endriulaitienė, Auksė; Sullman, Mark J M; Markšaitytė, Rasa; Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė, Kristina

    2017-10-03

    Risky driving is a common cause of traffic accidents and injuries. However, there is no clear evidence of how difficulties in emotion regulation contribute to risky driving behavior, particularly in small post-Soviet countries. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and self-reported risky driving behavior in a sample of Lithuanian drivers. A total of 246 nonprofessional Lithuanian drivers participated in a cross-sectional survey. Difficulties in emotion regulation were assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer 2004), and risky driving behavior was assessed using the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ; Lajunen et al. 2004). Males scored higher than females in aggressive violations and ordinary violations. Females scored higher for the nonacceptance of emotional responses, whereas males had more difficulties with emotional awareness than females. More difficulties in emotion regulation were positively correlated with driving errors, lapses, aggressive violations, and ordinary violations for both males and females. Structural equation modeling showed that difficulties in emotion regulation explained aggressive and ordinary violations more clearly than lapses and errors. When controlling for interactions among the distinct regulation difficulties, difficulties with impulse control and difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior predicted risky driving. Furthermore, nonacceptance of emotional responses and limited access to emotion regulation strategies were related to less violations and more driving errors. Emotion regulation difficulties were associated with the self-reported risky driving behaviors of Lithuanian drivers. This provides useful hints for improving driver training programs in order to prevent traffic injuries.

  1. Emotion regulation and risk taking: predicting risky choice in deliberative decision making

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Panno, A.; Lauriola, M.; Figner, B.

    2013-01-01

    Only very recently has research demonstrated that experimentally induced emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) affect risky choice (e.g., Heilman et al., 2010). However, it is unknown whether this effect also operates via habitual use of emotion regulation

  2. The ability to regulate emotion is associated with greater well-being, income, and socioeconomic status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Côté, Stéphane; Gyurak, Anett; Levenson, Robert W

    2010-12-01

    Are people who are best able to implement strategies to regulate their emotional expressive behavior happier and more successful than their counterparts? Although past research has examined individual variation in knowledge of the most effective emotion regulation strategies, little is known about how individual differences in the ability to actually implement these strategies, as assessed objectively in the laboratory, are associated with external criteria. In two studies, we examined how individual variation in the ability to modify emotional expressive behavior in response to evocative stimuli is related to well-being and financial success. Study 1 showed that individuals who can best suppress their emotional reaction to an acoustic startle are happiest with their lives. Study 2 showed that individuals who can best amplify their emotional reaction to a disgust-eliciting movie are happiest with their lives and have the highest disposable income and socioeconomic status. Thus, being able to implement emotion regulation strategies in the laboratory is closely linked to well-being and financial success.

  3. Children's perceptions of emotion regulation strategy effectiveness: links with attachment security.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waters, Sara F; Thompson, Ross A

    2016-08-01

    Six- and nine-year-old children (N = 97) heard illustrated stories evoking anger in a story character and provided evaluations of the effectiveness of eight anger regulation strategies. Half the stories involved the child's mother as social partner and the other half involved a peer. Attachment security was assessed via the Security Scale. Children reported greater effectiveness for seeking support from adults and peers in the peer context than the mother context, but perceived venting as more effective with mothers. Children with higher security scores were more likely to endorse problem solving and less likely to endorse aggression in both social contexts than those with lower security scores. Early evidence for gender differences was found in that boys endorsed the effectiveness of distraction while girls endorsed venting their emotion.

  4. The development of an emotional regulation scale for adolescents

    OpenAIRE

    Strauss, Monique; Raubenheimer, Jacques E; Campher, Daleen; Coetzee, Charika; Diedericks, Amorise; Gevers, Heidi; Green, Karla; van Niekerk, Sandré

    2016-01-01

    Emotional regulation is an important skill enabling or disabling the occupational engagement of adolescent clients. Evaluation is a key concept in the occupational therapy process, informing treatment approaches and outcomes. The authors could not identify a scale measuring emotional regulation strategies used by adolescent in the literature. A quantitative, descriptive study was done following a process of scale development. A survey with 78 items was designed which 404 adolescents from a te...

  5. Adaptive associations between social cognition and emotion regulation are absent in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesseca Elise Rowland

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Schizophrenia (SZ and bipolar disorder (BD are associated with impairments in facial emotion perception and Theory of Mind (ToM. These social cognitive skills deficits may be related to a reduced capacity to effectively regulate one’s own emotions according to the social context. We therefore set out to examine the relationship between social cognitive abilities and the use of cognitive strategies for regulating negative emotion in SZ and BD. Participants were 56 SZ, 33 BD, and 58 healthy controls (HC who completed the Ekman 60-faces test of facial emotion recognition; a sub-set of these participants also completed The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ. SZ participants demonstrated impairments in emotion perception on both the Ekman and the TASIT Emotion Evaluation tests relative to BD and HC. While both SZ and BD patients showed ToM deficits (i.e., perception of sarcasm and lie compared to HC, SZ patients demonstrated significantly greater ToM impairment compared to BD. There were also distinct patterns of cognitive strategies used to regulate emotion in both patient groups: those with SZ were more likely to engage in catastrophising and rumination, while BD subjects were more likely to blame themselves and were less likely to engage in positive reappraisal, relative to HC. In addition, those with SZ were more likely to blame others compared to BD. Associations between social cognition and affect regulation were revealed for HC only: TASIT performance was negatively associated with more frequent use of rumination, catastrophising and blaming others, such that more frequent use of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies was associated with poor social cognitive performance. These associations were not present in either patient group. However, both SZ and BD patients demonstrated poor ToM performance and aberrant use of emotion regulation strategies consistent with

  6. Impact of childhood trauma and cognitive emotion regulation strategies on risk-aversive and loss-aversive patterns of decision-making in patients with depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huh, Hyu Jung; Baek, Kwangyeol; Kwon, Jae-Hyung; Jeong, Jaeseung; Chae, Jeong-Ho

    2016-11-01

    Although poor decision-making ultimately impairs quality of life in depression, few studies describe the clinical characteristics of patients suffering from dysfunctional decision-making. This study aims to delineate the effect of childhood trauma and other personality factors on risk-aversive and loss-aversive patterns of decision-making in patients with depression. A total of 50 depressive patients completed surveys for the measurement of sociodemographic factors, trauma loads and other clinical characteristics, including depression, anxiety, and strategies for emotion regulation. Risk aversion and loss aversion were quantified using probability discounting task and a 50:50 gamble on monetary decision-making task under specified risks. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the factors, predicting risk aversion or loss aversion in depression. Childhood trauma was the most prominent factor predicting loss aversion in patients with depressive disorders. Overall maladaptive emotion regulation strategies were associated with risk aversion. Childhood trauma and specific strategies of emotion regulation contribute to risk or loss aversion in patients with depression. These findings may provide useful insight into elaborative evaluation and interventions to improve decision-making and quality of life in patients with depression.

  7. Measuring Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation: The Emotion Regulation Profile-Revised (ERP-R

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Delphine Nelis

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of this study was to validate a new instrument aimed to assess emotion regulation: the Emotion Regulation Profile-Revised (ERP-R. Exploratory factor analyses yielded two theoretically meaningful factors: down-regulation of negative emotions and up-regulation of positive emotions. Internal reliability scores of the two factors were good. Findings showed evidence of convergent/discriminant validity, with ERP-R scores being independent of non verbal reasoning and verbal skills while positively related to emotional intelligence and to relevant personality dimensions. There was also preliminary evidence of criterion validity. ERP-R scores also demonstrated incremental validity to predict a number of criteria over and above emotional intelligence and emotional stability. Overall, the results show a clear 2 factors solution for the ERP-R and high correlations with convergent and divergent scales as well as good criterion and incremental validities.

  8. EMOTION REGULATION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIPS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Laura Andrés

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available It has been proposed that emotion regulation (ER is a factor with a predictive capacity for academic performance. However, empirical studies are scarce and relatively little is still known about the specific relationship of RE strategies and abilities with different indicators of academic performance. The aim of this study was to identify the state of the art regarding the relationship of emotional regulation with academic performance. A systematic search of empirical articles was conducted in the databases Google Scholar, ERIC and PsyArticles combining the terms emotion regulation or emotion self-regulation with: (academic abilities, competency, achievement, success, performance, learning, school, literacy, classroom, education, reading, math. There were selected 17 items. The analysis allowed two groups to be formed. In the first group, articles evaluating ER strategies were considered. Among these studies, experimental designs and behavioral indicators predominated as ER measures. In the second group, studies evaluating ER skills were considered. In this group, studies with cross-sectional designs and measures of self-report or other reports to evaluate ER were predominant. It concludes with recommendations for future work.

  9. Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation, Childhood Trauma and Proneness to Shame and Guilt in Adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szentágotai-Tătar, Aurora; Miu, Andrei C

    2016-01-01

    Dispositional shame and guilt have been associated with psychopathology and an increasing number of studies have traced this relation back to adolescence. This developmental period is thought to be characterized by maturational changes in emotion regulation, which also play an important role in vulnerability to psychopathology, but little is known about the links between emotion regulation and dispositional shame and guilt. The current study investigated the relations between individual differences in the habitual use of a wide range of emotion regulation strategies and proneness to shame and guilt in a large sample of adolescents (N = 706), aged 13 to 17 years. History of childhood trauma was also assessed. Our results showed that emotion regulation independently explained about 20% of the variance of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness. Higher use of maladaptive (e.g., Self-Blaming, Catastrophizing) and lower use of adaptive (e.g., Refocus on Planning, Positive Reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies were positively associated with shame-proneness. In contrast, lower use of maladaptive (e.g., Catastrophizing, Blaming Others) and higher use of adaptive (e.g., Refocus on Planning, Positive Reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies were associated with guilt-proneness, independent of the influence of childhood trauma, which also explained a relatively minor portion of guilt-proneness. Although there were age differences (i.e., rumination was used more by older adolescents) and sex differences (i.e., girls reported higher use of Putting into Perspective and lower use of Other Blaming compared to boys) in emotion regulation, age and sex were not significantly associated with proneness to shame and guilt. The positive relations with maladaptive emotion regulation underscore the dysfunctional nature of shame-proneness. Future studies could use longitudinal measures to establish that emotion regulation drives dispositional shame and guilt, and also investigate

  10. Effects of Virtual Training on Emotional Response: A Comparison Between Different Emotion Regulation Strategies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bosse, T.; Gerritsen, C.; de Man, J.; Treur, J.

    2013-01-01

    Learning to regulate one's emotions under threatening circumstances is important, among others, for professionals like police officers and military personnel. To explore the opportunities of Virtual Reality-based training for such professionals, this paper describes an experiment performed to

  11. A VR-Based Serious Game for Studying Emotional Regulation in Adolescents

    OpenAIRE

    Rodriguez Ortega, Alejandro; Rey, Beatriz; Vara, Mª Dolores; Wrzesien, Maja; Alcañiz Raya, Mariano Luis; Baños, Rosa María; Pérez Lopez, David Clemente

    2015-01-01

    [EN] We all use more or less adapted strategies to confront adverse emotional situations in our lives without being psychologically affected. Emotional Regulation (ER) strategies that we use determine the way in which we feel, express and behave. Moreover, ER strategies are particularly important in adolescents, a population in the age when the deficits of ER strategies can be linked to the appearance of numerous mental health disorders such as depression or anxiety, or disruptive behaviors. ...

  12. You spin me right round: Cross-relationship variability in interpersonal emotion regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen eNiven

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Individuals use a range of interpersonal emotion regulation strategies to influence the feelings of others, e.g., friends, family members, romantic partners, work colleagues. But little is known about whether people vary their strategy use across these different relational contexts. We characterize and measure this variability as ‘spin’, i.e., the extent of dispersion in a person’s interpersonal emotion regulation strategy use across different relationships, and focus on two key questions. First, is spin adaptive or maladaptive with regard to personal well-being and relationship quality? Second, do personality traits that are considered important for interpersonal functioning (i.e., empathy, attachment style predict spin? The data used in this study is drawn from a large online survey. A key contribution of this study is to reveal that people who varied the type of strategies they used across relationships (i.e., those with high spin had lower positive mood, higher emotional exhaustion and less close relationships. A further key contribution is to show that spin was associated with low empathic concern and perspective taking and high anxious attachment style. High variability in interpersonal emotion regulation strategies across relationships therefore appears to be maladaptive both personally and socially.

  13. Promoting adaptive emotion regulation and coping in adolescence: a school-based programme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horn, Andrea B; Pössel, Patrick; Hautzinger, Martin

    2011-03-01

    Particularly in adolescence, fostering adaptive emotion regulation is an important aim in health promotion. Expressive writing in combination with psycho-education on emotion regulation seems especially appropriate to serve this aim. In this study, school classes were randomly assigned either to a prevention (N = 208) or to a non-treatment control group (N = 151). The prevention group showed significant improvements regarding negative affect, grades, and days absent compared to the control-group. A combination of expressive writing with elements of psycho-education of emotion regulation might be an effective preventive tool, as it seems to improve psychosocial adjustment by establishing functional emotion regulation strategies.

  14. Emotion, emotion regulation and sleep: An intimate relationship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie Vandekerckhove

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, research has witnessed an increasing interest in the bidirectional relationship between emotion and sleep. Sleep seems important for restoring daily functioning, whereas deprivation of sleep makes us more emotionally aroused and sensitive to stressful stimuli and events. Sleep appears to be essential to our ability to cope with emotional stress in everyday life. However, when daily stress is insufficiently regulated, it may result in mental health problems and sleep disturbances too. Not only does emotion impact sleep, but there is also evidence that sleep plays a key role in regulating emotion. Emotional events during waking hours affect sleep, and the quality and amount of sleep influences the way we react to these events impacting our general well-being. Although we know that daytime emotional stress affects sleep by influencing sleep physiology, dream patterns, dream content and the emotion within a dream, its exact role is still unclear. Other effects that have been found are the exaggeration of the startle response, decrease in dream recall and elevation of awakening thresholds from rapid eye movement (REM, REM-sleep, increased or decreased latency to REM-sleep, increase in percentage of REM-density, REM-sleep duration, as well as the occurrence of arousals in sleep as a marker of sleep disruption. Equally, the way an individual copes with emotional stress, or the way in which an individual regulates emotion may modulate the effects of emotional stress on sleep. The research presented here supports the idea that adaptive emotion regulation benefits our follow-up sleep. We thus conclude the current review with a call for future research in order to clarify further the precise relationship between sleep, emotion and emotion regulation, as well as to explain further how sleep dissolves our emotional stress.

  15. Burnout syndrome and wellbeing in anesthesiologists: the importance of emotion regulation strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lapa, Teresa A; Madeira, Filipa M; Viana, Joaquim S; Pinto-Gouveia, José

    2017-02-01

    Anesthesiologists face stressful working conditions that can culminate in burnout syndrome. Despite various studies and protective measures which have attempted to prevent this situation, burnout continues to be a problem within the profession, impacting negatively on physicians' lives and their performance. In this review article mechanisms and consequences of burnout are described in addition to individual strategies for stress management and burnout reduction with potential impact on health care quality and wellbeing in anesthesiologists. Organizational strategies appear to have an important role in burnout reduction but need to be used in conjunction with individual programs. The latter are essential to both reducing stress and burnout in anesthesiologists and improving happiness and wellbeing. New measures of emotion regulation strategies such as mindfulness, self-compassion, resilience and empathy promotion have been shown to be approaches with substantial supporting evidence for reducing burnout and improving stress management. The evaluation and implementation of these self-regulatory competencies is a challenge. Further research is necessary to identify which programs will best suit the needs of anesthesiologists and to measure their effects on patient care and health care system quality.

  16. Difficulties in emotion regulation mediate negative and positive affects and craving in alcoholic patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khosravani, Vahid; Sharifi Bastan, Farangis; Ghorbani, Fatemeh; Kamali, Zoleikha

    2017-08-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the mediating effects of difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) on the relations of negative and positive affects to craving in alcoholic patients. 205 treatment-seeking alcoholic outpatients were included. DER, positive and negative affects as well as craving were evaluated by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Positive/Negative Affect Scales, and the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS) respectively. Clinical factors including depression and severity of alcohol dependence were investigated by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) respectively. Results revealed that both increased negative affect and decreased positive affect indirectly influenced craving through limited access to emotion regulation strategies. It was concluded that limited access to emotion regulation strategies may be important in predicting craving for alcoholics who experience both increased negative affect and decreased positive affect. This suggests that treatment and prevention efforts focused on increasing positive affect, decreasing negative affect and teaching effective regulation strategies may be critical in reducing craving in alcoholic patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Online Coaching of Emotion-Regulation Strategies for Parents: Efficacy of the Online Rational Positive Parenting Program and Attention Bias Modification Procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, Oana A; Capris, David; Jarda, Alexandra

    2017-01-01

    Parenting programs are currently treatment of choice for behavioral disorders in children and one of their main components is reducing the negativity bias in the child-parent dyad. The Rational Positive Parenting Program (rPPP) is a program with a special focus on parent emotion-regulation functional reappraisal strategies, which has recently received consistent support for reducing child externalizing and internalizing disorders. In the last years, online interventions were proliferated and the Attention Bias Modification (ABM) becoming a promising implicit therapeutic intervention based on attention deployment emotion-regulation strategy, or adjunctive module to usual treatments, with results in multiple domains, varying from pain to self-esteem and emotional disorders (e.g., anxiety). We conducted two studies to investigate (1) the efficacy of the ABM procedures applied to parents and (2) the efficacy of the online version of the rPPP augmented with an ABM module. A total of 42 parents of children aged 2-12 years old participated in the first study, being allocated either to the ABM training or wait-list. Positive results were reported by the parents participating in the ABM group for own distress, satisfaction, positive interactions with the child, and child's strengths. In the second study, 53 parents and their children were allocated either in the rPPP group or in the rPPP + ABM group. Results show that ABM training can boost the effects of the rPPP on the strengths of children reported by the parents after the intervention. Findings are discussed in the light of limited research on using online tools for coaching effective emotion-regulation strategies for parents.

  18. Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dominguez-Sanchez, Francisco J.; Lasa-Aristu, Amaia; Amor, Pedro J.; Holgado-Tello, Francisco P.

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to validate a Spanish version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-S), originally developed by Garnefski, Kraaij, and Spinhoven. To date, it is the only available instrument that permits a conceptually pure quantification of cognitive strategies of emotional regulation. A sample of 615 students (25…

  19. Emotion experience and regulation in China and the United States: How do culture and gender shape emotion responding?

    OpenAIRE

    Davis, E; Greenberger, E; Charles, S; Chen, C; Zhao, L; Dong, Q

    2012-01-01

    Culture and gender shape emotion experience and regulation, in part because the value placed on emotions and the manner of their expression is thought to vary across these groups. This study tested the hypothesis that culture and gender would interact to predict people's emotion responding (emotion intensity and regulatory strategies). Chinese (n = 220; 52% female) and American undergraduates (n = 241; 62% female) viewed photos intended to elicit negative emotions after receiving instructions...

  20. Differences in Emotion Regulation Difficulties Across Types of Eating Disorders During Adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinbach, Noam; Sher, Helene; Bohon, Cara

    2017-11-04

    Emotion regulation appears to play a key role in eating disorders. However, prior attempts to associate specific emotion regulation abilities with specific types of eating disorders resulted in inconsistent findings. Moreover, far less is known about emotion regulation in eating disorders during adolescence, a critical period of emotional development. The current study addresses this gap, comparing emotion regulation characteristics between adolescents with restrictive types of eating disorders and those with binge eating or purging types of eating disorders. Ninety-eight adolescents with eating disorders (49 with restrictive and 49 with binge eating/purging eating disorders) completed a set of questionnaires including the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). The results revealed that binge eating/purging types of eating disorders were associated with greater difficulties in a variety of emotion regulation dimensions including impulse control, goal-directed behavior and access to effective emotion regulation strategies. Awareness and clarity of emotions were also worse in the binge eating/purging types of eating disorders, but this difference did not remain when comorbid psychopathology measures were controlled for. Moreover, the emotion regulation profile of adolescents with anorexia nervosa-binging/purging type was more similar to that of adolescents with bulimia nervosa than to that of adolescents with anorexia nervosa-restrictive type. While both restrictive and binge eating/purging eating disorders have been associated with emotion regulation difficulties, the current study shows that the presence of binge eating or purging episodes is linked with greater severity of emotion regulation deficits among adolescents with eating disorders.

  1. Preservice Teachers' Emotion-Related Regulation and Cognition: Associations with Teachers' Responses to Children's Emotions in Early Childhood Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swartz, Rebecca Anne; McElwain, Nancy L.

    2012-01-01

    Research Findings: The present research examines preservice teachers' (N = 24) self-reported emotion-related regulation and cognition as predictors of their observed responses to young children's positive and negative emotional displays. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that teachers reporting greater reappraisal strategies in…

  2. Emotional competence and extrinsic emotion regulation directed toward an ostracized person.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nozaki, Yuki

    2015-12-01

    Positive interpersonal relationships hinge on individuals' competence in regulating others' emotions as well as their own. Nevertheless, little is known about the relationship between emotional competence and specific interpersonal behaviors. In particular, it is unclear which situations require emotional competence for extrinsic emotion regulation and whether emotionally competent individuals actually attempt to regulate others' emotions. To clarify these issues, the current investigation examined the relationship between emotional competence and extrinsic emotion regulation directed toward an ostracized person. The results of Study 1 (N = 39) indicated that interpersonal emotional competence (competence related to others' emotions) was positively associated with participants' efforts to relieve the ostracized person's sadness. In Study 2 (N = 120), this relationship was moderated by the ostracized person's emotional expression. In particular, participants with high interpersonal emotional competence were more likely to attempt to regulate the sadness of ostracized individuals who expressed neutral affect. In contrast, when the ostracized person expressed sadness, there were no significant relationships between high or low interpersonal emotional competence and extrinsic emotion regulation behavior. These results offer novel insight into how emotionally competent individuals use their competence to benefit others. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  3. Self-regulation strategies of white young adult male students who grew up with emotionally absent fathers / Dirk Wouter Jacobus Ackermann

    OpenAIRE

    Ackermann, Dirk Wouter Jacobus

    2014-01-01

    Young men who grew up with emotionally absent fathers seem to find it difficult to attain equilibrium through dedication to both personal and relational concerns, probably because they tend to have low self-esteem, struggle to establish intimate relationships and may be at greater risk of engaging in antisocial or violent behaviour. The aim of this study was to explore the self-regulation strategies that white young adult male students employ to deal with the emotions and cognitions related t...

  4. Learning Goals and Strategies in the Self-regulation of Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaeta Gonzalez, Martha Leticia

    2013-01-01

    In order to self-regulate their learning, students need to use different strategies to plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning activities (meta-cognitive strategies), as well as to control their motivation and emotion (volitional strategies). Students' effectiveness in their self-regulated learning process also varies depending on the academic…

  5. Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation: An fMRI Study of Cognitive Reappraisal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McRae, Kateri; Ochsner, Kevin N; Mauss, Iris B; Gabrieli, John J D; Gross, James J

    2008-04-01

    Despite strong popular conceptions of gender differences in emotionality and striking gender differences in the prevalence of disorders thought to involve emotion dysregulation, the literature on the neural bases of emotion regulation is nearly silent regarding gender differences (Gross, 2007; Ochsner & Gross, in press). The purpose of the present study was to address this gap in the literature. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we asked male and female participants to use a cognitive emotion regulation strategy (reappraisal) to down-regulate their emotional responses to negatively valenced pictures. Behaviorally, men and women evidenced comparable decreases in negative emotion experience. Neurally, however, gender differences emerged. Compared with women, men showed (a) lesser increases in prefrontal regions that are associated with reappraisal, (b) greater decreases in the amygdala, which is associated with emotional responding, and (c) lesser engagement of ventral striatal regions, which are associated with reward processing. We consider two non-competing explanations for these differences. First, men may expend less effort when using cognitive regulation, perhaps due to greater use of automatic emotion regulation. Second, women may use positive emotions in the service of reappraising negative emotions to a greater degree. We then consider the implications of gender differences in emotion regulation for understanding gender differences in emotional processing in general, and gender differences in affective disorders.

  6. Processing and regulation of negative emotions in anorexia nervosa: An fMRI study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Seidel

    Full Text Available Theoretical models and recent advances in the treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN have increasingly focused on the role of alterations in the processing and regulation of emotions. To date, however, our understanding of these changes is still limited and reports of emotional dysregulation in AN have been based largely on self-report data, and there is a relative lack of objective experimental evidence or neurobiological data.The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI study investigated the hemodynamic correlates of passive viewing and voluntary downregulation of negative emotions by means of the reappraisal strategy detachment in AN patients. Detachment is regarded as adaptive regulation strategy associated with a reduction in emotion-related amygdala activity and increased recruitment of prefrontal brain regions associated with cognitive control processes. Emotion regulation efficacy was assessed via behavioral arousal ratings and fMRI activation elicited by an established experimental paradigm including negative images. Participants were instructed to either simply view emotional pictures or detach themselves from feelings triggered by the stimuli.The sample consisted of 36 predominantly adolescent female AN patients and a pairwise age-matched healthy control group. Behavioral and neuroimaging data analyses indicated a reduction of arousal and amygdala activity during the regulation condition for both patients and controls. However, compared with controls, individuals with AN showed increased activation in the amygdala as well as in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC during the passive viewing of aversive compared with neutral pictures.These results extend previous findings indicative of altered processing of salient emotional stimuli in AN, but do not point to a general deficit in the voluntary regulation of negative emotions. Increased dlPFC activation in AN during passive viewing of negative stimuli is in line with

  7. Beyond Emotion Regulation: Emotion Utilization and Adaptive Functioning

    OpenAIRE

    Izard, Carroll; Stark, Kevin; Trentacosta, Christopher; Schultz, David

    2008-01-01

    Recent research indicates that emotionality, emotion information processing, emotion knowledge, and discrete emotion experiences may influence and interact with emotion utilization, that is, the effective use of the inherently adaptive and motivational functions of emotions. Strategies individuals learn for emotion modulation and emotion utilization become stabilized in emerging affective-cognitive structures, or emotion schemas. In these emotion schemas, the feeling/motivational component of...

  8. The Influence of Emotion Regulation on Social Interactive Decision-Making

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wout, M. van 't; Chang, L.J.; Sanfey, A.G.

    2010-01-01

    Although adequate emotion regulation is considered to be essential in every day life, it is especially important in social interactions. However, the question as to what extent two different regulation strategies are effective in changing decision-making in a consequential socially interactive

  9. Interpersonal emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaki, Jamil; Williams, W Craig

    2013-10-01

    Contemporary emotion regulation research emphasizes intrapersonal processes such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, but people experiencing affect commonly choose not to go it alone. Instead, individuals often turn to others for help in shaping their affective lives. How and under what circumstances does such interpersonal regulation modulate emotional experience? Although scientists have examined allied phenomena such as social sharing, empathy, social support, and prosocial behavior for decades, there have been surprisingly few attempts to integrate these data into a single conceptual framework of interpersonal regulation. Here we propose such a framework. We first map a "space" differentiating classes of interpersonal regulation according to whether an individual uses an interpersonal regulatory episode to alter their own or another person's emotion. We then identify 2 types of processes--response-dependent and response-independent--that could support interpersonal regulation. This framework classifies an array of processes through which interpersonal contact fulfills regulatory goals. More broadly, it organizes diffuse, heretofore independent data on "pieces" of interpersonal regulation, and identifies growth points for this young and exciting research domain.

  10. Meta-Analytic Estimates Predict the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in the "Real World": Reply to Augustine and Hemenover (2013)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miles, Eleanor; Sheeran, Paschal; Webb, Thomas L.

    2013-01-01

    Augustine and Hemenover (2013) were right to state that meta-analyses should be accurate and generalizable. However, we disagree that our meta-analysis of emotion regulation strategies (Webb, Miles, & Sheeran, 2012) fell short in these respects. Augustine and Hemenover's concerns appear to have accrued from misunderstandings of our inclusion…

  11. Staying cool when things get hot: Emotion regulation modulates neural mechanisms of memory encoding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jasmeet P Hayes

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available During times of emotional stress, individuals often engage in emotion regulation to reduce the experiential and physiological impact of negative emotions. Interestingly, emotion regulation strategies also influence memory encoding of the event. Cognitive reappraisal is associated with enhanced memory while expressive suppression is associated with impaired explicit memory of the emotional event. However, the mechanism by which these emotion regulation strategies affect memory is unclear. We used event-related fMRI to investigate the neural mechanisms that give rise to memory formation during emotion regulation. Twenty-five participants viewed negative pictures while alternately engaging in cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, or passive viewing. As part of the subsequent memory design, participants returned to the laboratory two weeks later for a surprise memory test. Behavioral results showed a reduction in negative affect and a retention advantage for reappraised stimuli relative to the other conditions. Imaging results showed that successful encoding during reappraisal was uniquely associated with greater co-activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus, amygdala and hippocampus, suggesting a possible role for elaborative encoding of negative memories. This study provides neurobehavioral evidence that engaging in cognitive reappraisal is advantageous to both affective and mnemonic processes.

  12. Self-Report and Brain Indicators of Impaired Emotion Regulation in the Broad Autism Spectrum

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Groot, K. (Kristel); J.W. van Strien (Jan)

    2017-01-01

    textabstractAlthough not used as a diagnostic criterion, impaired emotion regulation is frequently observed in autism. The present study examined self-reported use of emotion regulation strategies in individuals scoring low or high on autistic traits. In addition, the late positive potential, which

  13. The Role of Emotion Regulation in Reducing Emotional Distortions of Duration Perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Tian

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Emotional events, especially negative ones, are consistently reported to last longer than neutral events. Previous studies suggested that this distortion of duration perception is linked to arousal and attention bias in response to emotional events. Reappraisal and suppression, arguably the most effective strategies for emotion regulation, have been demonstrated to decrease such arousal and attention bias. The present study investigated whether reappraisal and suppression can reduce emotional distortions of duration perception. Seventy-eight Chinese undergraduates were recruited as paid participants and randomly assigned to nonregulation, reappraisal, and suppression groups. Before they performed a temporal bisection task involving presentation of emotional pictures for different durations, the groups were each given one of three different sets of instructions requiring them to passively perceive, reappraise, or suppress the emotions of the pictures. The results indicated that the distortion of duration perception occurred only in the nonregulation group, suggesting that it can be effectively reduced by reappraisal and suppression.

  14. Emotion Regulation and Emotion Work: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Scheve, Christian

    2012-01-01

    This contribution links psychological models of emotion regulation to sociological accounts of emotion work to demonstrate the extent to which emotion regulation is systematically shaped by culture and society. I first discuss a well-established two-factor process model of emotion regulation and argue that a substantial proportion of emotion regulatory goals are derived from emotion norms. In contrast to universal emotion values and hedonic preferences, emotion norms are highly specific to social situations and institutional contexts. This specificity is determined by social cognitive processes of categorization and guided by framing rules. Second, I argue that the possibilities for antecedent-focused regulation, in particular situation selection and modification, are not arbitrarily available to individuals. Instead, they depend on economic, cultural, and social resources. I suggest that the systematic and unequal distribution of these resources in society leads to discernible patterns of emotion and emotion regulation across groups of individuals. PMID:23181041

  15. Thinning of the lateral prefrontal cortex during adolescence predicts emotion regulation in females.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vijayakumar, Nandita; Whittle, Sarah; Yücel, Murat; Dennison, Meg; Simmons, Julian; Allen, Nicholas B

    2014-11-01

    Adolescence is a crucial period for the development of adaptive emotion regulation strategies. Despite the fact that structural maturation of the prefrontal cortex during adolescence is often assumed to underlie the maturation of emotion regulation strategies, no longitudinal studies have directly assessed this relationship. This study examined whether use of cognitive reappraisal strategies during late adolescence was predicted by (i) absolute prefrontal cortical thickness during early adolescence and (ii) structural maturation of the prefrontal cortex between early and mid-adolescence. Ninety-two adolescents underwent baseline and follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scans when they were aged approximately 12 and 16 years, respectively. FreeSurfer software was used to obtain cortical thickness estimates for three prefrontal regions [anterior cingulate cortex; dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC); ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC)]. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was completed when adolescents were aged approximately 19 years. Results showed that greater cortical thinning of the left dlPFC and left vlPFC during adolescence was significantly associated with greater use of cognitive reappraisal in females, though no such relationship was evident in males. Furthermore, baseline left dlPFC thickness predicted cognitive reappraisal at trend level. These findings suggest that cortical maturation may play a role in the development of adaptive emotion regulation strategies during adolescence. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Associations between narcissism and emotion regulation difficulties: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity as a moderator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hui; Wang, Zhenhong; You, Xuqun; Lü, Wei; Luo, Yun

    2015-09-01

    The aim of the current study was to examine the direct and interactive effects of two types of narcissism (overt and covert) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity on emotion regulation difficulties in 227 undergraduate students. Overt and covert narcissism and emotion regulation difficulties were assessed with self-report measures (narcissistic personality inventory (NPI)-16, hypersensitive narcissism scale (HSNS), and difficulties in emotion regulation scale (DERS)), and physiological data were measured during the baseline, stress (a public-speaking task), and recovery periods in the laboratory. Results indicated that overt narcissism was negatively related to a lack of emotional awareness and emotional clarity, whereas covert narcissism was positively related to overall emotion regulation difficulties, nonacceptance of emotional responses, impulse control difficulties, limited access to emotion regulation strategies, and a lack of emotional clarity. RSA reactivity in response to a mock job interview moderated the associations between covert narcissism (as a predictor) and overall emotion regulation difficulties and impulse control difficulties (as outcomes). This finding showed that a greater stress-induced RSA decrease may serve as a protective factor and ameliorate the effect of covert narcissism on individuals' emotion regulation difficulties. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Emotion Chat: A Web Chatroom with Emotion Regulation for E-Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Deli; Tian, Feng; Liu, Jun; Zheng, Qinghua; Qin, Jiwei

    In order to compensate for lack of emotion communication between teachers and students in e-learning systems, we have designed and implemented the EmotionChat -- a web chatroom with emotion regulation. EmotionChat perceives e-learners' emotional states based on interactive text. And it recommends resources such as music, cartoons, and mottos to an e-learner when it detects negative emotional states. Meanwhile, it recommends emotion regulation cases to the e-learner's listeners and teachers. The result of our initial experiment shows that EmotionChat can recommend valuable emotion regulation policies for e-learners.

  18. The effect of arousal on regulation of negative emotions using cognitive reappraisal: An ERP study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langeslag, Sandra J E; Surti, Kruti

    2017-08-01

    Because the effectiveness of the emotion regulation strategy cognitive reappraisal may vary with emotion intensity, we investigated how stimulus arousal affects reappraisal success. Participants up- and down-regulated emotional responses using cognitive reappraisal to low and high arousing unpleasant pictures while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Up-regulation resulted in more negative self-reported valence, while down-regulation resulted in less negative self-reported valence regardless of stimulus arousal, suggesting that subjective reappraisal success does not vary with emotional intensity. Participants felt that down-regulation of emotional responses to low arousing unpleasant pictures was easiest, which is in line with previous findings that participants showed a greater preference for reappraisal in low than high arousing situations. The late positive potential (LPP) amplitude was enhanced by down-regulation of high arousing unpleasant pictures. Even though this effect was unexpected and is opposite to the typical effect of down-regulation on the LPP, it is in line with several previous studies. Potential explanations for LPP regulation effects in the unexpected direction, such as strategy selection and task design, are evaluated. Suggestions and recommendations for future research are discussed, including using trial-by-trial manipulation of regulation instructions and studying the effect of stimulus arousal on up- and down-regulation of positive emotions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Cognitive emotion regulation enhances aversive prediction error activity while reducing emotional responses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulej Bratec, Satja; Xie, Xiyao; Schmid, Gabriele; Doll, Anselm; Schilbach, Leonhard; Zimmer, Claus; Wohlschläger, Afra; Riedl, Valentin; Sorg, Christian

    2015-12-01

    Cognitive emotion regulation is a powerful way of modulating emotional responses. However, despite the vital role of emotions in learning, it is unknown whether the effect of cognitive emotion regulation also extends to the modulation of learning. Computational models indicate prediction error activity, typically observed in the striatum and ventral tegmental area, as a critical neural mechanism involved in associative learning. We used model-based fMRI during aversive conditioning with and without cognitive emotion regulation to test the hypothesis that emotion regulation would affect prediction error-related neural activity in the striatum and ventral tegmental area, reflecting an emotion regulation-related modulation of learning. Our results show that cognitive emotion regulation reduced emotion-related brain activity, but increased prediction error-related activity in a network involving ventral tegmental area, hippocampus, insula and ventral striatum. While the reduction of response activity was related to behavioral measures of emotion regulation success, the enhancement of prediction error-related neural activity was related to learning performance. Furthermore, functional connectivity between the ventral tegmental area and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, an area involved in regulation, was specifically increased during emotion regulation and likewise related to learning performance. Our data, therefore, provide first-time evidence that beyond reducing emotional responses, cognitive emotion regulation affects learning by enhancing prediction error-related activity, potentially via tegmental dopaminergic pathways. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Predicting social functioning in children with a cochlear implant and in normal-hearing children: the role of emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiefferink, Carin H; Rieffe, Carolien; Ketelaar, Lizet; Frijns, Johan H M

    2012-06-01

    The purpose of the present study was to compare children with a cochlear implant and normal hearing children on aspects of emotion regulation (emotion expression and coping strategies) and social functioning (social competence and externalizing behaviors) and the relation between emotion regulation and social functioning. Participants were 69 children with cochlear implants (CI children) and 67 normal hearing children (NH children) aged 1.5-5 years. Parents answered questionnaires about their children's language skills, social functioning, and emotion regulation. Children also completed simple tasks to measure their emotion regulation abilities. Cochlear implant children had fewer adequate emotion regulation strategies and were less socially competent than normal hearing children. The parents of cochlear implant children did not report fewer externalizing behaviors than those of normal hearing children. While social competence in normal hearing children was strongly related to emotion regulation, cochlear implant children regulated their emotions in ways that were unrelated with social competence. On the other hand, emotion regulation explained externalizing behaviors better in cochlear implant children than in normal hearing children. While better language skills were related to higher social competence in both groups, they were related to fewer externalizing behaviors only in cochlear implant children. Our results indicate that cochlear implant children have less adequate emotion-regulation strategies and less social competence than normal hearing children. Since they received their implants relatively recently, they might eventually catch up with their hearing peers. Longitudinal studies should further explore the development of emotion regulation and social functioning in cochlear implant children. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Emotion regulation and emotion work: Two sides of the same coin?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian evon Scheve

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This contribution links psychological models of emotion regulation to sociological accounts of emotion work to demonstrate the extent to which emotion regulation is systematically shaped by culture and society. I first discuss a well-established two-factor process model of emotion regulation and argue that a substantial proportion of emotion regulatory goals are derived from emotion norms. In contrast to universal emotion values and hedonic preferences, emotion norms are highly specific to social situations and institutional contexts. This specificity is determined by social cognitive processes of categorization and guided by framing rules. Second, I argue that the possibilities for antecedent-focused regulation, in particular situation selection and modification, are not arbitrarily available to individuals. Instead, they depend on economic, cultural, and social resources. I suggest that the systematic and unequal distribution of these resources in society leads to discernible patterns of emotion and emotion regulation across groups of individuals.

  2. [The role of cognitive emotional self-regulation in adolescence in levels of depression, psychosomatic symptoms and subjective well-being].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kriston, Pálma; Pikó, Bettina

    More and more studies suggest that mental health may be determined by processes of emotional self-regulation. Emotion regulation is a complex concept which can be explicit and implicit and includes different cognitive and behavioral processes: evaluation, modifying of emotional reaction to accomplish goals. Our research aim was to explore the use of cognitive emotional self-regulation strategies related to mental health indicators among adolescents. The youth study was performed with a sample size of 1245 participants in Makó, in 2016. Data collection was based on self-administrated questionnaries that contained items on mental health, subjective well-being and background of sociodemographics. The data were compared on the basis of gender differences and tested by multiple linear regression analysis to map associations between the regulation strategies and mental health indicators: depression, psychosomatic symptoms, satisfaction with life. Girls reported higher levels of depression and psychosomatic symptoms and lower satisfaction with life than boys. Significant differences were observed between boys and girls in using rumination, positive refocusing, selfblame, others-blame and putting into perspective regulation strategy. In addition the nonadaptive strategies were proved to be related to higher depression and psychosomatic symptom scores, whereas adaptive strategies to higher level of satisfaction with life in both boys and girls. The study draws attention to the importance of cognitive emotion regulation strategies from the point of view of mental health and to explore the background factors of cognitive processes of emotional self-regulation.

  3. Emotion regulation of events central to identity and their relationship with concurrent and prospective depressive symptoms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    del Palacio Gonzalez, Adriana; Berntsen, Dorthe

    2017-01-01

    ) reported the extent to which they employed a selection of emotion regulation strategies when recalling low- and high-centrality events. Dispositional emotion regulation and depressive symptoms were also assessed. A 7-week follow-up was conducted. High-centrality events were associated with more emotion...... regulation efforts. Greater brooding and expressive suppression in relation to high-centrality memories predicted concurrent depressive symptoms after controlling for event valence and dispostional emotion regulation. Effects were absent for low-centrality memories. Emotion regulation in response to high......-centrality memories did not predict depressive symptoms at follow-up beyond baseline depressive symptoms. Overall, the findings showed that maladaptive emotion regulation in response to memories of high-centrality events is important for explaining depressive symptomatology....

  4. Emotion regulation, emotional eating and the energy-rich dietary pattern. A population-based study in Chinese adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Qingyun; Tao, Fangbiao; Hou, Fangli; Zhang, Zhaocheng; Ren, Ling-Ling

    2016-04-01

    Research investigating the influence of emotion regulation (ER) strategies on emotional eating and diet among Chinese adolescents is scarce. The aim of this study was to test associations between two ER strategies (suppression/cognitive reappraisal), emotional eating, and an energy-rich dietary pattern. A total of 4316 adolescents from 10 high schools were surveyed. Dietary patterns were derived using factor analysis. Bivariate correlations were analyzed to examine associations between ER strategies, emotional eating behavior and an energy-rich dietary pattern, by gender. The mediating effect of emotional eating in the relationship between ER and energy-rich food consumption by gender was estimated using structural equation modeling. A higher level of suppression, but no lack of cognitive reappraisal, was associated with emotional eating in boys and girls. A higher level of suppression and lack of cognitive reappraisal were associated with a greater intake of energy-rich foods in girls only. Emotional eating mediated the relationship between a higher level of suppression and a greater intake of energy-rich food in girls. This study revealed significant associations between two ER strategies and an energy-rich dietary pattern in girls, and provided evidence that higher levels of suppression may put girls at risk for emotional eating, potentially affecting the energy-rich dietary pattern. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Dissociable self effects for emotion regulation: a study of Chinese major depressive outpatients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoxia; Feng, Zhengzhi; Zhou, Daiquan; Lei, Xu; Liao, Tongquan; Zhang, Li; Ji, Bing; Li, Jing

    2014-01-01

    Reappraisal is an adaptive emotion regulation strategy while the role of self-perspective in reappraisal process of depressed patients is largely unknown in terms of goals (valence/arousal) and tactics (detachment/immersion). In this study, 12 depressed individuals and 15 controls were scanned with MRI during which they either attend naturally to emotional stimuli, or adopt detachment/immersion strategy. Behaviorally, no group differences in self-reported emotion regulation effectiveness were found. In addition, we observed that (1) patients were less able to downregulate amygdala activation with recruitment of more dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) when adopting detachment strategy regardless of valence, and this preserved ability to regulate emotion was inversely associated with severity of symptoms; (2) patients had deficits in upregulating amygdala activation when adopting immersion strategy, with less inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) activation and strengthening coupling of dlPFC and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) with amygdala; (3) comparison between groups yielded that patients showed stronger vmPFC activation under either self-detached or self-immersed condition. In conclusion, impaired modulatory effects of amygdala in depressed patients are compensated with strengthening cognitive control resources, with dissociable effects for different self-perspectives in reappraisal. These results may help clarify the role of self-perspective underlying reappraisal in major depression.

  6. Dissociable Self Effects for Emotion Regulation: A Study of Chinese Major Depressive Outpatients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoxia Wang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Reappraisal is an adaptive emotion regulation strategy while the role of self-perspective in reappraisal process of depressed patients is largely unknown in terms of goals (valence/arousal and tactics (detachment/immersion. In this study, 12 depressed individuals and 15 controls were scanned with MRI during which they either attend naturally to emotional stimuli, or adopt detachment/immersion strategy. Behaviorally, no group differences in self-reported emotion regulation effectiveness were found. In addition, we observed that (1 patients were less able to downregulate amygdala activation with recruitment of more dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC when adopting detachment strategy regardless of valence, and this preserved ability to regulate emotion was inversely associated with severity of symptoms; (2 patients had deficits in upregulating amygdala activation when adopting immersion strategy, with less inferior frontal gyrus (IFG activation and strengthening coupling of dlPFC and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC with amygdala; (3 comparison between groups yielded that patients showed stronger vmPFC activation under either self-detached or self-immersed condition. In conclusion, impaired modulatory effects of amygdala in depressed patients are compensated with strengthening cognitive control resources, with dissociable effects for different self-perspectives in reappraisal. These results may help clarify the role of self-perspective underlying reappraisal in major depression.

  7. Emotions, motivation and self-regulation in boys' and girls' learning mathematics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cirila Peklaj

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship of affective and motivational processes and self-regulation in mathematics in secondary school students. We were interested in finding out if these relationships differ between boys and girls. Second, we predicted the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies from emotional and motivational variables. A total of 397 students (145 boys and 252 girls attending the first year of grammar schools in Slovenia participated in the study. Emotions were measured with the three scales assessing students' positive and negative emotions during math classes, during learning math at home and during math tests. Students' goal orientations were measured by Achievement Goal Questionnaire Revised (AGQ-revised; Elliot & Murayama, 2008, self-efficacy by Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS; Midgley et al., 2000 and cognitive and metacognititve strategies by Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ; Pintrich et al., 1991. More significant correlations between emotional and motivational dimensions were found for girls than for boys. The opposite was true for the relationship between emotional dimensions and strategies. Further hierarchical regression analyses showed that emotions explained a greater amount of variance in using cognitive and metacognitive strategies in boys than in girls. In both genders, positive emotions during learning math at home and math test are the best predictors of (metacognitive strategy use. Among motivational variables, only performance goal orientation explained significant amount of variance in all strategies in girls over and above emotional variables. Implications of emotional and motivational dimensions for the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in learning math are discussed, as well as implications for further research.

  8. The neural correlates of emotion regulation by implementation intentions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Glyn P Hallam

    Full Text Available Several studies have investigated the neural basis of effortful emotion regulation (ER but the neural basis of automatic ER has been less comprehensively explored. The present study investigated the neural basis of automatic ER supported by 'implementation intentions'. 40 healthy participants underwent fMRI while viewing emotion-eliciting images and used either a previously-taught effortful ER strategy, in the form of a goal intention (e.g., try to take a detached perspective, or a more automatic ER strategy, in the form of an implementation intention (e.g., "If I see something disgusting, then I will think these are just pixels on the screen!", to regulate their emotional response. Whereas goal intention ER strategies were associated with activation of brain areas previously reported to be involved in effortful ER (including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ER strategies based on an implementation intention strategy were associated with activation of right inferior frontal gyrus and ventro-parietal cortex, which may reflect the attentional control processes automatically captured by the cue for action contained within the implementation intention. Goal intentions were also associated with less effective modulation of left amygdala, supporting the increased efficacy of ER under implementation intention instructions, which showed coupling of orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. The findings support previous behavioural studies in suggesting that forming an implementation intention enables people to enact goal-directed responses with less effort and more efficiency.

  9. Helping Others Regulate Emotion Predicts Increased Regulation of One's Own Emotions and Decreased Symptoms of Depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doré, Bruce P; Morris, Robert R; Burr, Daisy A; Picard, Rosalind W; Ochsner, Kevin N

    2017-05-01

    Although much research considers how individuals manage their own emotions, less is known about the emotional benefits of regulating the emotions of others. We examined this topic in a 3-week study of an online platform providing training and practice in the social regulation of emotion. We found that participants who engaged more by helping others (vs. sharing and receiving support for their own problems) showed greater decreases in depression, mediated by increased use of reappraisal in daily life. Moreover, social regulation messages with more other-focused language (i.e., second-person pronouns) were (a) more likely to elicit expressions of gratitude from recipients and (b) predictive of increased use of reappraisal over time for message composers, suggesting perspective-taking enhances the benefits of practicing social regulation. These findings unpack potential mechanisms of socially oriented training in emotion regulation and suggest that by helping others regulate, we may enhance our own regulatory skills and emotional well-being.

  10. Implicit emotion regulation affects outcome evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Qiwei; Tang, Ping; Gu, Ruolei; Luo, Wenbo; Luo, Yue-jia

    2015-06-01

    Efficient implicit emotion regulation processes, which run without awareness, are important for human well-being. In this study, to investigate the influence of implicit emotion regulation on psychological and electrophysiological responses to gains and losses, participants were required to select between two Chinese four-character idioms to match the meaning of the third one before they performed a monetary gambling task. According to whether their meanings were related to emotion regulation, the idioms fell into two categories. Event-related potentials and self-rating emotional experiences to outcome feedback were recorded during the task. Priming emotion regulation reduced subjective emotional experience to both gains and losses and the amplitudes of the feedback-related negativity, while the P3 component was not influenced. According to these results, we suggest that the application of implicit emotion regulation effectively modulated the subjective emotional experience and the motivational salience of current outcomes without the cost of cognitive resources. This study implicates the potential significance of implicit emotion regulation in decision-making processes. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. Desired emotional states: their nature, causes, and implications for emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamir, Maya; Gutentag, Tony

    2017-10-01

    Emotion regulation is a process directed toward achieving desired emotions. People want to experience different emotions at different times and for different reasons, leading them to change emotions accordingly. Research on desired emotions has made several discoveries. First, what people want to feel varies across individuals and across situations. Second, what people want to feel depends on how much they value emotions and on the extent to which they expect emotions to yield behavioral, social, or epistemic benefits. Third, what people want to feel sets the direction of emotion regulation and can shape emotional experiences and subsequent behavior. Identifying and understanding desired emotional states can promote healthier emotion regulation and emotional experiences, and more adaptive personal and social functioning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Emotion introspection and regulation in depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herwig, Uwe; Opialla, Sarah; Cattapan, Katja; Wetter, Thomas C; Jäncke, Lutz; Brühl, Annette B

    2018-07-30

    Depressed patients suffer from an impairment to voluntarily influence and regulate their unpleasant emotional state. Strengthening the mental ability to interfere with dysfunctional emotion processing may be beneficial in treating depression. According to models of emotion processing this may be done by successful down-regulation of enhanced amygdala activity. We investigated short periods of intentional emotion-introspection compared with cognitive self-reflection as two domains of self-awareness in terms of effects on emotion regulation. Thirty depressed patients performed twelve second periods of emotion-introspection, self-reflection and a neutral condition during functional magnetic resonance imaging. We analyzed brain activation in the patients with depression by means of whole brain, region of interest and connectivity analyses. Amygdala activity decreased during emotion-introspection relative to self-reflection and to the neutral condition, whereby left amygdala was inversely activated relative to the left insula. Insula activity itself was correlated with medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation. In conclusion, depressed patients are able to down-regulate amygdala activity by emotion-introspection. This may be interpreted as well-working emotion regulation supposedly induced by PFC connections mediated via insula. The finding supports the application of emotion-introspection, a mindfulness-related process, in a clinical setting as an element of psychotherapy to train and improve emotion regulation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Environmental Strategies of Affect Regulation and Their Associations With Subjective Well-Being

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kalevi M. Korpela

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Environmental strategies of affect regulation refer to the use of natural and urban socio-physical settings in the service of regulation. We investigated the perceived use and efficacy of environmental strategies for regulation of general affect and sadness, considering them in relation to other affect regulation strategies and to subjective well-being. Participants from Australia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, India, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden (N = 507 evaluated the frequency of use and perceived efficacy of affect regulation strategies using a modified version of the Measure of Affect Regulation Styles (MARS. The internet survey also included the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS, emotional well-being items from the RAND 36-Item Health Survey, and a single-item measure of perceived general health. Environmental regulation formed a separate factor of affect regulation in the exploratory structural equation models (ESEM. Although no relations of environmental strategies with emotional well-being were found, both the perceived frequency of use and efficacy of environmental strategies were positively related to perceived health. Moreover, the perceived efficacy of environmental strategies was positively related to life satisfaction in regulating sadness. The results encourage more explicit treatment of environmental strategies in research on affect regulation.

  14. Environmental Strategies of Affect Regulation and Their Associations With Subjective Well-Being

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korpela, Kalevi M.; Pasanen, Tytti; Repo, Veera; Hartig, Terry; Staats, Henk; Mason, Michael; Alves, Susana; Fornara, Ferdinando; Marks, Tony; Saini, Sunil; Scopelliti, Massimiliano; Soares, Ana L.; Stigsdotter, Ulrika K.; Ward Thompson, Catharine

    2018-01-01

    Environmental strategies of affect regulation refer to the use of natural and urban socio-physical settings in the service of regulation. We investigated the perceived use and efficacy of environmental strategies for regulation of general affect and sadness, considering them in relation to other affect regulation strategies and to subjective well-being. Participants from Australia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, India, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden (N = 507) evaluated the frequency of use and perceived efficacy of affect regulation strategies using a modified version of the Measure of Affect Regulation Styles (MARS). The internet survey also included the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), emotional well-being items from the RAND 36-Item Health Survey, and a single-item measure of perceived general health. Environmental regulation formed a separate factor of affect regulation in the exploratory structural equation models (ESEM). Although no relations of environmental strategies with emotional well-being were found, both the perceived frequency of use and efficacy of environmental strategies were positively related to perceived health. Moreover, the perceived efficacy of environmental strategies was positively related to life satisfaction in regulating sadness. The results encourage more explicit treatment of environmental strategies in research on affect regulation. PMID:29720955

  15. Unique contributions of emotion regulation and executive functions in predicting the quality of parent-child interaction behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaffer, Anne; Obradović, Jelena

    2017-03-01

    Parenting is a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral endeavor, yet limited research investigates parents' executive functions and emotion regulation as predictors of how parents interact with their children. The current study is a multimethod investigation of parental self-regulation in relation to the quality of parenting behavior and parent-child interactions in a diverse sample of parents and kindergarten-age children. Using path analyses, we tested how parent executive functions (inhibitory control) and lack of emotion regulation strategies uniquely relate to both sensitive/responsive behaviors and positive/collaborative behaviors during observed interaction tasks. In our analyses, we accounted for parent education, financial stress, and social support as socioeconomic factors that likely relate to parent executive function and emotion regulation skills. In a diverse sample of primary caregivers (N = 102), we found that direct assessment of parent inhibitory control was positively associated with sensitive/responsive behaviors, whereas parent self-reported difficulties in using emotion regulation strategies were associated with lower levels of positive and collaborative dyadic behaviors. Parent education and financial stress predicted inhibitory control, and social support predicted emotion regulation difficulties; parent education was also a significant predictor of sensitive/responsive behaviors. Greater inhibitory control skills and fewer difficulties identifying effective emotion regulation strategies were not significantly related in our final path model. We discuss our findings in the context of current and emerging parenting interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. Emotion Socialization Strategies of Mothers With Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms: The Role of Maternal Emotion Regulation and Interactions With Infant Temperament.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiel, Elizabeth J; Viana, Andres G; Tull, Matthew T; Gratz, Kim L

    2017-06-01

    Although the interpersonal difficulties associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are well established, their manifestations within the context of parent-child relationships remain understudied. The current study investigated the relation of maternal BPD symptoms to nonsupportive emotion socialization (i.e., the extent to which mothers punish or minimize their young children's displays of negative emotions), as well as the mediating role of maternal emotion regulation difficulties in this relation. The authors also investigated the moderating role of maternal BPD symptoms in the relation between infant temperamental anger and fear and punitive/minimizing emotion socialization. Using a sample of 99 mother-infant dyads, the authors found that maternal BPD symptoms were significantly related to punitive/minimizing emotion socialization and that maternal emotion regulation difficulties mediated this relation. Moreover, maternal BPD symptoms strengthened the association between mother-reported infant anger and punitive/minimizing emotion socialization. These results extend the growing literature on the impact of maternal BPD on child development.

  17. Definitional Issues in Emotion Regulation Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bridges, Lisa J.; Denham, Susanne A.; Ganiban, Jody M.

    2004-01-01

    Operational definitions of emotion regulation are frequently unclear, as are links between emotion regulation measures and underlying theoretical constructs. This is of concern because measurement decisions can have both intentional and unintentional implications for underlying conceptualizations of emotion regulation. This report examines the…

  18. Can we link emotional eating with the emotion regulation skills of adolescents?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandewalle, Julie; Moens, Ellen; Beyers, Wim; Braet, Caroline

    2016-07-01

    A recent cross-sectional study showed that maternal rejection is associated with emotional eating of obese youngsters seeking treatment, and that this relation is mediated by maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) of the youngsters. We wanted to build on this study and investigate the relation between parental rejection, maladaptive ER and emotional eating in a community sample using longitudinal data. Participants were 81 youngsters between the ages of 10 and 16 years. Participants completed questionnaires assessing maternal and paternal rejection, ER strategies and emotional eating, at two time moments (M = 71 days between time moments). Latent change models were used to estimate level and change of each variable. Results showed that the levels of maternal rejection, maladaptive ER and emotional eating were related. The indirect effect of the level of maternal rejection on the level of emotional eating through the level of maladaptive ER was marginally significant. On average, maternal rejection showed no change over time, whereas the other variables decreased. The changes in the variables were not related. The findings highlight the importance of assessing the emotional bond between mother and youngster and the ER of youngsters with an emotional eating style.

  19. Social regulation of emotion: messy layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kappas, Arvid

    2013-01-01

    Emotions are evolved systems of intra- and interpersonal processes that are regulatory in nature, dealing mostly with issues of personal or social concern. They regulate social interaction and in extension, the social sphere. In turn, processes in the social sphere regulate emotions of individuals and groups. In other words, intrapersonal processes project in the interpersonal space, and inversely, interpersonal experiences deeply influence intrapersonal processes. Thus, I argue that the concepts of emotion generation and regulation should not be artificially separated. Similarly, interpersonal emotions should not be reduced to interacting systems of intraindividual processes. Instead, we can consider emotions at different social levels, ranging from dyads to large scale e-communities. The interaction between these levels is complex and does not only involve influences from one level to the next. In this sense the levels of emotion/regulation are messy and a challenge for empirical study. In this article, I discuss the concepts of emotions and regulation at different intra- and interpersonal levels. I extend the concept of auto-regulation of emotions (Kappas, 2008, 2011a,b) to social processes. Furthermore, I argue for the necessity of including mediated communication, particularly in cyberspace in contemporary models of emotion/regulation. Lastly, I suggest the use of concepts from systems dynamics and complex systems to tackle the challenge of the “messy layers.” PMID:23424049

  20. Social Regulation of Emotion: Messy Layers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arvid eKappas

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Emotions are evolved systems of intra- and interpersonal processes that are regulatory in nature, dealing mostly with issues of personal or social concern. They regulate social interaction and in extension, the social sphere. In turn, processes in the social sphere regulate emotions of individuals and groups. In other words, intrapersonal processes project in the interpersonal space, and inversely, interpersonal experiences deeply influence intrapersonal processes. Thus, I argue that the concepts of emotion generation and regulation should not be artificially separated. Similarly, interpersonal emotions should not be reduced to interacting systems of intraindividual processes. Instead, we can consider emotions at different social levels, ranging from dyads to large scale e-communities. The interaction between these levels is complex and does not only involve influences from one level to the next. In this sense the levels of emotion/regulation are messy and a challenge for empirical study. In this article, I discuss the concepts of emotions and regulation at different intra- and interpersonal levels. I extend the concept of auto-regulation of emotions (Kappas, 2008. 2011a, 2011b to social processes. Furthermore, I argue for the necessity of including mediated communication, particularly in cyberspace in contemporary models of emotion/regulation. Lastly, I suggest the use of concepts from systems dynamics and complex systems to tackle the challenge of the messy layers.

  1. Emotional sensitivity, emotion regulation and impulsivity in borderline personality disorder: a critical review of fMRI studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Zutphen, Linda; Siep, Nicolette; Jacob, Gitta A; Goebel, Rainer; Arntz, Arnoud

    2015-04-01

    Emotional sensitivity, emotion regulation and impulsivity are fundamental topics in research of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Studies using fMRI examining the neural correlates concerning these topics is growing and has just begun understanding the underlying neural correlates in BPD. However, there are strong similarities but also important differences in results of different studies. It is therefore important to know in more detail what these differences are and how we should interpret these. In present review a critical light is shed on the fMRI studies examining emotional sensitivity, emotion regulation and impulsivity in BPD patients. First an outline of the methodology and the results of the studies will be given. Thereafter important issues that remained unanswered and topics to improve future research are discussed. Future research should take into account the limited power of previous studies and focus more on BPD specificity with regard to time course responses, different regulation strategies, manipulation of self-regulation, medication use, a wider range of stimuli, gender effects and the inclusion of a clinical control group. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Mindful attention to breath regulates emotions via increased amygdala-prefrontal cortex connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doll, Anselm; Hölzel, Britta K; Mulej Bratec, Satja; Boucard, Christine C; Xie, Xiyao; Wohlschläger, Afra M; Sorg, Christian

    2016-07-01

    Mindfulness practice is beneficial for emotion regulation; however, the neural mechanisms underlying this effect are poorly understood. The current study focuses on effects of attention-to-breath (ATB) as a basic mindfulness practice on aversive emotions at behavioral and brain levels. A key finding across different emotion regulation strategies is the modulation of amygdala and prefrontal activity. It is unclear how ATB relevant brain areas in the prefrontal cortex integrate with amygdala activation during emotional stimulation. We proposed that, during emotional stimulation, ATB down-regulates activation in the amygdala and increases its integration with prefrontal regions. To address this hypothesis, 26 healthy controls were trained in mindfulness-based attention-to-breath meditation for two weeks and then stimulated with aversive pictures during both attention-to-breath and passive viewing while undergoing fMRI. Data were controlled for breathing frequency. Results indicate that (1) ATB was effective in regulating aversive emotions. (2) Left dorso-medial prefrontal cortex was associated with ATB in general. (3) A fronto-parietal network was additionally recruited during emotional stimulation. (4) ATB down regulated amygdala activation and increased amygdala-prefrontal integration, with such increased integration being associated with mindfulness ability. Results suggest amygdala-dorsal prefrontal cortex integration as a potential neural pathway of emotion regulation by mindfulness practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. The importance of distinguishing between the different eating disorders (sub)types when assessing emotion regulation strategies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Danner, Unna; Sternheim, Lot; Evers, Catharine

    2014-01-01

    People with eating disorders (ED) have difficulties regulating their emotions adaptively. Little is known about differences and similarities between different types of ED and how these regulation difficulties relate to other emotional problems. The present study examines maladaptive (suppression)

  4. Emotion regulation and disease adjustment in women and men with rheumatoid arthritis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Middendorp, Henriet; Geenen, Rinie; Sorbi, Marjolijn J.; Vingerhoets, Ad J. J. M.; van Doornen, Lorenz J. P.; Bijlsma, Johannes W. J.

    2008-01-01

    Strategies to regulate emotions (alexithymia, affect intensity, and emotional expression) were examined by questionnaires in 249 female and 96 male patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA; age range: 19-87 years) and compared to the scores of 196 female control participants (age range: 19-82 years).

  5. Dealing with emotions when the ability to cry is hampered: emotion processing and regulation in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Leeuwen, Ninke; Bossema, Ercolie R; van Middendorp, Henriët; Kruize, Aike A; Bootsma, Hendrika; Bijlsma, Johannes W J; Geenen, Rinie

    2012-01-01

    The hampered ability to cry in patients with Sjögren's syndrome may affect their ways of dealing with emotions. The aim of this study was to examine differences in emotion processing and regulation between people with and without Sjögren's syndrome and correlations of emotion processing and regulation with mental well-being. In 300 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome and 100 demographically matched control participants (mean age 56.8 years, 93% female), emotion processing (affect intensity and alexithymia, i.e. difficulty identifying and describing feelings), emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal, suppression and expression of emotions), and mental well-being were assessed. Criteria for clinical alexithymia applied to 22% of the patients and 12% of the control participants; patients had significantly more difficulty identifying feelings than control participants. No other significant differences in emotion processing and emotion regulation were found. In patients, the emotion processing styles affect intensity and alexithymia (0.32emotion regulation strategy suppression of emotions (r=0.13) significantly correlated with worse mental well-being, which is about similar to control participants. Processing and regulating emotions in patients with Sjögren's syndrome does not deviate from normal with one exception: a relatively large number of patients is alexithymic. As in the general population, in patients with Sjögren's syndrome the more intense and deficient processing and regulation of emotions is associated with worse mental well-being. This study indicates that, except for selected patients, processing and regulation of emotions is not a key therapeutic issue for the majority of patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

  6. Drinking motives mediate emotion regulation difficulties and problem drinking in college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aurora, Pallavi; Klanecky, Alicia K

    2016-05-01

    Problem drinking in college places students at an increased risk for a wealth of negative consequences including alcohol use disorders. Most research has shown that greater emotion regulation difficulties are related to increased problem drinking, and studies generally assume that drinking is motivated by efforts to cope with or enhance affective experiences. However, there is a lack of research specifically testing this assumption. The current study sought to examine the mediating potential of drinking motives, specifically coping and enhancement, on the relationship between emotion regulation and problem drinking. College participants (N = 200) completed an online survey, consisting of a battery of measures assessing alcohol use behaviors and related variables. Coping drinking motives fully mediated the emotion regulation/problem drinking relationship, and enhancement motives partially mediated this relationship. Exploratory analyses indicated that all four drinking motives (i.e. coping, enhancement, social, and conformity) simultaneously mediated the relationship between emotion regulation and quantity/frequency of alcohol use. However, only coping and enhancement significantly mediated the relationship between emotion regulation and alcohol-related consequences (e.g. alcohol dependence symptoms, alcohol-related injuries). The current results offer direction for potentially modifying brief alcohol interventions in efforts to reduce students' engagement in problem drinking behaviors. For example, interventions might incorporate information on the risks of using alcohol as a means of emotion regulation and offer alternative emotion regulation strategies.

  7. Mothering, fathering, and the regulation of negative and positive emotions in high-functioning preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirschler-Guttenberg, Yael; Golan, Ofer; Ostfeld-Etzion, Sharon; Feldman, Ruth

    2015-05-01

    Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit difficulties in regulating emotions and authors have called to study the specific processes underpinning emotion regulation (ER) in ASD. Yet, little observational research examined the strategies preschoolers with ASD use to regulate negative and positive emotions in the presence of their mothers and fathers. Forty preschoolers with ASD and 40 matched typically developing children and their mothers and fathers participated. Families were visited twice for identical battery of paradigms with mother or father. Parent-child interactions were coded for parent and child behaviors and children engaged in ER paradigms eliciting negative (fear) and positive (joy) emotions with each parent. ER paradigms were microcoded for negative and positive emotionality, ER strategies, and parent regulation facilitation. During free play, mothers' and fathers' sensitivity and warm discipline were comparable across groups; however, children with ASD displayed lower positive engagement and higher withdrawal. During ER paradigms, children with ASD expressed less positive emotionality overall and more negative emotionality during fear with father. Children with ASD used more simple self-regulatory strategies, particularly during fear, but expressed comparable levels of assistance seeking behavior toward mother and father in negative and positive contexts. Parents of children with ASD used less complex regulation facilitation strategies, including cognitive reappraisal and emotional reframing, and employed simple tactics, such as physical comforting to manage fear and social gaze to maintain joy. Findings describe general and parent- and emotion-specific processes of child ER and parent regulation facilitation in preschoolers with ASD. Results underscore the ability of such children to seek parental assistance during moments of high arousal and the parents' sensitive adaptation to their children's needs. Reduced positive emotionality

  8. Incremental Validity of the Subscales of the Emotional Regulation Related to Testing Scale for Predicting Test Anxiety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldt, Ronald; Lindley, Kyla; Louison, Rebecca; Roe, Allison; Timm, Megan; Utinkova, Nikola

    2015-01-01

    The Emotional Regulation Related to Testing Scale (ERT Scale) assesses strategies students use to regulate emotion related to academic testing. It has four dimensions: Cognitive Appraising Processes (CAP), Emotion-Focusing Processes (EFP), Task-Focusing Processes (TFP), and Regaining Task-Focusing Processes (RTFP). The study examined the factor…

  9. Does rumination mediate the relationship between emotion regulation ability and posttraumatic stress disorder?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Ehring

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Background and objectives: Trauma-related rumination has been suggested to be involved in the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD. This view has empirically been supported by extensive evidence using cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental designs. However, it is unclear why trauma survivors engage in rumination despite its negative consequences. The current study aimed to explore the hypothesis that low emotion regulation ability underlies trauma-related rumination. Methods: Emotion regulation ability and trauma-related rumination were assessed in 93 road traffic accident survivors 2 weeks post-trauma. In addition, symptom levels of PTSD were assessed at 2 weeks as well as 1, 3, and 6 months follow-up. Results: Emotion regulation ability was significantly related to trauma-related rumination as well as levels of PTSD symptoms. In addition, the association between low emotion regulation ability and PTSD was mediated by rumination. Conclusions: The findings support the view that rumination is used as a dysfunctional emotion regulation strategy by trauma survivors.

  10. An exploration of emotional protection and regulation in nurse-patient interactions: The role of the professional face and the emotional mirror.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cecil, Penelope; Glass, Nel

    2015-01-01

    While interpersonal styles of nurse-patient communication have become more relaxed in recent years, nurses remain challenged in emotional engagement with patients and other health professionals. In order to preserve a professional distance in patient care delivery however slight, nurses need to be able to regulate their emotions. This research aimed to investigate nurses' perceptions of emotional protection and regulation in patient care delivery. A qualitative approach was used for the study utilising in-depth semi-structured interviews and researcher reflective journaling. Participants were drawn from rural New South Wales. Following institutional ethics approval 5 nurses were interviewed and reflective journaling commenced. The interviews and the reflective journal were transcribed verbatim. The results revealed that nurses' emotional regulation demonstrated by a 'professional face' was an important strategy to enable delivery of quality care even though it resulted in emotional containment. Such regulation was a protective mechanism employed to look after self and was critical in situations of emotional dissonance. The results also found that nurses experience emotional dissonance in situations where they have unresolved personal emotional issues and the latter was a individual motivator to manage emotions in the workplace. Emotions play a pivotal role within nurse-patient relationships. The professional face can be recognised as contributing to emotional health and therefore maintaining the emotional health of nurses in practice. This study foregrounds the importance of regulating emotions and nurturing nurses' emotional health in contemporary practice.

  11. Coping, Cognitive Emotion Regulation, and Burnout in Long-Term Care Nursing Staff: A Preliminary Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bamonti, Patricia; Conti, Elizabeth; Cavanagh, Casey; Gerolimatos, Lindsay; Gregg, Jeffrey; Goulet, Carol; Pifer, Marisa; Edelstein, Barry

    2017-06-01

    Direct care workers (e.g., certified nursing assistants [CNAs]) employed in long-term care (LTC) are particularly vulnerable to the experience of burnout, yet they have received relatively less research attention compared to Licensed Practical Nurses and Registered Nurses. Within the burnout literature, evidence suggests that the deployment of certain coping strategies influences levels of burnout. The current study examined the extent to which coping (e.g., problem-focused, emotion-focused, and dysfunctional coping) and cognitive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., positive reappraisal) predicted burnout after controlling for covariates (age, sleep duration). Fifty-six CNAs were surveyed at four skilled nursing facilities in the United States. Dysfunctional coping was significantly associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Among cognitive emotion regulation strategies, positive reappraisal was significantly associated with depersonalization. Shorter sleep duration was associated with significantly greater depersonalization. Findings suggest the need to develop interventions for CNAs aimed at reducing dysfunctional coping strategies and increasing sleep duration.

  12. An examination of the roles of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder on emotion regulation strategies of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn veterans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sippel, Lauren M; Roy, Alicia M; Southwick, Steven M; Fichtenholtz, Harlan M

    2016-09-01

    Theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) implicate emotional processes, including difficulties utilizing adaptive emotion regulation strategies, as critical to the etiology and maintenance of PTSD. Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OIF/OEF/OND) veterans report high levels of combat exposure and PTSD. We aimed to extend findings suggesting that emotion regulation difficulties are a function of PTSD, rather than combat trauma exposure or common comorbidities, to OIF/OEF/OND veterans, in order to inform models of PTSD risk and recovery that can be applied to returning veterans. We tested differences in emotion regulation, measured with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, among trauma-exposed veterans with (n = 24) or without PTSD (n = 22) and healthy civilian comparison participants (n = 27) using multivariate analyses of covariance, adjusting for major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and demographic variables (age, sex, and ethnicity). Veterans with PTSD reported more use of expressive suppression and more difficulties with emotion regulation than veterans without PTSD and healthy comparison participants. Groups did not differ on cognitive reappraisal. Findings suggest the key role of PTSD above and beyond trauma exposure, depression, and anxiety in specific aspects of emotion dysregulation among OIF/OEF/OND veterans. Interventions that help veterans expand and diversify their emotion regulation skills may serve as helpful adjunctive treatments for PTSD among OIF/OEF/OND veterans.

  13. [Cognitive emotion regulation of patients qualified for implantation of heart rhythm control device].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziętalewicz, Urszula; Jędrzejczyk, Jan; Mojkowski, Włodzimierz; Mojkowski, Dariusz

    2016-11-25

    The aim of the artificial heart stimulation is not only saving lives, but also improvement of the quality of life of patients with cardiac arrhythmias. One of the key dimensions of quality of life is psychological functioning. Until now, little research assess this dimension in patients before the implantation of the heart rhythm control device. The aim of the study was to assess the severity of depression and anxiety and the frequency of the used cognitive emotion regulation strategies and to examine the relationship between them. The study group consisted of 60 people qualified for pacemaker implantation (42 PM patients and 18 ICD): 15 women and 45 men ranging in age from 43 to 85. To assess cognitive emotion regulation strategies Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was used, and to assess the severity of depression and anxiety - Mood Assessment Questionnaire. Patients with PM more often than patients with ICD use the strategy of Positive Reappraisal (U = 231.50, p = 0.045). There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of use of other strategies and severity of depression and anxiety. In PM patients there are negative correlations between the severity of depression and anxiety and the use of Acceptance ( τ = -0.380), a Positive Reappraisal ( τ = -0.278), Positive Refocusing ( τ = -0.366) and between the level of anxiety and Putting into Perspective ( τ = -0.402). In ICD patients there was a positive relationship between anxiety and Cathastrophizing ( τ = 0.324). The severity of depression and anxiety, and emotion regulation strategies in patients qualified for PM implantation in comparison with patients qualified for ICD implantation are similar. Both groups of patients show a good adaptation of the psychological.

  14. Physical-Verbal Aggression and Depression in Adolescents: The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies / Agresión físico-verbal y depresión en adolescentes: el papel de las estrategias cognitivas de regulación emocional

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lourdes Rey Peña

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The present study examined the relationships between the use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, physical-verbal aggression and depression in a sample of 248 adolescents. Specific emotion regulation strategies such as acceptance, rumination and catastrophizing explained significant variancein depression in adolescents. With respect to physical-verbal aggression, our results showed that the use of self-blame and rumination only predicted levels of aggression in boys but not girls. Regarding gender differences, girls tend to ruminate and to report more catastrophic thoughts than boys. Our findings suggest a profile of cognitive emotion regulation strategies related to physical-verbal aggression and depressive symptoms which might be taken into account in future socio-emotional learning programs for adolescents.

  15. The cost of believing emotions are uncontrollable: Youths' beliefs about emotion predict emotion regulation and depressive symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Brett Q; Lwi, Sandy J; Gentzler, Amy L; Hankin, Benjamin; Mauss, Iris B

    2018-04-05

    As humans, we have a unique capacity to reflect on our experiences, including emotions. Over time, we develop beliefs about the nature of emotions, and these beliefs are consequential, guiding how we respond to emotions and how we feel as a consequence. One fundamental belief concerns the controllability of emotions: Believing emotions are uncontrollable (entity beliefs) should reduce the likelihood of trying to control emotional experiences using effective regulation strategies like reappraisal; this, in turn, could negatively affect core indices of psychological health, including depressive symptoms. This model holds particular relevance during youth, when emotion-related beliefs first develop and stabilize and when maladaptive beliefs could contribute to emerging risk for depression. In the present investigation, a pilot diary study (N = 223, aged 21-60) demonstrated that entity beliefs were associated with using reappraisal less in everyday life, even when controlling for possible confounds (i.e., self-efficacy, pessimism, stress exposure, stress reactivity). Then, two studies examined whether entity beliefs and associated impairments in reappraisal may set youths on a maladaptive trajectory: In a cross-sectional study (N = 136, aged 14-18), youths with stronger entity beliefs experienced greater depressive symptoms, and this link was mediated by lower reappraisal. This pattern was replicated and extended in a longitudinal study (N = 227, aged 10-18), wherein youth- and parent-reported depressive symptoms were assessed 18 months after assessing beliefs. These results suggest that entity beliefs about emotion constitute a risk factor for depression that acts via reappraisal, adding to the growing literature on emotion beliefs and their consequences for self-regulation and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. Attachment's Links With Adolescents' Social Emotions: The Roles of Negative Emotionality and Emotion Regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Tia Panfile; Laible, Deborah J; Augustine, Mairin; Robeson, Lindsay

    2015-01-01

    Recent research has attempted to explain the mechanisms through which parental attachment affects social and emotional outcomes (e.g., Burnette, Taylor, Worthington, & Forsyth, 2007 ; Panfile & Laible, 2012 ). The authors' goal was to examine negative emotionality and emotion regulation as mediators of the associations that attachment has with empathy, forgiveness, guilt, and jealousy. One hundred forty-eight adolescents reported their parental attachment security, general levels of negative emotionality and abilities to regulate emotional responses, and tendencies to feel empathy, forgiveness, guilt, and jealousy. Results revealed that attachment security was associated with higher levels of empathy, forgiveness, and guilt, but lower levels of jealousy. In addition, emotion regulation mediated the links attachment shared with both empathy and guilt, such that higher levels of attachment security were linked with greater levels of emotion regulation, which led to greater levels of empathy and guilt. Alternatively, negative emotionality mediated the links attachment shared with both forgiveness and jealousy, such that higher levels of attachment security were associated with lower levels of negative emotionality, which in turn was linked to lower levels of forgiveness and higher levels of jealousy. This study provides a general picture of how attachment security may play a role in shaping an individual's levels of social emotions.

  17. Emotion regulation moderates the association between empathy and prosocial behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lockwood, Patricia L; Seara-Cardoso, Ana; Viding, Essi

    2014-01-01

    Theory and evidence suggest that empathy is an important motivating factor for prosocial behaviour and that emotion regulation, i.e. the capacity to exert control over an emotional response, may moderate the degree to which empathy is associated with prosocial behaviour. However, studies to date have not simultaneously explored the associations between different empathic processes and prosocial behaviour, nor whether different types of emotion regulation strategies (e.g. cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) moderate associations between empathy and prosocial behaviour. One hundred-and-ten healthy adults completed questionnaire measures of empathy, emotion regulation and prosocial tendencies. In this sample, both affective and cognitive empathy predicted self-reported prosocial tendencies. In addition, cognitive reappraisal moderated the association between affective empathy and prosocial tendencies. Specifically, there was a significant positive association between empathy and prosocial tendencies for individuals with a low or average tendency to reappraise but not for those with a high tendency to reappraise. Our findings suggest that, in general, empathy is positively associated with prosocial behaviour. However, this association is not significant for individuals with a high tendency for cognitive reappraisal.

  18. Relationship between cognitive emotion regulation, social support, resilience and acute stress responses in Chinese soldiers: Exploring multiple mediation model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Wen-Peng; Pan, Yu; Zhang, Shui-Miao; Wei, Cun; Dong, Wei; Deng, Guang-Hui

    2017-10-01

    The current study aimed to explore the association of cognitive emotion regulation, social support, resilience and acute stress responses in Chinese soldiers and to understand the multiple mediation effects of social support and resilience on the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and acute stress responses. A total of 1477 male soldiers completed mental scales, including the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire-Chinese version, the perceived social support scale, the Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson resilience scale, and the military acute stress scale. As hypothesized, physiological responses, psychological responses, and acute stress were associated with negative-focused cognitive emotion regulation, and negatively associated with positive-focused cognitive emotion regulation, social supports and resilience. Besides, positive-focused cognitive emotion regulation, social support, and resilience were significantly associated with one another, and negative-focused cognitive emotion regulation was negatively associated with social support. Regression analysis and bootstrap analysis showed that social support and resilience had partly mediating effects on negative strategies and acute stress, and fully mediating effects on positive strategies and acute stress. These results thus indicate that military acute stress is significantly associated with cognitive emotion regulation, social support, and resilience, and that social support and resilience have multiple mediation effects on the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and acute stress responses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Choir singing and creative writing enhance emotion regulation in adults with chronic mental health conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dingle, Genevieve A; Williams, Elyse; Jetten, Jolanda; Welch, Jonathon

    2017-11-01

    Adults with mental health conditions commonly experience difficulties with emotion regulation which affect their social functioning. Arts-based groups provide opportunities for shared emotional experiences and emotion regulation. This study explores emotion regulation strategies and the emotional effects of arts-based group participation in adults with mental health problems and in controls. The 62 participants included 39 adults with chronic mental health problems who were members of arts-based groups (ABG) and 23 comparison choir (CC) members who were not specifically experiencing mental health problems. The repeated measures design included self-reports of emotion upon waking (T1), the hour before group (T2), end of the group (T3), and evening (T4), as well as participant notes to explain their emotion ratings at each time. They also completed measures of individual and interpersonal emotion regulation. The ABG participants engaged marginally more in affect worsening strategies than CC (p = .057 and .08), but there were no other group differences. All participants reported a significant increase in positive emotions, F (3, 180) = 28.044, p emotions during the arts-based activity: F (2.637, 155.597) = 21.09, p emotions was short-lived, while the effect on negative emotions lasted until evening. Findings show that participation in arts-based groups benefits the emotions of both healthy adults and those experiencing mental health conditions through individual and interpersonal processes. Individuals with chronic mental health conditions often experience difficulties in emotion processing Participation in arts-based groups was associated with significant increases in positive emotions although these were short-lived Negative emotion was significantly decreased during arts-based group activities, and sustained to the evening assessment Adults with chronic mental health conditions were equally able to derive emotional benefits as healthy adults. © 2017 The

  20. Emotion Regulation Feeding Practices Link Parents' Emotional Eating to Children's Emotional Eating: A Moderated Mediation Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Cin Cin; Holub, Shayla C

    2015-08-01

    Past research suggests an association between parents' and children's emotional eating, but research has yet to examine mechanisms underlying this association. The current study examined whether feeding for emotion regulation mediates the association between parents' and children's emotional eating, and whether this association is moderated by children's self-regulation in eating. 95 parents reported on their own and their children's emotional eating, their children's self-regulation in eating, as well as their feeding practices. Findings revealed that feeding for emotion regulation mediated the association between parents' and children's emotional eating when children's self-regulation in eating was low, but not when self-regulation in eating was high. The current findings demonstrate the complexity of the link between parents' and children's emotional eating, suggesting practitioners should consider both feeding practices and children's self-regulation in eating when designing intervention programs. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved.For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  1. An examination of the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and borderline personality disorder features: the role of difficulties with emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuo, Janice R; Khoury, Jennifer E; Metcalfe, Rebecca; Fitzpatrick, Skye; Goodwill, Alasdair

    2015-01-01

    Childhood abuse has been consistently linked with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and recent studies suggest that some forms of childhood abuse might be uniquely related to both BPD and BPD features. In addition, difficulties with emotion regulation have been found to be associated with childhood abuse, BPD, as well as BPD features. The present study examined (1) whether frequency of childhood emotional abuse is uniquely associated with BPD feature severity when controlling for other forms of childhood abuse and (2) whether difficulties with emotion regulation accounts for the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and BPD feature severity. A sample of undergraduates (n=243) completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Short Form, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and Borderline Symptom List-23. Multiple regression analyses and Structural Equation Modeling were conducted. Results indicated that frequency of childhood emotional abuse (and not sexual or physical abuse) was uniquely associated with BPD feature severity. In addition, while there was no direct path between childhood emotional abuse, childhood physical abuse, or childhood sexual abuse and BPD features, there was an indirect relationship between childhood emotional abuse and BPD features through difficulties with emotion regulation. These findings suggest that, of the different forms of childhood abuse, emotional abuse specifically, may have a developmental role in BPD pathology. Prevention and treatment of BPD pathology might benefit from the provision of emotion regulation strategies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Emotion Regulation as the Foundation of Political Attitudes: Does Reappraisal Decrease Support for Conservative Policies?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jooa Julia; Sohn, Yunkyu; Fowler, James H.

    2013-01-01

    Cognitive scientists, behavior geneticists, and political scientists have identified several ways in which emotions influence political attitudes, and psychologists have shown that emotion regulation can have an important causal effect on physiology, cognition, and subjective experience. However, no work to date explores the possibility that emotion regulation may shape political ideology and attitudes toward policies. Here, we conduct four studies that investigate the role of a particular emotion regulation strategy – reappraisal in particular. Two observational studies show that individual differences in emotion regulation styles predict variation in political orientations and support for conservative policies. In the third study, we experimentally induce disgust as the target emotion to be regulated and show that use of reappraisal reduces the experience of disgust, thereby decreasing moral concerns associated with conservatism. In the final experimental study, we show that use of reappraisal successfully attenuates the relationship between trait-level disgust sensitivity and support for conservative policies. Our findings provide the first evidence of a critical link between emotion regulation and political attitudes. PMID:24367583

  3. Emotion regulation as the foundation of political attitudes: does reappraisal decrease support for conservative policies?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jooa Julia Lee

    Full Text Available Cognitive scientists, behavior geneticists, and political scientists have identified several ways in which emotions influence political attitudes, and psychologists have shown that emotion regulation can have an important causal effect on physiology, cognition, and subjective experience. However, no work to date explores the possibility that emotion regulation may shape political ideology and attitudes toward policies. Here, we conduct four studies that investigate the role of a particular emotion regulation strategy--reappraisal in particular. Two observational studies show that individual differences in emotion regulation styles predict variation in political orientations and support for conservative policies. In the third study, we experimentally induce disgust as the target emotion to be regulated and show that use of reappraisal reduces the experience of disgust, thereby decreasing moral concerns associated with conservatism. In the final experimental study, we show that use of reappraisal successfully attenuates the relationship between trait-level disgust sensitivity and support for conservative policies. Our findings provide the first evidence of a critical link between emotion regulation and political attitudes.

  4. Neural correlates of emotion regulation in patients with schizophrenia and non-affected siblings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisette van der Meer

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Patients with schizophrenia often experience problems regulating their emotions. Non-affected relatives show similar difficulties, although to a lesser extent, and the neural basis of such difficulties remains to be elucidated. In the current paper we investigated whether schizophrenia patients, non-affected siblings and healthy controls (HC exhibit differences in brain activation during emotion regulation. METHODS: All subjects (n = 20 per group performed an emotion regulation task while they were in an fMRI scanner. The task contained two experimental conditions for the down-regulation of emotions (reappraise and suppress, in which IAPS pictures were used to generate a negative affect. We also assessed whether the groups differed in emotion regulation strategies used in daily life by means of the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ. RESULTS: Though the overall negative affect was higher for patients as well as for siblings compared to HC for all conditions, all groups reported decreased negative affect after both regulation conditions. Nonetheless, neuroimaging results showed hypoactivation relative to HC in VLPFC, insula, middle temporal gyrus, caudate and thalamus for patients when reappraising negative pictures. In siblings, the same pattern was evident as in patients, but only in cortical areas. CONCLUSIONS: Given that all groups performed similarly on the emotion regulation task, but differed in overall negative affect ratings and brain activation, our findings suggest reduced levels of emotion regulation processing in neural circuits in patients with schizophrenia. Notably, this also holds for siblings, albeit to a lesser extent, indicating that it may be part and parcel of a vulnerability for psychosis.

  5. When ideology meets conflict-related content: Influences on emotion generation and regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pliskin, Ruthie; Halperin, Eran; Bar-Tal, Daniel; Sheppes, Gal

    2018-03-01

    Do rightists and leftists experience information about suffering and harm with differing emotional intensities, depending on the identity of target depicted? Do they consequently choose differently how to regulate or cope with these emotions? Research has identified ideological differences in emotional processes, but it has yet to identify what types of content lead to ideological differences in emotional intensity or whether these content-dependent differences relate to differing preferences for engaging versus disengaging emotion-regulation strategies. We posited that right-left differences in experienced emotional intensity would be context-dependent, emerging mostly in response to depictions of harm to the outgroup, in accordance with the centrality of intergroup attitudes to ideological self-placement in conflict. Study 1 (N = 83) supported this hypothesis, with leftists (vs. rightists) experiencing outgroup harm (but not ingroup harm or conflict-irrelevant harm) with greater emotional intensity. Study 2 (N = 101), which replicated this finding, additionally examined whether behavioral differences in regulatory choice consequently emerge mostly regarding outgroup harm. We tested 2 competing hypotheses as to the nature of these differences: (a) the intensity hypothesis, positing that leftists (more than rightists) would regulate their intensified reactions to outgroup harm through disengagement-distraction (vs. engagement-reappraisal) due to a documented greater preference for disengaging coping strategies as intensity increases, and (b) the motivation hypothesis, positing that leftists (more than rightists) would prefer engagement-reappraisal (vs. disengagement-distraction), consistent with leftists' documented greater preference for intergroup empathy. Results exclusively supported the intensity hypothesis, and the significance of both studies is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Enhancing well-being at work: The role of emotion regulation skills as personal resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buruck, Gabriele; Dörfel, Denise; Kugler, Joachim; Brom, Sarah Susanne

    2016-10-01

    Dealing with negative emotions is a crucial work demand, particularly for employees in health care. Job resources (e.g., autonomy, social support, or reward) but also personal resources (such as emotion regulation strategies) might reduce job stress and support well-being. Following this, the present study focused on strengthening emotion regulation as 1 way of dealing with high job demands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a standardized emotion regulation training (Affect Regulation Training [ART]; Berking, 2010) to improve emotion regulation skills and well-being of employees in elderly health care. Therefore, 96 elderly care workers filled out an established questionnaire of emotion regulation skills as well as a measure of well-being at pretreatment, posttreatment and at 6-month follow-up. The findings show that the ART fosters emotion regulation skills. In particularly, acceptance, tolerance, and modification of negative emotions was enhanced in the training groups in comparison to a control-group. Modification, meaning the ability to actively change emotions, improved even more over the follow-up-period. Simultaneously, well-being of participants increased over all measurement time points in the ART-group compared with the control-group. Additionally, the improvement in emotion regulation skills from pre to posttreatment was related to well-being at follow-up. In summary, our results support the ART as an effective intervention for dealing with negative emotions and to enhance well-being among employees in elderly care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. The four key characteristics of interpersonal emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niven, Karen

    2017-10-01

    Emotion researchers are increasingly interested in processes by which people influence others' feelings. Although one such process, interpersonal emotion regulation, has received particular attention in recent years, there remains confusion about exactly how to define this process. The present article aims to distinguish interpersonal emotion regulation from other, related processes by outlining its four key characteristics. Specifically, interpersonal emotion regulation is presented as a process of (i) regulation, that (ii) has an affective target, (iii) is deliberate, and (iv) has a social target. Considering these characteristics raises questions for future research concerning factors that may influence the process of interpersonal emotion regulation, why interpersonal emotion regulation sometimes fails, and whether interventions can improve people's use of interpersonal emotion regulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Emotional Expressivity and Emotion Regulation: Relation to Academic Functioning among Elementary School Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Kyongboon; Hanrahan, Amanda R.; Kupzyk, Kevin A.

    2017-01-01

    We examined emotional expressivity (i.e., happiness, sadness, and anger) and emotion regulation (regulation of exuberance, sadness, and anger) as they relate to academic functioning (motivation, engagement, and achievement). Also, we tested the premise that emotional expressivity and emotion regulation are indirectly associated with achievement…

  9. The conceptualization of emotion regulation difficulties, and its association with posttraumatic stress symptoms in traumatized refugees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doolan, Emma L; Bryant, Richard A; Liddell, Belinda J; Nickerson, Angela

    2017-08-01

    This study investigated the conceptualization of emotion regulation difficulties in a sample of refugees with varying levels of posttraumatic stress (PTS), and examined whether specific emotion regulation difficulties were associated with PTS severity. Refugees were administered an abbreviated version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, the PTSD Symptom Scale - Interview Version, and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to examine model fit for the 6-factor model originally proposed by the developers of the DERS and the more recently proposed 5-factor model that excludes the awareness subscale. Both models displayed adequate fit. After controlling for age, gender, time in Australia, and trauma exposure, the clarity and strategies subscales were significantly associated with PTS severity. The association between impaired emotional clarity and reduced agency related to accessing regulation strategies and PTS severity in this refugee sample highlights the need for further research to assess interventions that target these disruptions in refugees. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Emotional and organizational supports for preschoolers' emotion regulation: Relations with school adjustment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Craig S; Denham, Susanne A; Curby, Timothy W; Bassett, Hideko H

    2016-03-01

    Preschool teachers, like parents, support children in ways that promote the regulation capacities that drive school adjustment, especially for children struggling to succeed in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore the emotionally and organizationally supportive classroom processes that contribute to the development of children's emotion regulation and executive control. Emotion regulation and executive control were assessed in 312 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children. The 44 teachers of these children completed questionnaires asking about 3 components of children's school adjustment: Positive/Engaged, Independent/Motivated, and Prosocial/Connected. Observations of classroom emotional and organizational supports were conducted. Results of multilevel models indicated emotion regulation was significantly associated with the Positive/Engaged school adjustment component, but only when teachers' emotional and organizational supports were taken into account. Children with lower levels of emotion regulation, who were also in less supportive classrooms, had the lowest scores on the Positive/Engaged component. Children's executive control was associated with the Independent/Motivated and Prosocial/Connected components independently of teacher effects. In general, moderate support was found for the notion that teachers' supports can be particularly helpful for children struggling to regulate their emotions to be better adjusted to school. Children's emotionally salient classroom behaviors, and teachers' emotion scaffolding, are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. Smart environment architecture for emotion detection and regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández-Caballero, Antonio; Martínez-Rodrigo, Arturo; Pastor, José Manuel; Castillo, José Carlos; Lozano-Monasor, Elena; López, María T; Zangróniz, Roberto; Latorre, José Miguel; Fernández-Sotos, Alicia

    2016-12-01

    This paper introduces an architecture as a proof-of-concept for emotion detection and regulation in smart health environments. The aim of the proposal is to detect the patient's emotional state by analysing his/her physiological signals, facial expression and behaviour. Then, the system provides the best-tailored actions in the environment to regulate these emotions towards a positive mood when possible. The current state-of-the-art in emotion regulation through music and colour/light is implemented with the final goal of enhancing the quality of life and care of the subject. The paper describes the three main parts of the architecture, namely "Emotion Detection", "Emotion Regulation" and "Emotion Feedback Control". "Emotion Detection" works with the data captured from the patient, whereas "Emotion Regulation" offers him/her different musical pieces and colour/light settings. "Emotion Feedback Control" performs as a feedback control loop to assess the effect of emotion regulation over emotion detection. We are currently testing the overall architecture and the intervention in real environments to achieve our final goal. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Reappraising the ultimatum: an fMRI study of emotion regulation and decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grecucci, Alessandro; Giorgetta, Cinzia; Van't Wout, Mascha; Bonini, Nicolao; Sanfey, Alan G

    2013-02-01

    Emotion regulation strategies provide a means by which to modulate our social behavior. In this study, we investigated the effect of using reappraisal to both up- and downregulate social decision making. After being instructed on how to use reappraisal, participants played the Ultimatum Game while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging and applied the strategies of upregulation (reappraising the proposer's intentions as more negative), down-regulation (reappraising the proposer's intentions as less negative), as well as a baseline "look" condition. As hypothesized, when reappraising, decision acceptance rates were altered, with a greater number of unfair offers accepted while down-regulating and a greater number of unfair offers rejected while upregulating, both relative to the baseline condition. At the neural level, during reappraisal, significant activations were observed in the inferior and middle frontal gyrus (MFG), in addition to the medial prefrontal cortex and cingulate gyrus for unfair offers only. Regulated decisions involved left inferior frontal gyrus for upregulation and MFG for down-regulation strategies, respectively. Importantly, the effects of emotion modulation were evident in posterior insula, with less activation for down-regulation and more activation for upregulation in these areas. Notably, we show for the first time that top-down strategies such as reappraisal strongly affect our socioeconomic decisions.

  13. Emotional Self-Regulation of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Smartwatches for Monitoring and Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan C. Torrado

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we analyze the needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD to have a pervasive, feasible and non-stigmatizing form of assistance in their emotional self-regulation, in order to ease certain behavioral issues that undermine their mental health throughout their life. We argue the potential of recent widespread wearables, and more specifically smartwatches, to achieve this goal. Then, a smartwatch system that implements a wide range of self-regulation strategies and infers outburst patterns from physiological signals and movement is presented, along with an authoring tool for smartphones that is to be used by caregivers or family members to create and edit these strategies, in an adaptive way. We conducted an intensive experiment with two individuals with ASD who showed varied, representative behavioral responses to their emotional dysregulation. Both users were able to employ effective, customized emotional self-regulation strategies by means of the system, recovering from the majority of mild stress episodes and temper tantrums experienced in the nine days of experiment in their classroom.

  14. The Role of Emotional Experience,Emotional Intelligence,and Emotional Attitude:A Longitudinal Study About Emotion Regulation%情绪调节的发展及其与情绪体验、情绪能力、情绪调节态度的关系

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    邓欣媚; 王瑞安; 桑标

    2011-01-01

    Growing interest in emotion regulation is reflected in the studies of cognitive and social development.However,the extant studies mainly highlight how different emotion regulatory strategies contribute to their related developmental construct and ignore the development of emotion regulation itself.Recent studies suggest that the change of emotional experience,emotional intelligence,and emotional regulation attitude could predict and explain the development of emotional regulation.Based on the framework of the process model proposed by Gross and Levenson,our present study explored the contribution of emotional experience,emotional intelligence, and emotional regulation attitude to emotional regulation in a developmental scope.The adaptive functions of different emotion regulatory strategies were discussed as well. We adopted the longitudinal design and examined 569 junior students(Grade 6 and Grade 8 students from Shanghai junior middle schools) in the first semester of the academic year.After ten months,we examined them again.In the second phase of the study,469 of 569 students(who became Grade 7 and Grade 9 students) participated in the test.In each phase of the study,the students completed the demographic information,Emotion Regulation Questionnaire,Daily Emotion Scale,Traits Meta-Mood Scale,and Emotional Attitude Questionnaire. There are several important results and conclusion.Compared with Phase 2,adolescents experienced more positive emotion,reported a stronger up-and-down-regulation attitude,and up-regulated their emotion habitually when encountering positive emotional episodes in Phase 1.Adolescents who reported higher changes of both positive and negative emotion experience would use more and more up-regulation during the development.Nevertheless,compared with the positive emotion experience,higher changes of down-regulation using were reported by the adolescents who experienced more negative emotion when growing up.Adolescents who reported higher

  15. Regulation of emotions in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urbanek, Monika; Harvey, Martin; McGowan, John; Agrawal, Niruj

    2014-08-01

    Despite the long history of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), relatively little is known about the mechanisms that cause and maintain this condition. Emerging research evidence suggests that patients with PNES might have difficulties in regulating their emotions. However, much remains to be learned about the nature of these difficulties and the emotional responses of individuals with PNES. This study aimed to gain a detailed understanding of emotion regulation processes in patients with PNES by examining differences between patients with PNES and a healthy control group with regard to intensity of emotional reactions, understanding of one's emotional experience, beliefs about emotions, and managing emotions by controlling emotional expression. A cross-sectional design was used to compare the group with PNES (n=56) and the healthy control group (n=88) on a range of self-report measures. Participants with a diagnosis of PNES reported significantly poorer understanding of their emotions, more negative beliefs about emotions, and a greater tendency to control emotional expression compared to the control group. While intensity of emotions did not discriminate between the groups, poor understanding and negative beliefs about emotions were found to be significant predictors of PNES, even after controlling for age, education level, and emotional distress. Furthermore, the presence of some emotion regulation difficulties was associated with self-reported seizure severity. The results of this study are largely consistent with previous literature and provide evidence for difficulties in emotion regulation in patients with PNES. However, this research goes further in bringing together different aspects of emotion regulation, including beliefs about emotions, which have not been examined before. As far as it is known, this is the first study to suggest that levels of alexithymia in a population with PNES are positively associated with self-reported seizure severity. The

  16. Does Who I Am or How I Regulate Matter? Consequences of Manipulation of Emotion Regulation Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Sideeka; Alea, Nicole

    2017-07-01

    This study experimentally examined the affective and social consequences of emotion regulation in men and women from young adulthood to old age. Participants were instructed to reappraise, suppress, or given no instructions while recalling a negative memory about their romantic relationship. Participants were 191 adults in a Trinidadian lifespan sample. Engaging in suppression resulted in higher relationship satisfaction, particularly for women, whereas engaging in reappraisal reduced negative affect for middle-aged versus younger adults. Reappraisal was, however, particularly consequential for young women who experienced higher levels of negative affect compared with men of the same age and older aged women. Regardless of instructions, older adults experienced higher relationship satisfaction, higher positive and lower negative affect than younger aged adults. Results are discussed considering the positivity effect for older adults, and how the current and historical climate of Trinidad influences the way women regulate their emotions.

  17. The Comparison of Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy Based on Coping Skills and Methadone Maintenance Treatment in Improvement of Emotional Regulation Strategies and Relapse Prevention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tahereh Ghorbany

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: This study compared the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral therapy based on coping skills (CBT and methadone maintenance therapy (MMT in improvement of emotional regulation strategies and prevention of relapse. Method: The method of the present study was semi-experimental research design (pre-test-post-test with witness group. For sampling 45 substance abuse people who had referred to addiction treatment centers were selected and assigned to three groups of cognitive behavior therapy, methadone maintenance treatment and witness group randomly. The participants in all three groups completed the emotional intelligence questionnaire before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed by covariance method. Results: The results showed that cognitive-behavior therapy in comparison to methadone maintenance therapy and witness group led to significant improvement of emotional regulation in substance abusers, but there was no significant difference between the methadone maintenance treatment group and control group. Also, the rate of relapse in individuals who assigned to cognitive-behavior therapy group in comparison to methadone maintenance therapy and the witness group was significantly lower, but there was no significant difference between methadone therapy and witness. Conclusion: Cognitive-behavior therapy was an effective treatment that can change the cognitive and behavioral variables related to substance abuse, such as emotional regulation strategies. Thus, results suggested that drug abuse treatment programs must target these mediator variables.

  18. Regulating Emotional Responses to Climate Change – A Construal Level Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emma Ejelöv

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available This experimental study (N = 139 examines the role of emotions in climate change risk communication. Drawing on Construal Level Theory, we tested how abstract vs. concrete descriptions of climate threat affect basic and self-conscious emotions and three emotion regulation strategies: changing oneself, repairing the situation and distancing oneself. In a 2 × 2 between subjects factorial design, climate change consequences were described as concrete/abstract and depicted as spatially proximate/distant. Results showed that, as hypothesized, increased self-conscious emotions mediate overall positive effects of abstract description on self-change and repair attempts. Unexpectedly and independent of any emotional process, a concrete description of a spatially distant consequence is shown to directly increase self-change and repair attempts, while it has no such effects when the consequence is spatially proximate. “Concretizing the remote” might refer to a potentially effective strategy for overcoming spatial distance barriers and motivating mitigating behavior.

  19. Self-Regulated Learning: The Role of Motivation, Emotion, and Use of Learning Strategies in Students' Learning Experiences in a Self-Paced Online Mathematics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Moon-Heum; Heron, Michele L.

    2015-01-01

    Enrollment in online remedial mathematics courses has increased in popularity in institutions of higher learning; however, students unskilled in self-regulated learning (SRL) find online remedial mathematics courses particularly challenging. We investigated the role of SRL, specifically motivation, emotion, and learning strategies, in students'…

  20. Emotion Generation and Emotion Regulation: One or Two Depends on Your Point of View

    OpenAIRE

    Gross, James J.; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

    2011-01-01

    Emotion regulation has the odd distinction of being a wildly popular construct whose scientific existence is in considerable doubt. In this article, we discuss the confusion about whether emotion generation and emotion regulation can and should be distinguished from one another. We describe a continuum of perspectives on emotion, and highlight how different (often mutually incompatible) perspectives on emotion lead to different views about whether emotion generation and emotion regulation can...

  1. Emotion Regulation Moderates the Association between Empathy and Prosocial Behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lockwood, Patricia L.; Seara-Cardoso, Ana; Viding, Essi

    2014-01-01

    Theory and evidence suggest that empathy is an important motivating factor for prosocial behaviour and that emotion regulation, i.e. the capacity to exert control over an emotional response, may moderate the degree to which empathy is associated with prosocial behaviour. However, studies to date have not simultaneously explored the associations between different empathic processes and prosocial behaviour, nor whether different types of emotion regulation strategies (e.g. cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) moderate associations between empathy and prosocial behaviour. One hundred–and-ten healthy adults completed questionnaire measures of empathy, emotion regulation and prosocial tendencies. In this sample, both affective and cognitive empathy predicted self-reported prosocial tendencies. In addition, cognitive reappraisal moderated the association between affective empathy and prosocial tendencies. Specifically, there was a significant positive association between empathy and prosocial tendencies for individuals with a low or average tendency to reappraise but not for those with a high tendency to reappraise. Our findings suggest that, in general, empathy is positively associated with prosocial behaviour. However, this association is not significant for individuals with a high tendency for cognitive reappraisal. PMID:24810604

  2. That's not funny! - But it should be: effects of humorous emotion regulation on emotional experience and memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kugler, Lisa; Kuhbandner, Christof

    2015-01-01

    Previous research has shown that humorous reappraisal can reduce elicited negative emotions, suggesting that humor may be a functional strategy to cope with emotionally negative situations. However, the effect of humorous reappraisal on later memory about the emotion-eliciting situation is currently unknown, although this is crucial for more adaptive responding in future situations. To address this issue, we examined the effects of humorous reappraisal on both emotional experience and memory, compared to non-humorous rational reappraisal and a non-reappraisal control condition. Replicating previous findings, humorous reappraisal reduced evoked negative valence and arousal levels very effectively, and the down-regulation of experienced negative emotions was even more pronounced after humorous compared to rational reappraisal. Regarding later memory for emotion-eliciting stimuli, both humorous and rational reappraisal reduced free recall, but recognition memory was unaffected, with memory strength being stronger after humorous than after rational reappraisal. These results indicate that humor seems to be indeed an optimal strategy to cope with negative situations because humor can help us to feel better when confronted with negative stimuli, but still allows us to retrieve stimulus information later when afforded to do so by the presence of appropriate contextual features.

  3. Emotion regulation and decision making under risk and uncertainty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heilman, Renata M; Crişan, Liviu G; Houser, Daniel; Miclea, Mircea; Miu, Andrei C

    2010-04-01

    It is well established that emotion plays a key role in human social and economic decision making. The recent literature on emotion regulation (ER), however, highlights that humans typically make efforts to control emotion experiences. This leaves open the possibility that decision effects previously attributed to acute emotion may be a consequence of acute ER strategies such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. In Study 1, we manipulated ER of laboratory-induced fear and disgust, and found that the cognitive reappraisal of these negative emotions promotes risky decisions (reduces risk aversion) in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and is associated with increased performance in the prehunch/hunch period of the Iowa Gambling Task. In Study 2, we found that naturally occurring negative emotions also increase risk aversion in Balloon Analogue Risk Task, but the incidental use of cognitive reappraisal of emotions impedes this effect. We offer evidence that the increased effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal in reducing the experience of emotions underlies its beneficial effects on decision making. Copyright 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

  4. How should I regulate my emotions if I want to run faster?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lane, Andrew M; Devonport, Tracey J; Friesen, Andrew P; Beedie, Christopher J; Fullerton, Christopher L; Stanley, Damian M

    2016-01-01

    The present study investigated the effects of emotion regulation strategies on self-reported emotions and 1600 m track running performance. In stage 1 of a three-stage study, participants (N = 15) reported emotional states associated with best, worst and ideal performance. Results indicated that a best and ideal emotional state for performance composed of feeling happy, calm, energetic and moderately anxious whereas the worst emotional state for performance composed of feeling downhearted, sluggish and highly anxious. In stage 2, emotion regulation interventions were developed using online material and supported by electronic feedback. One intervention motivated participants to increase the intensity of unpleasant emotions (e.g. feel more angry and anxious). A second intervention motivated participants to reduce the intensity of unpleasant emotions (e.g. feel less angry and anxious). In stage 3, using a repeated measures design, participants used each intervention before running a 1600 m time trial. Data were compared with a no treatment control condition. The intervention designed to increase the intensity of unpleasant emotions resulted in higher anxiety and lower calmness scores but no significant effects on 1600 m running time. The intervention designed to reduce the intensity of unpleasant emotions was associated with significantly slower times for the first 400 m. We suggest future research should investigate emotion regulation, emotion and performance using quasi-experimental methods with performance measures that are meaningful to participants.

  5. Rapid improvements in emotion regulation predict intensive treatment outcome for patients with bulimia nervosa and purging disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, Danielle E; Trottier, Kathryn; Olmsted, Marion P

    2017-10-01

    Rapid and substantial behavior change (RSBC) early in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for eating disorders is the strongest known predictor of treatment outcome. Rapid change in other clinically relevant variables may also be important. This study examined whether rapid change in emotion regulation predicted treatment outcomes, beyond the effects of RSBC. Participants were diagnosed with bulimia nervosa or purging disorder (N = 104) and completed ≥6 weeks of CBT-based intensive treatment. Hierarchical regression models were used to test whether rapid change in emotion regulation variables predicted posttreatment outcomes, defined in three ways: (a) binge/purge abstinence; (b) cognitive eating disorder psychopathology; and (c) depression symptoms. Baseline psychopathology and emotion regulation difficulties and RSBC were controlled for. After controlling for baseline variables and RSBC, rapid improvement in access to emotion regulation strategies made significant unique contributions to the prediction of posttreatment binge/purge abstinence, cognitive psychopathology of eating disorders, and depression symptoms. Individuals with eating disorders who rapidly improve their belief that they can effectively modulate negative emotions are more likely to achieve a variety of good treatment outcomes. This supports the formal inclusion of emotion regulation skills early in CBT, and encouraging patient beliefs that these strategies are helpful. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Child-care chaos and teachers' responsiveness: The indirect associations through teachers' emotion regulation and coping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, Lieny; Hur, Eunhye; Buettner, Cynthia K

    2016-12-01

    Teachers in early child-care settings are key contributors to children's development. However, the role of teachers' emotional abilities (i.e., emotion regulation and coping skills) and the role of teacher-perceived environmental chaos in relation to their responsiveness to children are understudied. The current study explored the direct and indirect associations between teachers' perceptions of child-care chaos and their self-reported contingent reactions towards children's negative emotions and challenging social interactions via teachers' emotional regulation and coping strategies. The sample consisted of 1129 preschool-aged classroom teachers in day care and public pre-K programs across the US. We first found that child-care chaos was directly associated with teachers' non-supportive reactions after controlling for multiple program and teacher characteristics. In addition, teachers in more chaotic child-care settings had less reappraisal and coping skills, which in turn, was associated with lower levels of positive responsiveness to children. Teachers reporting a higher degree of chaos used more suppression strategies, which in turn, was associated with teachers' non-supportive reactions and fewer expressive encouragement reactions to children's emotions. Results of this exploratory study suggest that it is important to prepare teachers to handle chaotic environments with clear guidelines and rules. In order to encourage teachers' supportive responses to children, intervention programs are needed to address teachers' coping and emotion regulation strategies in early childhood education. Copyright © 2016 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Growth curves of clients' emotional experience and their association with emotion regulation and symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Hadar; Atzil-Slonim, Dana; Bar-Kalifa, Eran; Rafaeli, Eshkol; Peri, Tuvia

    2017-12-06

    Emotional experience during psychotherapy is considered a core mechanism of change. Yet the sheer experience itself may not necessarily be beneficial; instead, the trajectories of emotional experience need to be explored as possible predictors of treatment outcomes. This study investigated whether clients' pre-treatment levels of emotion regulation and symptoms predicted patterns of session-to-session change in emotional experience. We also explored which patterns better predict clients' improvement in emotion regulation and symptoms from pre- to post treatment. One-hundred and seven clients undergoing psychodynamic psychotherapy completed questionnaires on their symptoms and emotion regulation at pre- and post- treatment. They also reported their level of emotional experience at the end of each session. Pre-treatment symptoms and difficulties in emotion regulation predicted greater instability in emotional experience. Higher mean levels of emotional experience during treatment were associated with an improvement in emotion regulation, and greater stability during treatment was associated with improvement in emotion regulation and symptoms. These findings lend weight to the idea that experiencing emotion in the therapeutic environment has significant implications for clients' ability to manage their emotions outside the session. However, emotions experienced in an unstable manner within therapy are associated with poorer outcomes. Clinical and methodological significance of this article: Therapists can benefit from observing the patterns and not only the level of their clients' emotional experiences. The identification of clients' difficulties early in treatment may help therapists guide clients through the delicate process of carefully attending to their emotions.

  8. Neurocognitive bases of emotion regulation development in adolescence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saz P. Ahmed

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Emotion regulation is the ability to recruit processes to influence emotion generation. In recent years there has been mounting interest in how emotions are regulated at behavioural and neural levels, as well as in the relevance of emotional dysregulation to psychopathology. During adolescence, brain regions involved in affect generation and regulation, including the limbic system and prefrontal cortex, undergo protracted structural and functional development. Adolescence is also a time of increasing vulnerability to internalising and externalising psychopathologies associated with poor emotion regulation, including depression, anxiety and antisocial behaviour. It is therefore of particular interest to understand how emotion regulation develops over this time, and how this relates to ongoing brain development. However, to date relatively little research has addressed these questions directly. This review will discuss existing research in these areas in both typical adolescence and in adolescent psychopathology, and will highlight opportunities for future research. In particular, it is important to consider the social context in which adolescent emotion regulation develops. It is possible that while adolescence may be a time of vulnerability to emotional dysregulation, scaffolding the development of emotion regulation during this time may be a fruitful preventative target for psychopathology.

  9. Approach/avoidance motives, test emotions, and emotional regulation related to testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schutz, Paul A; Benson, Jeri; Decuir-Gunby, Jessica T

    2008-07-01

    This research stems from our program of work that focuses on understanding how students regulated their emotions related to testing. The primary goal for this study was to incorporate the approach/ avoidance motives into a model of emotional regulation related to testing. In addition, a secondary goal was to report on efforts at construct validation of the scores obtained during the refinement of the Emotional Regulation Related to Testing (ERT) Scale. Our results suggest that underlying beliefs, such as approach/avoid motives and the cognitive-appraisal process, of the ERT had both direct and indirect effects to both pleasant and unpleasant emotions related to testing. In addition, the ERT accounted for 56% of the variance in Pleasant and 87% of Unpleasant Test Emotions.

  10. Emotion regulation and depressive symptoms: examining the mediation effects of school connectedness in Chinese late adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yanhua; Zhao, Guoxiang

    2015-04-01

    This study tested Gross's process model of emotion regulation in a Chinese adolescent sample. It hypothesized that emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) would predict adolescents' perception of school connectedness and depressive symptoms. It also posited that school connectedness may be a possible mediator between emotion regulation and depressive symptoms. Participants were 504 adolescents aged 16-18 from two Chinese public upper secondary schools. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that reappraisal and suppression significantly associated with school connectedness and depressive symptoms, and school connectedness mediated the link between emotion regulation and depressive symptoms, even when the general emotion experiences were controlled. Although boys unexpectedly reported higher level depressive symptoms, the hypothesized model was invariant across gender except for the link between suppression and depressive symptoms. These findings demonstrate that it is meaningful to involve both emotion regulation processes and school connectedness in explaining adolescent depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Traumatic stress symptoms after the November 13th 2015 Terrorist Attacks among Young Adults: The relation to media and emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monfort, Emmanuel; Afzali, Mohammad Hassan

    2017-05-01

    A major terror attack occurred in the Paris region on 13th November 2015. This event was widely showed, described, and commented in the media. Media consumption may lead to a widespread diffusion of trauma-related symptoms following a collective trauma. These effects may depend on the type of media and emotion regulation strategies used by the media consumer. Trauma history, traumatic symptoms, media consumption, psychological distress, and emotion regulation strategies of 451 young adults were assessed by an online survey. Findings reveal the joint role of social networks use and dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies on anxiety, depression, and somatization symptoms and also on cognitive and emotional alteration among traumatic symptoms. Consistent with the emotional contagion hypothesis, individuals who reported spending more time on social networks were also those who were experiencing more psychological distress. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. A Longitudinal Study for the Empirical Validation of an Etiopathogenetic Model of Internet Addiction in Adolescence Based on Early Emotion Regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Cimino

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Several etiopathogenetic models have been conceptualized for the onset of Internet Addiction (IA. However, no study had evaluated the possible predictive effect of early emotion regulation strategies on the development of IA in adolescence. In a sample of N=142 adolescents with Internet Addiction, this twelve-year longitudinal study aimed at verifying whether and how emotion regulation strategies (self-focused versus other-focused at two years of age were predictive of school-age children’s internalizing/externalizing symptoms, which in turn fostered Internet Addiction (compulsive use of the Web versus distressed use in adolescence. Our results confirmed our hypotheses demonstrating that early emotion regulation has an impact on the emotional-behavioral functioning in middle childhood (8 years of age, which in turn has an influence on the onset of IA in adolescence. Moreover, our results showed a strong, direct statistical link between the characteristics of emotion regulation strategies in infancy and IA in adolescence. These results indicate that a common root of unbalanced emotion regulation could lead to two different manifestations of Internet Addiction in youths and could be useful in the assessment and treatment of adolescents with IA.

  13. Socialization of emotions and emotion regulation in cultural context

    OpenAIRE

    Trommsdorff, Gisela; Heikamp, Tobias

    2013-01-01

    In this chapter, universal and culture-specific aspects of socialization of emotion regulation are discussed. Emotions and emotion regu lation are socialized and develop in cultural contexts. Cultural views on self·other relations are the basis for the chi ld's agentie self and emotion regu lation affecting the socio-emotional adjustment in the respective culture. Cultural models of self-other relations are transmitted through socia lization processes such as parenting beliefs and practices, ...

  14. Culture moderates the cardiovascular consequences of anger regulation strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Ting; Bishop, George D

    2012-12-01

    This research examined cultural differences in experiential and cardiovascular outcomes of three anger regulation strategies (expression, suppression and reappraisal). Forty-five Chinese and 45 Caucasian females participated in a laboratory experiment in which role play was used to induce anger. During this role play participants were instructed to either express or suppress their feelings or engage in cognitive reappraisal. Emotional experience was measured before and after the role play. Cardiovascular indices were measured continuously during the experiment. Significant interactions were obtained such that Caucasians showed stronger cardiovascular responses to suppression than expression of anger whereas the opposite was true for Chinese. These results demonstrate that physiological consequences of emotion regulation strategies vary by cultural background. Possible reasons as well as implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Implicit Beliefs about Emotion Regulation and Their Relations with Emotional Experiences among Chinese Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Xinmei; Sang, Biao; Chen, Xinyin

    2017-01-01

    There is growing interest in understanding how beliefs about emotion regulation are related to individual emotional experiences. Extant studies have mainly focused on explicit beliefs about emotion regulation among individuals in Western societies. The current study examined implicit emotion regulation and explored their contributions to emotional…

  16. Psychopathological Symptoms under Smog: The Role of Emotion Regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shuquan; Kong, Jiayang; Yu, Feng; Peng, Kaiping

    2017-01-01

    Over the past decade, major cities in China have suffered from severe air pollution, which is also known as smog. Despite lay considerations that smog might pose risks for psychopathology, it remains unknown whether it is only linked to affective psychopathology or to a broader range of symptomologies. Moreover, whether individual differences in emotion regulation, a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, would influence the magnitude of pollution-induced symptoms is not well understood. Using a longitudinal design, the current study measured trait emotion regulation and psychopathological symptoms in a sample of university students at Time 1 (without smog, N = 120) and then reassessed for psychopathology at Time 2 (after acute exposure to smog for 1 week, N = 102). The results showed that participants had higher levels of positive symptom distress, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, and psychoticism at Time 2. Moreover, reappraisal is negatively associated with smog-induced elevations in psychopathological symptoms only when participants rely heavily on suppression. We discuss the implications of this investigation for both intervention efforts and future work on the contextual factors surrounding the deployment of emotion regulation strategies.

  17. Psychopathological Symptoms under Smog: The Role of Emotion Regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuquan Chen

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the past decade, major cities in China have suffered from severe air pollution, which is also known as smog. Despite lay considerations that smog might pose risks for psychopathology, it remains unknown whether it is only linked to affective psychopathology or to a broader range of symptomologies. Moreover, whether individual differences in emotion regulation, a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, would influence the magnitude of pollution-induced symptoms is not well understood. Using a longitudinal design, the current study measured trait emotion regulation and psychopathological symptoms in a sample of university students at Time 1 (without smog, N = 120 and then reassessed for psychopathology at Time 2 (after acute exposure to smog for 1 week, N = 102. The results showed that participants had higher levels of positive symptom distress, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, and psychoticism at Time 2. Moreover, reappraisal is negatively associated with smog-induced elevations in psychopathological symptoms only when participants rely heavily on suppression. We discuss the implications of this investigation for both intervention efforts and future work on the contextual factors surrounding the deployment of emotion regulation strategies.

  18. Tuned In emotion regulation program using music listening: Effectiveness for adolescents in educational settings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Genevieve Anita Dingle

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an effectiveness study of Tuned In, a novel emotion regulation intervention that uses participant selected music to evoke emotions in session and teaches participants emotional awareness and regulation skills. The group program content is informed by a two dimensional model of emotion (arousal, valence, along with music psychology theories about how music evokes emotional responses. The program has been evaluated in two samples of adolescents: 41 at risk adolescents (76% males; Mage = 14.8 years attending an educational re-engagement program and 216 students (100% females; Mage = 13.6 years attending a mainstream secondary school. Results showed significant pre- to post-program improvements in measures of emotion awareness, identification, and regulation (p < .01 to p = .06 in the smaller at risk sample and all p < .001 in the mainstream school sample. Participant ratings of engagement and likelihood of using the strategies learned in the program were high. Tuned In shows promise as a brief emotion regulation intervention for adolescents, and these findings extend an earlier study with young adults. Tuned In is a-theoretical in regard to psychotherapeutic approach and could be integrated with other program components as required.

  19. Tuned In Emotion Regulation Program Using Music Listening: Effectiveness for Adolescents in Educational Settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dingle, Genevieve A; Hodges, Joseph; Kunde, Ashleigh

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents an effectiveness study of Tuned In, a novel emotion regulation intervention that uses participant selected music to evoke emotions in session and teaches participants emotional awareness and regulation skills. The group program content is informed by a two dimensional model of emotion (arousal, valence), along with music psychology theories about how music evokes emotional responses. The program has been evaluated in two samples of adolescents: 41 "at risk" adolescents (76% males; M age = 14.8 years) attending an educational re-engagement program and 216 students (100% females; M age = 13.6 years) attending a mainstream secondary school. Results showed significant pre- to post-program improvements in measures of emotion awareness, identification, and regulation (p < 0.01 to p = 0.06 in the smaller "at risk" sample and all p < 0.001 in the mainstream school sample). Participant ratings of engagement and likelihood of using the strategies learned in the program were high. Tuned In shows promise as a brief emotion regulation intervention for adolescents, and these findings extend an earlier study with young adults. Tuned In is a-theoretical in regard to psychotherapeutic approach and could be integrated with other program components as required.

  20. Emotion malleability beliefs, emotion regulation, and psychopathology: Integrating affective and clinical science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kneeland, Elizabeth T; Dovidio, John F; Joormann, Jutta; Clark, Margaret S

    2016-04-01

    Beliefs that individuals hold about whether emotions are malleable or fixed, also referred to as emotion malleability beliefs, may play a crucial role in individuals' emotional experiences and their engagement in changing their emotions. The current review integrates affective science and clinical science perspectives to provide a comprehensive review of how emotion malleability beliefs relate to emotionality, emotion regulation, and specific clinical disorders and treatment. Specifically, we discuss how holding more malleable views of emotion could be associated with more active emotion regulation efforts, greater motivation to engage in active regulatory efforts, more effort expended regulating emotions, and lower levels of pathological distress. In addition, we explain how extending emotion malleability beliefs into the clinical domain can complement and extend current conceptualizations of major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. This may prove important given the increasingly central role emotion dysregulation has been given in conceptualization and intervention for these psychiatric conditions. Additionally, discussion focuses on how emotion beliefs could be more explicitly addressed in existing cognitive therapies. Promising future directions for research are identified throughout the review. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Emotional Intelligence of Self Regulated Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rathore, Ami

    2018-01-01

    The study was conducted on self regulated learners of senior secondary school. The main objectives of the study were to find out significant dimensions of emotional intelligence held by self regulated learners. To compare the emotional intelligence dimensions of self regulated learners, in terms of subject and gender. To find out the relationship…

  2. Difficulties in emotion regulation in patients with eating disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruscitti, Catherine; Rufino, Katrina; Goodwin, Natalie; Wagner, Rebecca

    2016-01-01

    A defining characteristic of eating disorders (EDs) is difficulty with emotion regulation (ER). Previous research indicates that ED subtypes demonstrate differing ER difficulties. Specifically, individuals with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) or Bulimia Nervosa (BN) show greater impairment in their ability to regulate emotions in areas such as achieving goals while upset, reacting impulsively to distress, and effectively using coping strategies, as compared to those with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). However, limited research includes the diagnostic category of Eating Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS). The aim of this study was to better understand ER difficulties for all ED diagnoses, especially EDNOS. It was hypothesized that patients with EDs will demonstrate similar ER difficulties as psychiatric patients without EDs and that patients with EDNOS will be similar in their total level of ER difficulties but will differ in their specific types of difficulties in ER as compared to patients with other EDs. Participants included 404 adults presenting to an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Psychiatric diagnoses, including EDs, were determined using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders. Differences in specific and overall difficulties with ER were examined across psychiatric patients using the multidimensional Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Results of this study indicate that individuals with EDs have greater ER difficulties in most domains of ER and that those with BED and EDNOS demonstrate the most significant differences in ER as compared to psychiatric patients without EDs. Additionally, it was found that ED subtypes typically did not differ in terms of specific difficulties in ER. One exception emerged indicating that individuals with BED demonstrated significantly greater difficulty on the Limited Access to Emotion Regulation Strategies subscale as compared to those with EDNOS. Researchers were able to clarify difficulties in ER across ED

  3. Emotions and Emotion Regulation in Economic Decision Making

    OpenAIRE

    Astor, Philipp J.

    2013-01-01

    By employing the methodology of experimental economics, the thesis examines the influence of emotions on decision making in electronic auction markets. Subjects' emotional processes are measured by psychophysiological indicators, helping to decipher the coherence of information, emotion (regulation) and decision making. Four chapters build the main body of the thesis and all are constructed similarly: introduction, design, method, results, limitations, theoretical and managerial implications.

  4. Can contrast effects regulate emotions? A follow-up study of vital loss decisions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qi Li

    Full Text Available Although many studies focus on the how contrast effects can impact cognitive evaluations, the question of whether emotions are regulated by such contrast effects is still the subject of considerable debate, especially in the study of loss-related decisions. To address this gap in the literature, we designed three decision making loss conditions: (i both losses are trivial (TT, (ii one loss is trivial and the other loss is vital (TV, or (iii one loss is trivial and the other loss is routine (TR. In study 1, which compared the difference between the negative emotion ratings in TT and TV, we found that negative emotions were affected by the contrast effects. In study 2, which compared the difference between the importance of trivial options in TT and TV, we found that the contrast effects differentially changed the importance of trivial options in the two conditions, which in turn down-regulated negative emotions. In study 3, the impact of decision difficulty was controlled by predetermining the items to be lost. In this study, we found that, when comparing the differences between the negative emotions of losing trivial options in TV and TR, the contrast effects still modulated the loss-related emotions. We concluded that the contrast effects could down-regulate emotions. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that contrast effects can alleviate negative affect in loss-related decision making. This study will enrich and extend the literature on emotion regulation theory, and it will provide a new cost-effective mitigation strategy for regulating negative emotions.

  5. Familial Accumulation of Social Anxiety Symptoms and Maladaptive Emotion Regulation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia Asbrand

    Full Text Available Social anxiety is thought to be strongly related to maladaptive emotion regulation (ER. As social anxiety symptoms accumulate in families, we hypothesize that maladaptive ER is also more prevalent in families with anxious children. Thus, we analyze differences in emotion regulation of both child and mother in relation to social anxiety, as well as both their ER strategies in dealing with anxiety. Further, a positive relation between child and maternal ER strategies is assumed.Children (aged 9 to 13 years with social, anxiety disorder (SAD; n = 25 and healthy controls (HC, n = 26 as well as their mothers completed several measures of social anxiety and trait ER strategies towards anxiety. As ER of children is still in development, age is considered as covariate.SAD children and their mothers reported more maladaptive ER strategies than HC dyads. Maternal maladaptive ER was related negatively to child adaptive ER which was further moderated by the child's age.Maladaptive ER strategies seem to contribute to the exacerbation of social anxiety in both mother and child. Mothers reporting maladaptive ER may have difficulties supporting their child in coping with social anxiety while simultaneously also experiencing heightened levels of anxiety. Deeper understanding of interactional processes between mothers and children during development can assist the comprehension of factors maintaining SAD. Implications for future research and possible consequences for interventions are discussed.

  6. Familial Accumulation of Social Anxiety Symptoms and Maladaptive Emotion Regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asbrand, Julia; Svaldi, Jennifer; Krämer, Martina; Breuninger, Christoph; Tuschen-Caffier, Brunna

    2016-01-01

    Social anxiety is thought to be strongly related to maladaptive emotion regulation (ER). As social anxiety symptoms accumulate in families, we hypothesize that maladaptive ER is also more prevalent in families with anxious children. Thus, we analyze differences in emotion regulation of both child and mother in relation to social anxiety, as well as both their ER strategies in dealing with anxiety. Further, a positive relation between child and maternal ER strategies is assumed. Children (aged 9 to 13 years) with social, anxiety disorder (SAD; n = 25) and healthy controls (HC, n = 26) as well as their mothers completed several measures of social anxiety and trait ER strategies towards anxiety. As ER of children is still in development, age is considered as covariate. SAD children and their mothers reported more maladaptive ER strategies than HC dyads. Maternal maladaptive ER was related negatively to child adaptive ER which was further moderated by the child's age. Maladaptive ER strategies seem to contribute to the exacerbation of social anxiety in both mother and child. Mothers reporting maladaptive ER may have difficulties supporting their child in coping with social anxiety while simultaneously also experiencing heightened levels of anxiety. Deeper understanding of interactional processes between mothers and children during development can assist the comprehension of factors maintaining SAD. Implications for future research and possible consequences for interventions are discussed.

  7. Cultural differences in hedonic emotion regulation after a negative event.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyamoto, Yuri; Ma, Xiaoming; Petermann, Amelia G

    2014-08-01

    Beliefs about emotions can influence how people regulate their emotions. The present research examined whether Eastern dialectical beliefs about negative emotions lead to cultural differences in how people regulate their emotions after experiencing a negative event. We hypothesized that, because of dialectical beliefs about negative emotions prevalent in Eastern culture, Easterners are less motivated than Westerners to engage in hedonic emotion regulation-up-regulation of positive emotions and down-regulation of negative emotions. By assessing online reactions to a recent negative event, Study 1 found that European Americans are more motivated to engage in hedonic emotion regulation. Furthermore, consistent with the reported motivation to regulate emotion hedonically, European Americans show a steeper decline in negative emotions 1 day later than do Asians. By examining retrospective memory of reactions to a past negative event, Study 2 further showed that cultural differences in hedonic emotion regulation are mediated by cultural differences in dialectical beliefs about motivational and cognitive utility of negative emotions, but not by personal deservingness or self-efficacy beliefs. These findings demonstrate the role of cultural beliefs in shaping emotion regulation and emotional experiences.

  8. Development of the tendency to use emotion regulation strategies and their relation to depression in Chinese adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liyang Sai

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The present study examined the development of the tendency to use cognitive reappraisal/expressive suppression in daily life and how they relate to depression in Chinese adolescents. Results showed that Chinese adolescents reported using less expressive suppression as age increased, while there was no age effect for the tendency to use cognitive reappraisal. Further, linear regression analysis revealed that the tendency to use cognitive reappraisal in daily life negatively predicted depressive symptoms, while the tendency to use expressive suppression in daily life positively predicted depressive symptoms. These findings provide evidence that support the development of emotion regulation strategies in childhood and adolescence.

  9. Emotion regulation in schema therapy and dialectical behavior therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eva Fassbinder

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Schema therapy (ST and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT have both shown to be effective treatment methods especially for borderline personality disorder. Both, ST and DBT, have their roots in cognitive behavioral therapy and aim at helping patient to deal with emotional dysregulation. However, there are major differences in the terminology, explanatory models and techniques used in the both methods. This article gives an overview of the major therapeutic techniques used in ST and DBT with respect to emotion regulation and systematically puts them in the context of James Gross’ process model of emotion regulation. Similarities and differences of the two methods are highlighted and illustrated with a case example. A core difference of the two approaches is that DBT directly focusses on the acquisition of emotion regulation skills, whereas ST does seldom address emotion regulation directly. All DBT-modules (mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness are intended to improve emotion regulation skills and patients are encouraged to train these skills on a regular basis. DBT assumes that improved skills and skills use will result in better emotion regulation. In ST problems in emotion regulation are seen as a consequence of adverse early experiences (e.g. lack of safe attachment, childhood abuse or emotional neglect. These negative experiences have led to unprocessed psychological traumas and fear of emotions and result in attempts to avoid emotions and dysfunctional meta-cognitive schemas about the meaning of emotions. ST assumes that when these underlying problems are addressed, emotion regulation improves. Major ST techniques for trauma processing, emotional avoidance and dysregulation are limited reparenting, empathic confrontation and experiential techniques like chair dialogues and imagery rescripting.

  10. Emotion Regulation in Schema Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fassbinder, Eva; Schweiger, Ulrich; Martius, Desiree; Brand-de Wilde, Odette; Arntz, Arnoud

    2016-01-01

    Schema therapy (ST) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) have both shown to be effective treatment methods especially for borderline personality disorder. Both, ST and DBT, have their roots in cognitive behavioral therapy and aim at helping patient to deal with emotional dysregulation. However, there are major differences in the terminology, explanatory models and techniques used in the both methods. This article gives an overview of the major therapeutic techniques used in ST and DBT with respect to emotion regulation and systematically puts them in the context of James Gross' process model of emotion regulation. Similarities and differences of the two methods are highlighted and illustrated with a case example. A core difference of the two approaches is that DBT directly focusses on the acquisition of emotion regulation skills, whereas ST does seldom address emotion regulation directly. All DBT-modules (mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness) are intended to improve emotion regulation skills and patients are encouraged to train these skills on a regular basis. DBT assumes that improved skills and skills use will result in better emotion regulation. In ST problems in emotion regulation are seen as a consequence of adverse early experiences (e.g., lack of safe attachment, childhood abuse or emotional neglect). These negative experiences have led to unprocessed psychological traumas and fear of emotions and result in attempts to avoid emotions and dysfunctional meta-cognitive schemas about the meaning of emotions. ST assumes that when these underlying problems are addressed, emotion regulation improves. Major ST techniques for trauma processing, emotional avoidance and dysregulation are limited reparenting, empathic confrontation and experiential techniques like chair dialogs and imagery rescripting. PMID:27683567

  11. Emotion Regulation in Children with Down Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Maureen C.; Walden, Tedra A.

    This study presents a preliminary exploration of emotion regulation in a sample of 20 children (ages 3-18 years) with Down Syndrome. Three aspects of emotion regulation (modulation, organization, flexibility) were predicted from emotion variables (affect intensity, affective expression, and autonomy-curiosity and motivation) in backward regression…

  12. Investigating Transactions among Motives, Emotional Regulation Related to Testing, and Test Emotions

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeCuir-Gunby, Jessica T.; Aultman, Lori Price; Schutz, Paul A.

    2009-01-01

    The authors examined the relationships among achievement motives, emotional regulation, and emotions. They collected data from 425 college undergraduates (110 men, 315 women) and used several scales, including the Achievement Motives Scales (K. Hagtvet & L. Zou, 2000), the Emotional Regulation During Testing Scale (P. A. Schutz, C. DiStefano,…

  13. The selected aspects of emotional labour and emotion regulation in medical jobs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maciej Załuski

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: the term of emotional labour describes the processes which occur at the medical staff while carrying out emotional expectations of patients. There are links between emotional labour, work strain and the exhaustion of physical and emotional strenght. Goal of dissertation: to discuss certain problems connected with the phenomenon of the emotional labour and the emotion regulation processes which occur to the medical staff during the contact with patients. Summary and conclusion: there are a lot of research which confirm the negative health effects of some kinds of emotional labour and emotion regulation. Discussed issues rarely appear in Polish medical magazines in spite of the increasing number of foreign publications. Key words: emotional intelligence, interpersonal relations, health personnel

  14. Emotion control in collaborative learning situations: do students regulate emotions evoked by social challenges?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Järvenoja, Hanna; Järvelä, Sanna

    2009-09-01

    During recent decades, self-regulated learning (SRL) has become a major research field. SRL successfully integrates the cognitive and motivational components of learning. Self-regulation is usually seen as an individual process, with the social aspects of regulation conceptualized as one aspect of the context. However, recent research has begun to investigate whether self-regulation processes are complemented by socially shared regulation processes. The presented study investigated what kind of socio-emotional challenges students experience during collaborative learning and whether the students regulate the emotions evoked during these situations. The interplay of the emotion regulation processes between the individual and the group was also studied. The sample for this study was 63 teacher education students who studied in groups of three to five during three collaborative learning tasks. Students' interpretations of experienced social challenges and their attempts to regulate emotions evoked by these challenges were collected following each task using the Adaptive Instrument for the Regulation of Emotions. The results indicated that students experienced a variety of social challenges. Students also reported the use of shared regulation in addition to self-regulation. Finally, the results suggested that intrinsic group dynamics are derived from both individual and social elements of collaborative situations. The findings of the study support the assumption that students can regulate emotions collaboratively as well as individually. The study contributes to our understanding of the social aspects of emotional regulation in collaborative learning contexts.

  15. Emotion, emotion regulation and sleep: An intimate relationship

    OpenAIRE

    Marie Vandekerckhove; Yu-lin Wang

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, research has witnessed an increasing interest in the bidirectional relationship between emotion and sleep. Sleep seems important for restoring daily functioning, whereas deprivation of sleep makes us more emotionally aroused and sensitive to stressful stimuli and events. Sleep appears to be essential to our ability to cope with emotional stress in everyday life. However, when daily stress is insufficiently regulated, it may result in mental health problems and sleep disturban...

  16. Teachers' Emotions and Emotion Management: Integrating Emotion Regulation Theory with Emotional Labor Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Mikyoung; Pekrun, Reinhard; Taxer, Jamie L.; Schutz, Paul A.; Vogl, Elisabeth; Xie, Xiyao

    2016-01-01

    While the similarities between emotion regulation (Gross in "J Personal Soc Psychol" 74:224-237, 1998a) and emotional labor (Hochschild in The managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1983) have been theoretically discussed, empirical research on their relation is lacking. We examined…

  17. Maladaptive and adaptive emotion regulation through music: a behavioral and neuroimaging study of males and females

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlson, Emily; Saarikallio, Suvi; Toiviainen, Petri; Bogert, Brigitte; Kliuchko, Marina; Brattico, Elvira

    2015-01-01

    Music therapists use guided affect regulation in the treatment of mood disorders. However, self-directed uses of music in affect regulation are not fully understood. Some uses of music may have negative effects on mental health, as can non-music regulation strategies, such as rumination. Psychological testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were used explore music listening strategies in relation to mental health. Participants (n = 123) were assessed for depression, anxiety and Neuroticism, and uses of Music in Mood Regulation (MMR). Neural responses to music were measured in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in a subset of participants (n = 56). Discharge, using music to express negative emotions, related to increased anxiety and Neuroticism in all participants and particularly in males. Males high in Discharge showed decreased activity of mPFC during music listening compared with those using less Discharge. Females high in Diversion, using music to distract from negative emotions, showed more mPFC activity than females using less Diversion. These results suggest that the use of Discharge strategy can be associated with maladaptive patterns of emotional regulation, and may even have long-term negative effects on mental health. This finding has real-world applications in psychotherapy and particularly in clinical music therapy. PMID:26379529

  18. Maladaptive and adaptive emotion regulation through music: A behavioural and neuroimaging study of males and females

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily eCarlson

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Music therapists use guided affect regulation in the treatment of mood disorders. However, self-directed uses of music in affect regulation are not fully understood. Some uses of music may have negative effects on mental health, as can non-music regulation strategies, such as rumination. Psychological testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI were used explore music listening strategies in relation to mental health. Participants (n=123 were assessed for depression, anxiety and Neuroticism, and uses of Music in Mood Regulation (MMR. Neural responses to music were measured in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC in a subset of participants (n=56. Discharge, using music to express negative emotions, related to increased anxiety and Neuroticism in all participants and particularly in males. Males high in Discharge showed decreased activity of mPFC during music listening compared with those using less Discharge. Females high in Diversion, using music to distract from negative emotions, showed more mPFC activity than females using less Diversion. These results suggest that the use of Discharge strategy can be associated with maladaptive patterns of emotional regulation, and may even have long-term negative effects on mental health. This finding has real-world applications in psychotherapy and particularly in clinical music therapy.

  19. Cultural regulation of emotion: individual, relational, and structural sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Boiger, Michael; Mesquita, Batja

    2013-01-01

    The most prevalent and intense emotional experiences differ across cultures. These differences in emotional experience can be understood as the outcomes of emotion regulation, because emotions that fit the valued relationships within a culture tend to be most common and intense. We review evidence suggesting that emotion regulation underlying cultural differences in emotional experience often takes place at the point of emotion elicitation through the promotion of situations and appraisals that are consistent with culturally valued relationships. These regulatory processes depend on individual tendencies, but are also co-regulated within relationships-close others shape people's environment and help them appraise events in culturally valued ways-and are afforded by structural conditions-people's daily lives "limit" the opportunities for emotion, and afford certain appraisals. The combined evidence suggests that cultural differences in emotion regulation go well beyond the effortful regulation based on display rules.

  20. Emotion regulation in mothers and young children faced with trauma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pat-Horenczyk, Ruth; Cohen, S; Ziv, Y; Achituv, M; Asulin-Peretz, L; Blanchard, T R; Schiff, M; Brom, D

    2015-01-01

    The present study investigated maternal emotion regulation as mediating the association between maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms and children's emotional dysregulation in a community sample of 431 Israeli mothers and children exposed to trauma. Little is known about the specific pathways through which maternal posttraumatic symptoms and deficits in emotion regulation contribute to emotional dysregulation. Inspired by the intergenerational process of relational posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in which posttraumatic distress is transmitted from mothers to children, we suggest an analogous concept of relational emotion regulation, by which maternal emotion regulation problems may contribute to child emotion regulation deficits. Child emotion regulation problems were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist-Dysregulation Profile (CBCL-DP; T.M. Achenbach & I. Rescorla, 2000), which is comprised of three subscales of the CBCL: Attention, Aggression, and Anxiety/Depression. Maternal PTSD symptoms were assessed by the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (E.B. Foa, L. Cashman, L. Jaycox, & K. Perry, 1997) and maternal emotion regulation by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (K.L. Gratz & L. Roemer, 2004). Results showed that the child's emotion regulation problems were associated with both maternal posttraumatic symptoms and maternal emotion dysregulation. Further, maternal emotion regulation mediated the association between maternal posttraumatic symptoms and the child's regulation deficits. These findings highlight the central role of mothers' emotion regulation skills in the aftermath of trauma as it relates to children's emotion regulation skills. The degree of mothers' regulatory skills in the context of posttraumatic stress symptoms reflects a key process through which the intergenerational transmission of trauma may occur. Study results have critical implications for planning and developing clinical interventions geared toward the treatment of

  1. Parent-Child Attachment and Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brumariu, Laura E.

    2015-01-01

    Given the centrality of both parent-child attachment and emotion regulation in children's development and adjustment, it is important to evaluate the relations between these constructs. This article discusses conceptual and empirical links between attachment and emotion regulation in middle childhood, highlights progress and challenges in the…

  2. Significance of Coaching in the Context of Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novotná, Ivana; Blahová, Jarmila; Šatanková, Sláva

    2017-09-01

    Coaching as a form of development has opened new possibilities and broadened the sphere of competence for personal or manager development since 1990s. At the beginning, there was not enough literature related to this topic, but progressively it has been popularized in so much that some authors have released their books in several languages. John Whitmore (2004) warns about the misuse of popularization of a new term (coaching), by using which many managers hide their reluctance against a modification or disability to change something in their traditional managerial style. Emotion regulation is the base for successful leadership, success in work life in general and satisfaction in any relationship. In the paper, the authors focus on the significance of coaching for the personal and professional growth as a systematic method using several strategies of emotion regulation.

  3. Significance of Coaching in the Context of Emotion Regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Novotná Ivana

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Coaching as a form of development has opened new possibilities and broadened the sphere of competence for personal or manager development since 1990s. At the beginning, there was not enough literature related to this topic, but progressively it has been popularized in so much that some authors have released their books in several languages. John Whitmore (2004 warns about the misuse of popularization of a new term (coaching, by using which many managers hide their reluctance against a modification or disability to change something in their traditional managerial style. Emotion regulation is the base for successful leadership, success in work life in general and satisfaction in any relationship. In the paper, the authors focus on the significance of coaching for the personal and professional growth as a systematic method using several strategies of emotion regulation.

  4. Dialectical behavior therapy alters emotion regulation and amygdala activity in patients with borderline personality disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Marianne; Carpenter, David; Tang, Cheuk Y; Goldstein, Kim E; Avedon, Jennifer; Fernandez, Nicolas; Mascitelli, Kathryn A; Blair, Nicholas J; New, Antonia S; Triebwasser, Joseph; Siever, Larry J; Hazlett, Erin A

    2014-10-01

    Siever and Davis' (1991) psychobiological framework of borderline personality disorder (BPD) identifies affective instability (AI) as a core dimension characterized by prolonged and intense emotional reactivity. Recently, deficient amygdala habituation, defined as a change in response to repeated relative to novel unpleasant pictures within a session, has emerged as a biological correlate of AI in BPD. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), an evidence-based treatment, targets AI by teaching emotion-regulation skills. This study tested the hypothesis that BPD patients would exhibit decreased amygdala activation and improved habituation, as well as improved emotion regulation with standard 12-month DBT. Event-related fMRI was obtained pre- and post-12-months of standard-DBT in unmedicated BPD patients. Healthy controls (HCs) were studied as a benchmark for normal amygdala activity and change over time (n = 11 per diagnostic-group). During each scan, participants viewed an intermixed series of unpleasant, neutral and pleasant pictures presented twice (novel, repeat). Change in emotion regulation was measured with the Difficulty in Emotion Regulation (DERS) scale. fMRI results showed the predicted Group × Time interaction: compared with HCs, BPD patients exhibited decreased amygdala activation with treatment. This post-treatment amygdala reduction in BPD was observed for all three pictures types, but particularly marked in the left hemisphere and during repeated-emotional pictures. Emotion regulation measured with the DERS significantly improved with DBT in BPD patients. Improved amygdala habituation to repeated-unpleasant pictures in patients was associated with improved overall emotional regulation measured by the DERS (total score and emotion regulation strategy use subscale). These findings have promising treatment implications and support the notion that DBT targets amygdala hyperactivity-part of the disturbed neural circuitry underlying emotional dysregulation

  5. Eating pathology, emotion regulation, and emotional overeating in obese adults with Binge Eating Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gianini, Loren M; White, Marney A; Masheb, Robin M

    2013-08-01

    The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship among emotional regulation, emotional overeating, and general eating pathology in a treatment seeking sample of adults with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). The sample was composed of 326 adults (248 women, 78 men) who were obese and met DSM-IV-TR criteria for BED. Prior to treatment, participants completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Emotional Overeating Questionnaire (EOQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) as part of a larger assessment battery. A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that difficulties with emotion regulation accounted for unique variance in both emotional overeating and general eating pathology above and beyond sex and negative affect. Emotion regulation may play a significant role in the maintenance of emotional overeating and eating pathology in obese adults with BED. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Boredom proneness and emotion regulation predict emotional eating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crockett, Amanda C; Myhre, Samantha K; Rokke, Paul D

    2015-05-01

    Emotional eating is considered a risk factor for eating disorders and an important contributor to obesity and its associated health problems. It has been suggested that boredom may be an important contributor to overeating, but has received relatively little attention. A sample of 552 college students was surveyed. Linear regression analyses found that proneness to boredom and difficulties in emotion regulation simultaneously predicted inappropriate eating behavior, including eating in response to boredom, other negative emotions, and external cues. The unique contributions of these variables to emotional eating were discussed. These findings help to further identify which individuals could be at risk for emotional eating and potentially for unhealthy weight gain. © The Author(s) 2015.

  7. Cultural regulation of emotion: Individual, relational, and structural sources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jozefien eDe Leersnyder

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The most prevalent and intense emotional experiences differ across cultures. These differences in emotional experience can be understood as the outcomes of emotion regulation, because emotions that fit the valued relationships within a culture tend to be most common and intense. We review evidence suggesting that emotion regulation underlying cultural differences in emotional experience often takes place at the point of emotion elicitation through the promotion of situations and appraisals that are consistent with culturally valued relationships. These regulatory processes depend on individual tendencies, but are also co-regulated within relationships—close others shape people’s environment and help them appraise events in culturally valued ways—and are afforded by structural conditions—people’s daily lives limit the opportunities for emotion, and afford certain appraisals. The combined evidence suggests that cultural differences in emotion regulation go well beyond the effortful regulation based on display rules.

  8. That’s not funny! – But it should be: effects of humorous emotion regulation on emotional experience and memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kugler, Lisa; Kuhbandner, Christof

    2015-01-01

    Previous research has shown that humorous reappraisal can reduce elicited negative emotions, suggesting that humor may be a functional strategy to cope with emotionally negative situations. However, the effect of humorous reappraisal on later memory about the emotion-eliciting situation is currently unknown, although this is crucial for more adaptive responding in future situations. To address this issue, we examined the effects of humorous reappraisal on both emotional experience and memory, compared to non-humorous rational reappraisal and a non-reappraisal control condition. Replicating previous findings, humorous reappraisal reduced evoked negative valence and arousal levels very effectively, and the down-regulation of experienced negative emotions was even more pronounced after humorous compared to rational reappraisal. Regarding later memory for emotion-eliciting stimuli, both humorous and rational reappraisal reduced free recall, but recognition memory was unaffected, with memory strength being stronger after humorous than after rational reappraisal. These results indicate that humor seems to be indeed an optimal strategy to cope with negative situations because humor can help us to feel better when confronted with negative stimuli, but still allows us to retrieve stimulus information later when afforded to do so by the presence of appropriate contextual features. PMID:26379608

  9. Emotions and Behavior Regulation in Decision Dilemmas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joaquin Gómez-Miñambres

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available We introduce a dynamic model of emotional behavior regulation that can generalize to a wide range of decision dilemmas. Dilemmas are characterized by availability of mutually exclusive goals that a decision maker is dually motivated to pursue. In our model, previous goal pursuant decisions produce negative emotions that regulate an individual’s propensity to further pursue those goals at future times. This emotional regulation of behavior helps explain the non-stationarity and switching observed between so-called “preferences” revealed in repeated decision dilemmas (e.g., by choosing A over B at time 1, then choosing B over A at time 2. We also explain how behavior regulation under dilemma conditions is affected by the set of available options and how the strength and decay rate of emotions affect the tendency to choose behaviors pursuant of extremely (rather than moderately different options over time. We discuss how emotional behavior regulation insights provided by our model can extend to a variety of topics including approach and avoidance, temptation and self-control, moral balancing, impulse buying and shopping momentum, dieting and exercise, work and leisure, sleep regulation, cooperation, and competition.

  10. Emotion-Related Regulation: Sharpening the Definition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenberg, Nancy; Spinrad, Tracy L.

    2004-01-01

    Cole, Martin, and Dennis (this issue) considered many important conceptual and methodological issues in their discussion of emotion regulation. Although it may be necessary to develop an integrated definition of the construct of emotion regulation, the definition provided in the Cole et al. article is too encompassing. It is important to…

  11. Regulating Rumination by Anger: Evidence for the Mutual Promotion and Counteraction (MPMC Theory of Emotionality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Zhan

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Unlike the strategy of cognitive regulation that relies heavily on the top-down control function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC, which was recently found may be critically impaired in stressful situations, traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine views different types of emotionality as having mutual promotion and counteraction (MPMC relationships, implying a novel approach that requires less cognition to emotional regulation. Actually, our previous studies have indicated that anger responses could be successfully regulated via the induction of sadness, and this efficiency could not be influenced by stress, thus providing evidences for the hypothesis of “sadness counteracts anger” (SCA proposed by the MPMC theory of emotionality (Zhan et al., 2015, 2017. In this study, we experimentally examined the MPMC hypothesis that “anger counteracts rumination” (ACR which postulates that rumination may be alleviated by the anger emotion. In Study 1, all participants were initially caused state rumination and then induced anger, joy or neutral mood, the results showed that the rumination-related affect was alleviated after anger induction relative to that after joy or neutral mood induction. In Study 2, female participants with high trait rumination were recruited and divided into two groups for exposure to an anger or neutral emotion intervention, the result indicated that the anger intervention group exhibited a greater decline in trait rumination than the neutral emotion intervention group. These findings provided preliminary evidence supporting the hypothesis of ACR, which suggested a new strategy that employs less cognitive resources to regulating state and trait rumination by inducing anger.

  12. Regulating Rumination by Anger: Evidence for the Mutual Promotion and Counteraction (MPMC) Theory of Emotionality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhan, Jun; Tang, Fan; He, Mei; Fan, Jin; Xiao, Jing; Liu, Chang; Luo, Jing

    2017-01-01

    Unlike the strategy of cognitive regulation that relies heavily on the top-down control function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which was recently found may be critically impaired in stressful situations, traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine views different types of emotionality as having mutual promotion and counteraction (MPMC) relationships, implying a novel approach that requires less cognition to emotional regulation. Actually, our previous studies have indicated that anger responses could be successfully regulated via the induction of sadness, and this efficiency could not be influenced by stress, thus providing evidences for the hypothesis of “sadness counteracts anger” (SCA) proposed by the MPMC theory of emotionality (Zhan et al., 2015, 2017). In this study, we experimentally examined the MPMC hypothesis that “anger counteracts rumination” (ACR) which postulates that rumination may be alleviated by the anger emotion. In Study 1, all participants were initially caused state rumination and then induced anger, joy or neutral mood, the results showed that the rumination-related affect was alleviated after anger induction relative to that after joy or neutral mood induction. In Study 2, female participants with high trait rumination were recruited and divided into two groups for exposure to an anger or neutral emotion intervention, the result indicated that the anger intervention group exhibited a greater decline in trait rumination than the neutral emotion intervention group. These findings provided preliminary evidence supporting the hypothesis of ACR, which suggested a new strategy that employs less cognitive resources to regulating state and trait rumination by inducing anger. PMID:29249998

  13. Emotion regulation through listening to music in everyday situations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thoma, Myriam V; Ryf, Stefan; Mohiyeddini, Changiz; Ehlert, Ulrike; Nater, Urs M

    2012-01-01

    Music is a stimulus capable of triggering an array of basic and complex emotions. We investigated whether and how individuals employ music to induce specific emotional states in everyday situations for the purpose of emotion regulation. Furthermore, we wanted to examine whether specific emotion-regulation styles influence music selection in specific situations. Participants indicated how likely it would be that they would want to listen to various pieces of music (which are known to elicit specific emotions) in various emotional situations. Data analyses by means of non-metric multidimensional scaling revealed a clear preference for pieces of music that were emotionally congruent with an emotional situation. In addition, we found that specific emotion-regulation styles might influence the selection of pieces of music characterised by specific emotions. Our findings demonstrate emotion-congruent music selection and highlight the important role of specific emotion-regulation styles in the selection of music in everyday situations.

  14. Discrepancy-based and anticipated emotions in behavioral self-regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Christina M; McConnell, Allen R

    2011-10-01

    Discrepancies between one's current and desired states evoke negative emotions, which presumably guide self-regulation. In the current work we evaluated the function of discrepancy-based emotions in behavioral self-regulation. Contrary to classic theories of self-regulation, discrepancy-based emotions did not predict the degree to which people engaged in self-regulatory behavior. Instead, expectations about how future self-discrepancies would make one feel (i.e., anticipated emotions) predicted self-regulation. However, anticipated emotions were influenced by previous discrepancy-based emotional experiences, suggesting that the latter do not directly motivate self-regulation but rather guide expectations. These findings are consistent with the perspective that emotions do not necessarily direct immediate behavior, but rather have an indirect effect by guiding expectations, which in turn predict goal-directed action.

  15. Prefrontal and amygdala engagement during emotional reactivity and regulation in generalized anxiety disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzgerald, Jacklynn M; Phan, K Luan; Kennedy, Amy E; Shankman, Stewart A; Langenecker, Scott A; Klumpp, Heide

    2017-08-15

    Emotion dysregulation is prominent in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), characterized clinically by exaggerated reactivity to negative stimuli and difficulty in down-regulating this response. Although limited research implicates frontolimbic disturbances in GAD, whether neural aberrations occur during emotional reactivity, regulation, or both is not well understood. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 30 individuals with GAD and 30 healthy controls (HC) completed a well-validated explicit emotion regulation task designed to measure emotional reactivity and regulation of reactivity. During the task, participants viewed negative images ('Look-Negative' condition) and, on some trials, used a cognitive strategy to reduce negative affective response ('Reappraise' condition). Results from an Analysis of Variance corrected for whole brain multiple comparisons showed a significant group x condition interaction in the left amygdala and left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Results from post-hoc analyses showed that the GAD group engaged these regions to a greater extent than HCs during Look-Negative but not Reappraise. Behaviorally, the GAD group reported feeling more negative than the HC group in each condition, although both groups reported reduced negative affect following regulation. As comorbidity was permitted, the presence of concurrent disorders, like other anxiety disorders and depression, detracts our ability to classify neural engagement particular to GAD alone. Individuals with GAD exhibited over-engagement of amygdala and frontal regions during the viewing of negative images, compared to HCs. Together, these aberrations may indicate that deficits in emotional reactivity rather than regulation contribute to emotion dysregulation in those with GAD. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Functional overlap of top-down emotion regulation and generation: an fMRI study identifying common neural substrates between cognitive reappraisal and cognitively generated emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otto, Benjamin; Misra, Supriya; Prasad, Aditya; McRae, Kateri

    2014-09-01

    One factor that influences the success of emotion regulation is the manner in which the regulated emotion was generated. Recent research has suggested that reappraisal, a top-down emotion regulation strategy, is more effective in decreasing self-reported negative affect when emotions were generated from the top-down, versus the bottom-up. On the basis of a process overlap framework, we hypothesized that the neural regions active during reappraisal would overlap more with emotions that were generated from the top-down, rather than from the bottom-up. In addition, we hypothesized that increased neural overlap between reappraisal and the history effects of top-down emotion generation would be associated with increased reappraisal success. The results of several analyses suggested that reappraisal and emotions that were generated from the top-down share a core network of prefrontal, temporal, and cingulate regions. This overlap is specific; no such overlap was observed between reappraisal and emotions that were generated in a bottom-up fashion. This network consists of regions previously implicated in linguistic processing, cognitive control, and self-relevant appraisals, which are processes thought to be crucial to both reappraisal and top-down emotion generation. Furthermore, individuals with high reappraisal success demonstrated greater neural overlap between reappraisal and the history of top-down emotion generation than did those with low reappraisal success. The overlap of these key regions, reflecting overlapping processes, provides an initial insight into the mechanism by which generation history may facilitate emotion regulation.

  17. Impaired down-regulation of negative emotion in self-referent social situations in bipolar disorder

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærstad, Hanne L; Vinberg, Maj; Goldin, Philippe R

    2016-01-01

    naturally or dampen their emotional response to positive and negative social scenarios and associated self-beliefs. They were also given an established experimental task for comparison, involving reappraisal of negative affective picture stimuli, as well as a questionnaire of habitual ER strategies. BD...... patients showed reduced ability to down-regulate emotional responses in negative, but not positive, social scenarios relative to healthy controls and UD patients. In contrast, there were no between-group differences in the established ER task or in self-reported habitual reappraisal strategies. Findings...

  18. HbA1c levels as a function of emotional regulation and emotional intelligence in patients with type 2 diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coccaro, Emil F; Drossos, Tina; Phillipson, Louis

    2016-10-01

    Understanding the role of emotion in glycemic control may be critical for the long-term treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this study we investigated the relationship between measures of emotional regulation and emotional intelligence and HbA1c levels in adult patients with T2 diabetes. 100 adult patients with T2 diabetes completed assessments of emotional regulation (i.e., affect intensity/lability) and emotional intelligence and were then correlated with HbA1c levels with several relevant covariates. HbA1c levels were significantly associated with affect intensity (AI: r=.24, p=.018) and with emotional intelligence (EI: r=-.29, p=.004), but not affect lability. These results were the same even after adding income, state depression scores, insulin-dependent status, serum cholesterol, diabetes literacy and self-care as covariates (AI: β=.33, p=.001; EI: β=-.31, p=.002). Diabetes self-care, but not diabetes literacy, was also associated with HbA1c levels (β=-.29, p=.003). These data suggest that aspects of emotional regulation and emotional intelligence play a role in glycemic control in adult patients with T2 diabetes and do so even in the context of several variables relevant to diabetes. If so, interventions that can reduce affect intensity and/or increase emotional intelligence may represent a new strategy in the glycemic control of adult patients with T2 diabetes. Copyright © 2016 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. The neural correlates of sex differences in emotional reactivity and emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domes, Gregor; Schulze, Lars; Böttger, Moritz; Grossmann, Annette; Hauenstein, Karlheinz; Wirtz, Petra H; Heinrichs, Markus; Herpertz, Sabine C

    2010-05-01

    Sex differences in emotional responding have been repeatedly postulated but less consistently shown in empirical studies. Because emotional reactions are modulated by cognitive appraisal, sex differences in emotional responding might depend on differences in emotion regulation. In this study, we investigated sex differences in emotional reactivity and emotion regulation using a delayed cognitive reappraisal paradigm and measured whole-brain BOLD signal in 17 men and 16 women. During fMRI, participants were instructed to increase, decrease, or maintain their emotional reactions evoked by negative pictures in terms of cognitive reappraisal. We analyzed BOLD responses to aversive compared to neutral pictures in the initial viewing phase and the effect of cognitive reappraisal in the subsequent regulation phase. Women showed enhanced amygdala responding to aversive stimuli in the initial viewing phase, together with increased activity in small clusters within the prefrontal cortex and the temporal cortex. During cognitively decreasing emotional reactions, women recruited parts of the orbitofrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to a lesser extent than men, while there was no sex effect on amygdala activity. In contrast, compared to women, men showed an increased recruitment of regulatory cortical areas during cognitively increasing initial emotional reactions, which was associated with an increase in amygdala activity. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

  20. Attachment, emotion regulation and coping in portuguese emerging adults: a test of a mediation hypothesis

    OpenAIRE

    Joana Cabral; Paula Mena Matos; Wim Beyers; Bart Soenens

    2012-01-01

    Although the quality of parent-adolescent emotional bonds has consistently been proposed as a major influence on young adult's psycho-emotional functioning, the precise means by which these bonds either facilitate or impede adaptive coping are not well-understood. In an effort to advance this inquiry, the present study examined interrelationships among measures of parental attachment, emotion regulation processes, and preferred coping strategies within a sample of 942 college freshmen. Struct...

  1. The Social Regulation of Emotion: An Integrative, Cross-Disciplinary Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reeck, Crystal; Ames, Daniel R; Ochsner, Kevin N

    2016-01-01

    Research in emotion regulation has largely focused on how people manage their own emotions, but there is a growing recognition that the ways in which we regulate the emotions of others also are important. Drawing on work from diverse disciplines, we propose an integrative model of the psychological and neural processes supporting the social regulation of emotion. This organizing framework, the 'social regulatory cycle', specifies at multiple levels of description the act of regulating another person's emotions as well as the experience of being a target of regulation. The cycle describes the processing stages that lead regulators to attempt to change the emotions of a target person, the impact of regulation on the processes that generate emotions in the target, and the underlying neural systems. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  2. Becoming popular: interpersonal emotion regulation predicts relationship formation in real life social networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niven, Karen; Garcia, David; van der Löwe, Ilmo; Holman, David; Mansell, Warren

    2015-01-01

    Building relationships is crucial for satisfaction and success, especially when entering new social contexts. In the present paper, we investigate whether attempting to improve others’ feelings helps people to make connections in new networks. In Study 1, a social network study following new networks of people for a 12-week period indicated that use of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) strategies predicted growth in popularity, as indicated by other network members’ reports of spending time with the person, in work and non-work interactions. In Study 2, linguistic analysis of the tweets from over 8000 Twitter users from formation of their accounts revealed that use of IER predicted greater popularity in terms of the number of followers gained. However, not all types of IER had positive effects. Behavioral IER strategies (which use behavior to reassure or comfort in order to regulate affect) were associated with greater popularity, while cognitive strategies (which change a person’s thoughts about his or her situation or feelings in order to regulate affect) were negatively associated with popularity. Our findings have implications for our understanding of how new relationships are formed, highlighting the important the role played by intentional emotion regulatory processes. PMID:26483718

  3. Becoming popular: Interpersonal emotion regulation predicts relationship formation in real life social networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen eNiven

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Building relationships is crucial for satisfaction and success, especially when entering new social contexts. In the present paper, we investigate whether attempting to improve others’ feelings helps people to make connections in new networks. In Study 1, a social network study following new networks of people for a twelve-week period indicated that use of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER strategies predicted growth in popularity, as indicated by other network members’ reports of spending time with the person, in work and non-work interactions. In Study 2, linguistic analysis of the tweets from over 8000 Twitter users from formation of their accounts revealed that use of IER predicted greater popularity in terms of the number of followers gained. However, not all types of IER had positive effects. Behavioral IER strategies (which use behavior to reassure or comfort in order to regulate affect were associated with greater popularity, while cognitive strategies (which change a person’s thoughts about his or her situation or feelings in order to regulate affect were negatively associated with popularity. Our findings have implications for our understanding of how new relationships are formed, highlighting the important the role played by intentional emotion regulatory processes.

  4. Roles of Impulsivity, Motivation, and Emotion Regulation in Procrastination - Path Analysis and Comparison Between Students and Non-students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wypych, Marek; Matuszewski, Jacek; Dragan, Wojciech Ł

    2018-01-01

    Procrastination - an irrational delay of intended actions despite expecting to be worse off - is a complex and non-homogenous phenomenon. Previous studies have found a number of correlates of procrastination, some of which seem to be particularly important. Impulsivity is closely connected to procrastination on behavioral, genetic, and neuronal levels. Difficulties in emotion regulation have also been shown to be strongly related to procrastination. Procrastination can also be considered as a motivation-based problem. To try to disentangle the connections of impulsivity, emotion regulation, and motivation to procrastination we collected data from over 600 subjects using multiple questionnaires (PPS - Pure Procrastination Scale; UPPSP - Impulsive Behavior Scale, ERQ - Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and MDT - Motivational Diagnostic Test). Structural equation modeling was performed to test several possible relationships between the measured variables. The effects of student status and age have also been investigated. The final path model was a directional model based on six explanatory variables and accounted for 70% of the variance in procrastination. Path analysis revealed that the strongest contributions to procrastination came from lack of value, delay discounting, and lack of perseverance, suggesting the involvement of motivation and impulsivity. The model also revealed the moderating role of expressive suppression between several aspects of impulsivity and procrastination. Close inspection of the paths' weights suggests that there may be two partly competing strategies for dealing with impulsivity and negative emotions: either to suppress emotions and impulsive reactions or to react impulsively, discarding previous plans, and to procrastinate. Path invariance analysis showed the significant moderating roles of student status and age. Both in non-students and high-age groups, the path leading from suppression to procrastination was insignificant. This suggests

  5. Expression and Regulation of Attachment-Related Emotions in Children with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dadds, Mark R; Gale, Nyree; Godbee, Megan; Moul, Caroline; Pasalich, Dave S; Fink, Elian; Hawes, David J

    2016-08-01

    Callous-unemotional traits (CU) are defined by low responsiveness to, and unfeeling disregard for the emotions of others. There is controversial evidence, however, that children with high CU traits can demonstrate affective responsiveness under certain conditions, namely those associated with attachment threat. We tested this using 'fear + amusing' and 'attachment rich' stimuli from the Lion King film. Of N = 76, 4-14 years old children, 56 were clinic-referred children divided into high and low CU traits groups, and 20 children were drawn from the community. Participants watched film sequences of fearful, attachment-related and neutral stimuli and their affective responses and emotion-regulation strategies were coded by independent observers. Children in the high CU traits group were able to disengage from the fear stimuli by showing more 'happiness' to a brief slapstick interlude. In the attachment scenario, high CU children expressed similar or trends toward higher emotional responses and emotion regulation strategies, compared to low-CU children and control children. The results support the idea that high CU children may have the potential for emotional responsiveness to complex emotional stimuli in attachment contexts. Implications of these results for the development of interventions are discussed.

  6. The Detrimental Effects of Adolescents' Chronic Loneliness on Motivation and Emotion Regulation in Social Situations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanhalst, Janne; Luyckx, Koen; Van Petegem, Stijn; Soenens, Bart

    2018-01-01

    In adolescence, when establishing and maintaining satisfying social relationships is a key developmental task, chronic loneliness is related to a host of negative outcomes. This study aimed at examining motivational and regulatory factors related to chronic loneliness. Specifically, this study investigated chronically lonely adolescents' responses to hypothetical vignettes of social inclusion and exclusion, thereby focusing on (a) adolescents' willingness and motivation to approach social inclusion and (b) emotion regulation strategies to deal with social exclusion. A total of 730 adolescents (Mage = 15.43 years, 72% female) participated in this four-wave study with annual loneliness assessments and hypothetical vignettes of social inclusion and exclusion at the final wave. After each social inclusion vignette, participants rated their willingness to accept the invitation for social inclusion and five types of motivation to approach the situation. After each social exclusion vignette, participants rated nine cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Compared to individuals following other trajectories, chronically lonely adolescents were less likely to accept invitations for social inclusion and the quality of their motivation for accepting such invitations was lower. Further, they were more likely to employ maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. In sum, this study adds significantly to understanding the motivational and regulatory processes that differentiate chronically lonely adolescents from adolescents following other trajectories.

  7. Sex Differences and Emotion Regulation: An Event-Related Potential Study

    OpenAIRE

    Gardener, Elyse K. T.; Carr, Andrea R.; MacGregor, Amy; Felmingham, Kim L.

    2013-01-01

    Difficulties in emotion regulation have been implicated as a potential mechanism underlying anxiety and mood disorders. It is possible that sex differences in emotion regulation may contribute towards the heightened female prevalence for these disorders. Previous fMRI studies of sex differences in emotion regulation have shown mixed results, possibly due to difficulties in discriminating the component processes of early emotional reactivity and emotion regulation. The present study used event...

  8. Self-reported emotional dysregulation but no impairment of emotional intelligence in borderline personality disorder: an explorative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beblo, Thomas; Pastuszak, Anna; Griepenstroh, Julia; Fernando, Silvia; Driessen, Martin; Schütz, Astrid; Rentzsch, Katrin; Schlosser, Nicole

    2010-05-01

    Emotional dysfunction is a key feature of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) but emotional intelligence (EI) has rarely been investigated in this sample. This study aimed at an investigation of ability EI, general intelligence, and self-reported emotion regulation in BPD. We included 19 patients with BPD and 20 healthy control subjects in the study. EI was assessed by means of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso emotional intelligence test and the test of emotional intelligence. For the assessment of general intelligence, we administered the multidimensional "Leistungsprüfsystem-Kurzversion." The emotion regulation questionnaire and the difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale were used to assess emotion regulation. The patients with BPD did not exhibit impairments of ability EI and general intelligence but reported severe impairments in emotion regulation. Ability EI was related both to general intelligence (patients and controls) and to self-reported emotion regulation (patients). In conclusion, emotional dysfunction in BPD might primarily affect self-perceived behavior rather than abilities. Intense negative emotions in everyday life may trigger dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies in BPD although patients possess sufficient theoretical knowledge about optimal regulation strategies.

  9. Cultural regulation of emotion: Individual, relational, and structural sources

    OpenAIRE

    De Leersnyder, Jozefien; Boiger, Michael; Mesquita, Batja

    2013-01-01

    The most prevalent and intense emotional experiences differ across cultures. These differences in emotional experience can be understood as the outcomes of emotion regulation, because emotions that fit the valued relationships within a culture tend to be most common and intense. We review evidence suggesting that emotion regulation underlying cultural differences in emotional experience often takes place at the point of emotion elicitation through the promotion of situations and appraisals th...

  10. Reasoning strategies modulate gender differences in emotion processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markovits, Henry; Trémolière, Bastien; Blanchette, Isabelle

    2018-01-01

    The dual strategy model of reasoning has proposed that people's reasoning can be understood asa combination of two different ways of processing information related to problem premises: a counterexample strategy that examines information for explicit potential counterexamples and a statistical strategy that uses associative access to generate a likelihood estimate of putative conclusions. Previous studies have examined this model in the context of basic conditional reasoning tasks. However, the information processing distinction that underlies the dual strategy model can be seen asa basic description of differences in reasoning (similar to that described by many general dual process models of reasoning). In two studies, we examine how these differences in reasoning strategy may relate to processing very different information, specifically we focus on previously observed gender differences in processing negative emotions. Study 1 examined the intensity of emotional reactions to a film clip inducing primarily negative emotions. Study 2 examined the speed at which participants determine the emotional valence of sequences of negative images. In both studies, no gender differences were observed among participants using a counterexample strategy. Among participants using a statistical strategy, females produce significantly stronger emotional reactions than males (in Study 1) and were faster to recognize the valence of negative images than were males (in Study 2). Results show that the processing distinction underlying the dual strategy model of reasoning generalizes to the processing of emotions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Customer emotion regulation in the service interactions: its relationship to employee ingratiation, satisfaction and loyalty intentions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medler-Liraz, Hana; Yagil, Dana

    2013-01-01

    Many studies have explored emotional regulation on the part of service employees, and its antecedents. However, customers' emotional regulation in general, and how it is affected by service employee behavior in particular, have received only scant attention. The present article explores a model suggesting that service employees' ingratiatory behavior relates to customer emotion regulation strategies, which in turn are related to customer satisfaction and loyalty. The model was tested with 131 service employee-customer dyads. The results show that service employee ingratiation was positively related to customers' deep acting but not related to surface acting. Customers' deep acting was positively related to their satisfaction. A positive relationship was found between customer satisfaction and loyalty.

  12. Measuring children's regulation of emotion-expressive behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bar-Haim, Yair; Bar-Av, Gali; Sadeh, Avi

    2011-04-01

    Emotion regulation has become a pivotal concept in developmental and clinical research. However, the measurement of regulatory processes has proved extremely difficult, particularly in the context of within-subject designs. Here, we describe a formal conceptualization and a new experimental procedure, the Balloons Game, to measure a regulatory component of emotion-expressive behavior. We present the internal consistency and stability of the indices derived from the Balloons Game in a sample of 121 kindergarten children. External validation against measures that have been associated with emotion regulation processes is also provided. The findings suggest that the Balloons Game provides a reliable tool for the study of regulation of emotion expression in young children. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

  13. That’s Not Funny! – But It Should Be: Effects of Humorous Emotion Regulation on Emotional Experience and Memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa eKugler

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Previous research has shown that humorous reappraisal can reduce elicited negative emotions, suggesting that humor may be a functional strategy to cope with emotionally negative situations. However, the effect of humorous reappraisal on later memory about the emotion-eliciting situation is currently unknown, although this is crucial for more adaptive responding in future situations. To address this issue, we examined the effects of humorous reappraisal on both emotional experience and memory, compared to non-humorous rational reappraisal and a non-reappraisal control condition. Replicating previous findings, humorous reappraisal reduced evoked negative valence and arousal levels very effectively, and the down-regulation of experienced negative emotions was even more pronounced after humorous compared to rational reappraisal. Regarding later memory for emotion-eliciting stimuli, both humorous and rational reappraisal reduced free recall, but recognition memory was unaffected, with memory strength being stronger after humorous than after rational reappraisal. These results indicate that humor seems to be indeed an optimal strategy to cope with negative situations because humor can help us to feel better when confronted with negative stimuli, but still allows us to retrieve stimulus information later when afforded to do so by the presence of appropriate contextual features.

  14. EMOTIONAL LABOR: THE ROLE OF EMPLOYEE ACTING STRATEGIES ON CUSTOMER EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE AND SUBSEQUENT BUYING DECISIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaoying Tang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Prior research has demonstrated the impact of employee emotional labor strategies (deep and surface acting on customer behavioral intentions. However, there is limited data on the impact of emotional labor strategy on potential intervening variables and on actual buying decisions. This study extends the prior research by examining the effect of employee emotional labor strategies on customers’ emotional experiences and actual customer purchasing decisions. Data were collected from 294 employee-customer pairs from retail cell phone stores in China. Results indicated that choice of strategy (deep or surface does significantly impact purchase decisions. In addition, the relationship between strategy and purchase is mediated by the customer's emotional experience.

  15. Insecure Attachment and Eating Pathology in Early Adolescence: Role of Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Durme, Kim; Braet, Caroline; Goossens, Lien

    2015-01-01

    The present study investigated whether associations exist between attachment dimensions toward mother and different forms of eating pathology (EP) in a group of early adolescent boys and girls, and whether these associations were mediated by maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies. Developmentally appropriate self-report questionnaires were…

  16. Interoceptive Awareness Skills for Emotion Regulation: Theory and Approach of Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cynthia J. Price

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Emotion regulation involves a coherent relationship with the self, specifically effective communication between body, mind, and feelings. Effective emotion regulation involves the ability to accurately detect and evaluate cues related to physiological reactions to stressful events, accompanied by appropriate regulation strategies that temper and influence the emotional response. There is compelling evidence demonstrating links between poor or disrupted awareness of sensory information, or interoceptive awareness, and difficulties with emotion regulation. This paper presents a framework, based on psychological and neurobiological research, for understanding how interoceptive awareness facilitates regulation and an integrated sense of self, and thus contributes to health and well-being. A mind-body therapeutic approach called mindful awareness in body-oriented therapy (MABT, uniquely designed to teach fundamental skills of interoceptive awareness, is described. MABT develops the distinct interoceptive awareness capacities of identifying, accessing, and appraising internal bodily signals that are identified in physiological models as the critical components of interoception for emotion regulation. The explanatory model is that the development of these key interoceptive capacities improves sensory (physical and emotional awareness, reduces distress, and improves regulation. Strategies for teaching and learning interoceptive awareness are not well-developed in mindfulness or psychotherapeutic approaches, particularly important for people who may have difficulty attending to interoceptive awareness due to stress, chronic pain or trauma. To address this issue, MABT provides an individualized protocol for scaffolding interoceptive awareness through a combination of psychoeducation and somatic approaches explicitly addressing difficulties with interoceptive processing. Clinical vignettes are included to provide exemplars of this approach and to highlight

  17. Extending the concept of emotion regulation with model-based fMRI

    OpenAIRE

    Mulej Bratec, Satja

    2016-01-01

    Effective emotion regulation is essential for our social and emotional well-being. Yet, the concept of emotion regulation, as it is conventionally regarded in the field, does not take important aspects of emotions and emotion regulation into account. The overarching aim of the current thesis was to include such missing aspects and thereby expand the concept of emotion regulation. The expansion occurred in two directions: firstly, the definition of emotion within the field of emotion regulatio...

  18. A socio-cultural instrumental approach to emotion regulation: Culture and the regulation of positive emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xiaoming; Tamir, Maya; Miyamoto, Yuri

    2018-02-01

    We propose a sociocultural instrumental approach to emotion regulation. According to this approach, cultural differences in the tendency to savor rather than dampen positive emotions should be more pronounced when people are actively pursuing goals (i.e., contexts requiring higher cognitive effort) than when they are not (i.e., contexts requiring lower cognitive efforts), because cultural beliefs about the utility of positive emotions should become most relevant when people are engaging in active goal pursuit. Four studies provided support for our theory. First, European Americans perceived more utility and less harm of positive emotions than Japanese did (Study 1). Second, European Americans reported a stronger relative preference for positive emotions than Asians, but this cultural difference was larger in high cognitive effort contexts than in moderate or low cognitive effort contexts (Study 2). Third, European Americans reported trying to savor rather than dampen positive emotions more than Asians did when preparing to take an exam, a typical high cognitive effort context (Studies 3-4), but these cultural differences were attenuated when an exam was not expected (Study 3) and disappeared when participants expected to interact with a stranger (Study 4). These findings suggest that cultural backgrounds and situational demands interact to shape how people regulate positive emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. Distinct emotion regulation skills explain psychopathology and problems in social relationships following childhood emotional abuse and neglect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berzenski, Sara R

    2018-03-22

    Efforts to differentiate between the developmental sequelae of childhood emotional abuse and childhood emotional neglect are critical to both research and practice efforts. As an oft-identified mechanism of the effects of child maltreatment on later adjustment, emotion dysregulation represents a key potential pathway. The present study explored a higher order factor model of specific emotion regulation skills, and the extent to which these skill sets would indicate distinct developmental pathways from unique emotional maltreatment experiences to multidomain adjustment. A sample of 500 ethnoracially diverse college students reported on their experiences. A two-factor model of emotion regulation skills based on subscales of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale was revealed. Significant indirect effects of childhood emotional abuse on psychopathology and problems in social relationships were found through response-focused difficulties in emotion regulation, whereas a significant indirect effect of childhood emotional neglect on problems in social relationships was found through antecedent-focused difficulties in emotion regulation. These results are consistent with theoretical models and empirical evidence suggesting differential effects of childhood emotional abuse and emotional neglect, and provide an important indication for developing targeted interventions focusing on specific higher order emotion dysregulation skill clusters.

  20. Emotional regulation difficulties and premenstrual symptoms among Israeli students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reuveni, Inbal; Dan, Rotem; Segman, Ronen; Evron, Ron; Laufer, Sofia; Goelman, Gadi; Bonne, Omer; Canetti, Laura

    2016-12-01

    Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) reported to affect 3-8 % of women of reproductive age and resulting in marked emotional and occupational impairment. Despite its prevalence, the etiology of PMDD is largely unknown, and patients remain mostly undiagnosed and poorly treated. It has been suggested that PMDD is a manifestation of underlying depressive disorder which is associated with the inability to regulate emotions in an adaptive manner. Therefore, we hypothesized that women with PMDD would exhibit increased difficulty with emotional regulation. A total of 648 female Israeli college students were assessed by the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Of these women, 166 (25.6 %) met the criteria for PMS. Sixty-four (9.9 %) suffered from PMDD. More emotion regulation deficits were observed in the PMDD and PMS groups compared to the control group. Furthermore, there were more emotional regulation deficits among the predominantly psychological and mixed symptom subtype compared to the predominantly physical symptom subtype group. This is the first study to report an association between emotional dysregulation and PMDD. These findings may lead to development of more individually tailored treatment protocols focused on improving emotional regulation techniques.

  1. Fronto-Limbic Brain Dysfunction during the Regulation of Emotion in Schizophrenia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaun M Eack

    Full Text Available Schizophrenia is characterized by significant and widespread impairments in the regulation of emotion. Evidence is only recently emerging regarding the neural basis of these emotion regulation impairments, and few studies have focused on the regulation of emotion during effortful cognitive processing. To examine the neural correlates of deficits in effortful emotion regulation, schizophrenia outpatients (N = 20 and age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers (N = 20 completed an emotional faces n-back task to assess the voluntary attentional control subprocess of emotion regulation during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Behavioral measures of emotional intelligence and emotion perception were administered to examine brain-behavior relationships with emotion processing outcomes. Results indicated that patients with schizophrenia demonstrated significantly greater activation in the bilateral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal, and right orbitofrontal cortices during the effortful regulation of positive emotional stimuli, and reduced activity in these same regions when regulating negative emotional information. The opposite pattern of results was observed in healthy individuals. Greater fronto-striatal response to positive emotional distractors was significantly associated with deficits in facial emotion recognition. These findings indicate that abnormalities in striatal and prefrontal cortical systems may be related to deficits in the effortful emotion regulatory process of attentional control in schizophrenia, and may significantly contribute to emotion processing deficits in the disorder.

  2. Individual differences in emotion lateralisation and the processing of emotional information arising from social interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bourne, Victoria J; Watling, Dawn

    2015-01-01

    Previous research examining the possible association between emotion lateralisation and social anxiety has found conflicting results. In this paper two studies are presented to assess two aspects related to different features of social anxiety: fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and emotion regulation. Lateralisation for the processing of facial emotion was measured using the chimeric faces test. Individuals with greater FNE were more strongly lateralised to the right hemisphere for the processing of anger, happiness and sadness; and, for the processing of fearful faces the relationship was found for females only. Emotion regulation strategies were reduced to two factors: positive strategies and negative strategies. For males, but not females, greater reported use of negative emotion strategies is associated with stronger right hemisphere lateralisation for processing negative emotions. The implications for further understanding the neuropsychological processing of emotion in individuals with social anxiety are discussed.

  3. Social regulation of emotion: messy layers

    OpenAIRE

    Kappas, Arvid

    2013-01-01

    Emotions are evolved systems of intra- and interpersonal processes that are regulatory in nature, dealing mostly with issues of personal or social concern. They regulate social interaction and in extension, the social sphere. In turn, processes in the social sphere regulate emotions of individuals and groups. In other words, intrapersonal processes project in the interpersonal space, and inversely, interpersonal experiences deeply influence intrapersonal processes. Thus, I argue that the conc...

  4. Brief report: emotion regulation and coping as moderators in the relationship between personality and self-injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasking, Penelope A; Coric, Sarah J; Swannell, Sarah; Martin, Graham; Thompson, Holly Knox; Frost, Aaron D J

    2010-10-01

    Self-injury without conscious suicidal intent is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon particularly among adolescent populations. This pilot study examined the extent and correlates of self-injurious behaviour in a school population sample of 393 adolescents (aged 13-18 years) using a self-report questionnaire. Specifically, we aimed to determine whether personality was related to self-injury and whether this relationship was moderated by emotion regulation or coping strategies. Few personality and coping variables were directly related to self-injury after controlling for age and psychopathology. However the relationship between personality and self-injury was moderated by coping skills and emotion regulation. We suggest future research explore these relationships in order to determine the role of coping skills and emotional regulation training in prevention of self-injury.

  5. Understanding the social effects of emotion regulation: the mediating role of authenticity for individual differences in suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    English, Tammy; John, Oliver P

    2013-04-01

    Individuals differ in the strategies they use to regulate their emotions (e.g., suppression, reappraisal), and these regulatory strategies can differentially influence social outcomes. However, the mechanisms underlying these social effects remain to be specified. We examined one potential mediator that arises directly from emotion-regulatory effort (expression of positive emotion), and another mediator that does not involve emotion processes per se, but instead results from the link between regulation and self-processes (subjective inauthenticity). Across three studies, only inauthenticity mediated the link between habitual use of suppression and poor social functioning (lower relationship satisfaction, lower social support). These findings replicated across individuals socialized in Western and East Asian cultural contexts, younger and older adults, when predicting social functioning concurrently and a decade later, and even when broader adjustment was controlled. Thus, the social costs of suppression do not seem to be due to reduced positive emotion expression but rather the incongruence between inner-self and outer-behavior. Reappraisal was not consistently related to social functioning. Implications of these findings for emotion processes, self processes, and interpersonal relationships are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  6. Emotion regulation in Asperger's syndrome and high-functioning autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samson, Andrea C; Huber, Oswald; Gross, James J

    2012-08-01

    It is generally thought that individuals with Asperger's syndrome and high-functioning autism (AS/HFA) have deficits in theory of mind. These deficits have been previously linked to problems with social cognition. However, we reasoned that AS/HFA individuals' Theory of Mind deficits also might lead to problems with emotion regulation. To assess emotional functioning in AS/HFA, 27 AS/HFA adults (16 women) and 27 age-, gender-, and education-matched typically developing (TD) participants completed a battery of measures of emotion experience, labeling, and regulation. With respect to emotion experience, individuals with AS/HFA reported higher levels of negative emotions, but similar levels of positive emotions, compared with TD individuals. With respect to emotion labeling, individuals with AS/HFA had greater difficulties identifying and describing their emotions, with approximately two-thirds exceeding the cutoff for alexithymia. With respect to emotion regulation, individuals with AS/HFA used reappraisal less frequently than TD individuals and reported lower levels of reappraisal self-efficacy. Although AS/HFA individuals used suppression more frequently than TD individuals, no difference in suppression self-efficacy was found. It is important to note that these differences in emotion regulation were evident even when controlling for emotion experience and labeling. Implications of these deficits are discussed, and future research directions are proposed.

  7. Emotion regulation promotes persistence in a residential substance abuse treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopwood, Christopher J; Schade, Nick; Matusiewicz, Alexis; Daughters, Stacey B; Lejuez, Carl W

    2015-01-01

    Emotion regulation at treatment entry was evaluated among 115 patients in an inner-city substance use residential facility who either persisted (N = 94) or discontinued treatment (N = 21). Emotion regulation capacity including emotional clarity and the ability to engage in goal-directed behavior despite emotional distress, as well as lower scores on a measure of trait-negative emotionality, were associated with treatment persistence, whereas motivational variables were not. Findings indicate the importance of regulating negative emotions for treatment engagement among substance abusers.

  8. Looking into the crystal ball of our emotional lives: emotion regulation and the overestimation of future guilt and shame.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Dijk, Wilco W; van Dillen, Lotte F; Rotteveel, Mark; Seip, Elise C

    2017-04-01

    In the present study, we examined the impact of emotion regulation on the intensity bias in guilt and shame. Fifty-two undergraduates either forecasted their emotions and emotion regulation following a guilt- and shame-eliciting situation or reported their actual experienced emotions and employed emotion regulation. Results showed a clear intensity bias, that is, forecasters predicted to experience more guilt and shame than experiencers actually experienced. Furthermore, results showed that forecasters predicted to employ less down-regulating emotion regulation (i.e. less acceptance) and more up-regulating emotion regulation (i.e. more rumination) than experiencers actually employed. Moreover, results showed that the intensity differences between forecasted and experienced guilt and shame could be explained (i.e. were mediated) by the differences between forecasted and actually employed emotion regulation (i.e. acceptance and rumination). These findings provide support for the hypothesis that the intensity bias can-at least in part-be explained by the misprediction of future emotion regulation.

  9. Theory-guided Therapeutic Function of Music to facilitate emotion regulation development in preschool-aged children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kimberly eSena Moore

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Emotion regulation is an umbrella term to describe interactive, goal-dependent explicit and implicit processes that are intended to help an individual manage and shift an emotional experience. The primary window for appropriate emotion regulation development occurs during the infant, toddler, and preschool years. Atypical emotion regulation development is considered a risk factor for mental health problems and has been implicated as a primary mechanism underlying childhood pathologies. Current treatments are predominantly verbal- and behavioral-based and lack the opportunity to practice in-the-moment management of emotionally charged situations. There is also an absence of caregiver-child interaction in these treatment strategies. Based on behavioral and neural support for music as a therapeutic mechanism, the incorporation of intentional music experiences, facilitated by a music therapist, may be one way to address these limitations. Musical Contour Regulation Facilitation is an interactive therapist-child music-based intervention for emotion regulation development practice in preschoolers. The Musical Contour Regulation Facilitation intervention uses the deliberate contour and temporal structure of a music therapy session to mirror the changing flow of the caregiver-child interaction through the alternation of high arousal and low arousal music experiences. The purpose of this paper is to describe the Therapeutic Function of Music, a theory-based description of the structural characteristics for a music-based stimulus to musically facilitate developmentally appropriate high arousal and low arousal in-the-moment emotion regulation experiences. The Therapeutic Function of Music analysis is based on a review of the music theory, music neuroscience, and music development literature and provides a preliminary model of the structural characteristics of the music as a core component of the Musical Contour Regulation Facilitation intervention.

  10. How emotions regulate social life: the emotions as social information (EASI) model

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Kleef, G.A.

    2009-01-01

    The idea that emotions regulate social interaction is increasingly popular. But exactly how do emotions do this? To address this question, I draw on research on the interpersonal effects of emotions on behavior in personal relationships, parent-child interactions, conflict, negotiation, and

  11. Emotion regulation predicts symptoms of depression over five years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berking, Matthias; Wirtz, Carolin M; Svaldi, Jennifer; Hofmann, Stefan G

    2014-06-01

    Deficits in emotion regulation have been identified as an important risk and maintaining factor for depression. The aim of this study was to examine the long-term effects of emotion regulation on symptoms of depression. Moreover, we investigated which specific emotion regulation skills were associated with subsequent symptoms of depression. Participants were 116 individuals (78% women, average age 35.2 years) who registered for an online-based assessment of depression and its risk-factors and reported at least some symptoms of depression. Successful application of emotion regulation skills and depressive symptom severity were assessed twice over a 5-year period. We utilized cross-lagged panel analyses to assess whether successful skills application would be negatively associated with subsequent depressive symptom severity. Cross-lagged panel analyses identified successful skills application as a significant predictor for depressive symptom severity even when controlling for the effects of initial symptoms of depression. A comparison of the effect sizes for different emotion regulation skills on subsequent depressive symptoms suggests that most of the skills included have similar predictive value. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the hypotheses that deficits in emotion regulation may contribute to the development of depression and that interventions systematically enhancing adaptive emotion regulation skills may help prevent and treat depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Regulating deviance with emotions: Emotional expressions as signals of acceptance and rejection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heerdink, M.W.

    2015-01-01

    An individual group member’s deviant behavior can provoke strong emotional reactions from other group members. I have investigated the role of such emotional reactions in regulating deviance by investigating how the deviant is influenced by these emotional reactions. The idea that angry reactions

  13. The Jekyll and Hyde of emotional intelligence: emotion-regulation knowledge facilitates both prosocial and interpersonally deviant behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Côté, Stéphane; Decelles, Katherine A; McCarthy, Julie M; Van Kleef, Gerben A; Hideg, Ivona

    2011-08-01

    Does emotional intelligence promote behavior that strictly benefits the greater good, or can it also advance interpersonal deviance? In the investigation reported here, we tested the possibility that a core facet of emotional intelligence--emotion-regulation knowledge--can promote both prosocial and interpersonally deviant behavior. Drawing from research on how the effective regulation of emotion promotes goal achievement, we predicted that emotion-regulation knowledge would strengthen the effects of other-oriented and self-oriented personality traits on prosocial behavior and interpersonal deviance, respectively. Two studies supported our predictions. Among individuals with higher emotion-regulation knowledge, moral identity exhibited a stronger positive association with prosocial behavior in a social dilemma (Study 1), and Machiavellianism exhibited a stronger positive association with interpersonal deviance in the workplace (Study 2). Thus, emotion-regulation knowledge has a positive side and a dark side.

  14. Attachment style and emotional eating in bariatric surgery candidates: The mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taube-Schiff, Marlene; Van Exan, Jessica; Tanaka, Rika; Wnuk, Susan; Hawa, Raed; Sockalingam, Sanjeev

    2015-08-01

    Difficulties with emotion regulation is a hypothesized mechanism through which attachment insecurity may affect emotional eating. No studies have yet investigated this effect in the bariatric population. Because many obese individuals engage in emotional eating, difficulty regulating emotion may be an important underlying mechanism through which attachment insecurity is linked to emotional eating in bariatric surgery candidates. In this cross-sectional study, 1393 adult bariatric surgery candidates from the Toronto Western Hospital were recruited to complete the Emotional Eating Scale (EES), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD7), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), and the Experiences for Close Relationships 16-item Scale (ECR-16) in order to explore the mediating role of emotion regulation on the relationship between attachment insecurity and emotional eating. Path analysis within a structural equation modeling framework examined direct and indirect effects of attachment insecurity on emotional eating. The indices of this overall model indicated that the specified set of direct and indirect pathways and corresponding correlations were a good fit with the data (RMSEAemotional eating were significant. Findings suggest that difficulties in emotion regulation may be an important mechanism to consider when examining the association between attachment insecurity and emotional eating in adult bariatric surgery candidates. Although causality cannot be concluded, these results shed light on the important role that emotion regulation may have in predicting problematic eating in bariatric patients. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  15. Design and Evaluation of Affective Serious Games for Emotion Regulation Training

    OpenAIRE

    Jerčić, Petar

    2013-01-01

    Emotions are thought to be a key factor that critically influences human decision-making. Emotion regulation can help to mitigate emotion related decision biases and eventually lead to a better decision performance. Serious games emerged as a new angle introducing technological methods to learning emotion regulation, where meaningful biofeedback information displays player's emotional state. This thesis investigates emotions and the effect of emotion regulation on decision performance. F...

  16. Childhood trauma exposure disrupts the automatic regulation of emotional processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marusak, Hilary A; Martin, Kayla R; Etkin, Amit; Thomason, Moriah E

    2015-03-13

    Early-life trauma is one of the strongest risk factors for later emotional psychopathology. Although research in adults highlights that childhood trauma predicts deficits in emotion regulation that persist decades later, it is unknown whether neural and behavioral changes that may precipitate illness are evident during formative, developmental years. This study examined whether automatic regulation of emotional conflict is perturbed in a high-risk urban sample of trauma-exposed children and adolescents. A total of 14 trauma-exposed and 16 age-, sex-, and IQ-matched comparison youth underwent functional MRI while performing an emotional conflict task that involved categorizing facial affect while ignoring an overlying emotion word. Engagement of the conflict regulation system was evaluated at neural and behavioral levels. Results showed that trauma-exposed youth failed to dampen dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity and engage amygdala-pregenual cingulate inhibitory circuitry during the regulation of emotional conflict, and were less able to regulate emotional conflict. In addition, trauma-exposed youth showed greater conflict-related amygdala reactivity that was associated with diminished levels of trait reward sensitivity. These data point to a trauma-related deficit in automatic regulation of emotional processing, and increase in sensitivity to emotional conflict in neural systems implicated in threat detection. Aberrant amygdala response to emotional conflict was related to diminished reward sensitivity that is emerging as a critical stress-susceptibility trait that may contribute to the emergence of mental illness during adolescence. These results suggest that deficits in conflict regulation for emotional material may underlie heightened risk for psychopathology in individuals that endure early-life trauma.

  17. Parental reactions to children's negative emotions: relationships with emotion regulation in children with an anxiety disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurrell, Katherine E; Hudson, Jennifer L; Schniering, Carolyn A

    2015-01-01

    Research has demonstrated that parental reactions to children's emotions play a significant role in the development of children's emotion regulation (ER) and adjustment. This study compared parent reactions to children's negative emotions between families of anxious and non-anxious children (aged 7-12) and examined associations between parent reactions and children's ER. Results indicated that children diagnosed with an anxiety disorder had significantly greater difficulty regulating a range of negative emotions and were regarded as more emotionally negative and labile by their parents. Results also suggested that mothers of anxious children espoused less supportive parental emotional styles when responding to their children's negative emotions. Supportive and non-supportive parenting reactions to children's negative emotions related to children's emotion regulation skills, with father's non-supportive parenting showing a unique relationship to children's negativity/lability. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Organizing awareness and increasing emotion regulation: revising chair work in emotion-focused therapy for borderline personality disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pos, Alberta E; Greenberg, Leslie S

    2012-02-01

    Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) is an empirically supported treatment that may have potential as a stage-two treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD). Specific aspects of BPD--the tendency to experience fluctuating self-states; weakness in meta-cognitive or reflective functioning; and the tendency for self-states to be organized by presently occurring interpersonal processes--present challenges to applying some EFT interventions with this population. In particular, even within a highly attuned, validating and accepting empathic relationship, clients with BPD may have difficulty with the usual manualizations of chair work interventions. This is because these interventions often employ polarization and intensification of experience in order to activate adaptive alternate emotional resources and self organizations. For the client with borderline personality disorder, these interventions may be counter-productive, emotionally dysregulating and disorganizing. EFT chair work, however, also has the potential to provide structure to the borderline clients experience of self, to stimulate metacognitive awareness, provide an alive experience of the process of polarization, attenuate emotional activation, and increase the experience of self-coherence. This article describes the development of stepwise approximations of EFT two-chair intervention for self-critical splits. It outlines potential stages of two-chair work as well as intervention principles important for productive chair work with this population. The EFT change principles of awareness, expression regulation, reflection, transformation, and corrective experience still centrally apply. However, several additional strategies are discussed to scaffold clients' capacity to both experience and regulate emotion.

  19. Emotion Regulation Difficulties Moderate the Association Between Heavy Episodic Drinking and Dating Violence Perpetration Among College Men

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stappenbeck, Cynthia A.; Davis, Kelly Cue; Cherf, Nicholas; Gulati, Natasha K.; Kajumulo, Kelly F.

    2017-01-01

    Because of high rates of heavy drinking and dating violence (psychological or physical aggression toward a dating partner) among college men, we examined whether emotion regulation difficulties moderated the association between heavy drinking and dating violence perpetration. One hundred and fifty-eight men were recruited from a large northwestern US university between April 2014 and August 2014. Participants completed an online survey that assessed their emotion regulation difficulties as well as their past year history of heavy episodic drinking (HED; consuming 5+ drinks in 2 hours) and dating violence perpetration. Generalized linear models revealed that the positive association between HED and dating violence perpetration was stronger for men with greater impulse control difficulties and for those who reported limited access to emotion regulation strategies. In addition to continued efforts to reduce heavy drinking among college men, interventions targeting emotion regulation difficulties should be incorporated into standard dating violence intervention and prevention efforts to further reduce the likelihood of dating violence perpetration in this population. PMID:29147076

  20. Sex differences and emotion regulation: an event-related potential study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elyse K T Gardener

    Full Text Available Difficulties in emotion regulation have been implicated as a potential mechanism underlying anxiety and mood disorders. It is possible that sex differences in emotion regulation may contribute towards the heightened female prevalence for these disorders. Previous fMRI studies of sex differences in emotion regulation have shown mixed results, possibly due to difficulties in discriminating the component processes of early emotional reactivity and emotion regulation. The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs to examine sex differences in N1 and N2 components (reflecting early emotional reactivity and P3 and LPP components (reflecting emotion regulation. N1, N2, P3, and LPP were recorded from 20 men and 23 women who were instructed to "increase," "decrease," and "maintain" their emotional response during passive viewing of negative images. Results indicated that women had significantly greater N1 and N2 amplitudes (reflecting early emotional reactivity to negative stimuli than men, supporting a female negativity bias. LPP amplitudes increased to the "increase" instruction, and women displayed greater LPP amplitudes than men to the "increase" instruction. There were no differences to the "decrease" instruction in women or men. These findings confirm predictions of the female negativity bias hypothesis and suggest that women have greater up-regulation of emotional responses to negative stimuli. This finding is highly significant in light of the female vulnerability for developing anxiety disorders.

  1. Sex differences and emotion regulation: an event-related potential study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardener, Elyse K T; Carr, Andrea R; Macgregor, Amy; Felmingham, Kim L

    2013-01-01

    Difficulties in emotion regulation have been implicated as a potential mechanism underlying anxiety and mood disorders. It is possible that sex differences in emotion regulation may contribute towards the heightened female prevalence for these disorders. Previous fMRI studies of sex differences in emotion regulation have shown mixed results, possibly due to difficulties in discriminating the component processes of early emotional reactivity and emotion regulation. The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine sex differences in N1 and N2 components (reflecting early emotional reactivity) and P3 and LPP components (reflecting emotion regulation). N1, N2, P3, and LPP were recorded from 20 men and 23 women who were instructed to "increase," "decrease," and "maintain" their emotional response during passive viewing of negative images. Results indicated that women had significantly greater N1 and N2 amplitudes (reflecting early emotional reactivity) to negative stimuli than men, supporting a female negativity bias. LPP amplitudes increased to the "increase" instruction, and women displayed greater LPP amplitudes than men to the "increase" instruction. There were no differences to the "decrease" instruction in women or men. These findings confirm predictions of the female negativity bias hypothesis and suggest that women have greater up-regulation of emotional responses to negative stimuli. This finding is highly significant in light of the female vulnerability for developing anxiety disorders.

  2. Alexithymia and emotional regulation: A cluster analytical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jie; Xu, Ting; Jing, Jin; Chan, Raymond C K

    2011-02-23

    Alexithymia has been a familiar conception of psychosomatic phenomenon. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were subtypes of alexithymia associating with different traits of emotional expression and regulation among a group of healthy college students. 1788 healthy college students were administered with the Chinese version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and another set of questionnaires assessing emotion status and regulation. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted on the three factor scores of the TAS-20. The cluster solution was cross-validated by the corresponding emotional regulation. The results indicated there were four subtypes of alexithymia, namely extrovert-high alexithymia (EHA), general-high alexithymia (GHA), introvert-high alexithymia (IHA) and non-alexithymia (NA). The GHA was characterized by general high scores on all three factors, the IHA was characterized by high scores on difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings but low score on externally oriented cognitive style of thinking, the EHA was characterized by high score on externally oriented cognitive style of thinking but normal score on the others, and the NA got low score on all factors. The GHA and IHA were dominant by suppressive character of emotional regulation and expression with worse emotion status as compared to the EHA and NA. The current findings suggest there were four subtypes of alexithymia characterized by different emotional regulation manifestations.

  3. [The emotional labor of nursing: critical incidents and coping strategies].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamperini, Adriano; Paoloni, Cristina; Testoni, Ines

    2015-01-01

    Despite the suggestion to adopt a balanced approach between detachment and involvement, the nurse-patient relationship is always embedded with emotional conflicts. To collect data on how nurses manage the emotional support to patients. The study adopted the theoretical perspective of the emotional work. Fifty-three nurses completed a questionnaire investigating everyday "emotional accidents." The data were analyzed considering the strategies employed to address and resolve them. All nurses exert an emotional work to try to outcome the dissonance between subjective emotions and emotional rules required by the professional role. There are three strategies: normalizing, regressive, transformative. Most of the emotional efforts are aimed at showing emotions in accordance with the role, even if they are dissonant with respect to the subjective feelings (surface acting). Nurses are expected to practice an "emotional neutrality", but their profession continually exposes them to a heavy emotional work that may be at the basis of emotional exhaustion and burnout. Strategies should be adopted to prevent stress and health damages.

  4. Emotion regulation deficits in regular marijuana users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmermann, Kaeli; Walz, Christina; Derckx, Raissa T; Kendrick, Keith M; Weber, Bernd; Dore, Bruce; Ochsner, Kevin N; Hurlemann, René; Becker, Benjamin

    2017-08-01

    Effective regulation of negative affective states has been associated with mental health. Impaired regulation of negative affect represents a risk factor for dysfunctional coping mechanisms such as drug use and thus could contribute to the initiation and development of problematic substance use. This study investigated behavioral and neural indices of emotion regulation in regular marijuana users (n = 23) and demographically matched nonusing controls (n = 20) by means of an fMRI cognitive emotion regulation (reappraisal) paradigm. Relative to nonusing controls, marijuana users demonstrated increased neural activity in a bilateral frontal network comprising precentral, middle cingulate, and supplementary motor regions during reappraisal of negative affect (P marijuana users relative to controls. Together, the present findings could reflect an unsuccessful attempt of compensatory recruitment of additional neural resources in the context of disrupted amygdala-prefrontal interaction during volitional emotion regulation in marijuana users. As such, impaired volitional regulation of negative affect might represent a consequence of, or risk factor for, regular marijuana use. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4270-4279, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. When regulating emotions at work pays off: a diary and an intervention study on emotion regulation and customer tips in service jobs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hülsheger, Ute R; Lang, Jonas W B; Schewe, Anna F; Zijlstra, Fred R H

    2015-03-01

    We investigated the relationship between deep acting, automatic regulation and customer tips with 2 different study designs. The first study was a daily diary study using a sample of Dutch waiters and taxi-drivers and assessed the link of employees' daily self-reported levels of deep acting and automatic regulation with the amount of tips provided by customers (N = 166 measurement occasions nested in 34 persons). Whereas deep acting refers to deliberate attempts to modify felt emotions and involves conscious effort, automatic regulation refers to automated emotion regulatory processes that result in the natural experience of desired emotions and do not involve deliberate control and effort. Multilevel analyses revealed that both types of emotion regulation were positively associated with customer tips. The second study was an experimental field study using a sample of German hairdressers (N = 41). Emotion regulation in terms of both deep acting and automatic regulation was manipulated using a brief self-training intervention and daily instructions to use cognitive change and attentional deployment. Results revealed that participants in the intervention group received significantly more tips than participants in the control group. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  6. Associations Between Childhood Abuse, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Implicit Emotion Regulation Deficits: Evidence From a Low-Income, Inner-City Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powers, Abigail; Etkin, Amit; Gyurak, Anett; Bradley, Bekh; Jovanovic, Tanja

    2015-01-01

    Childhood abuse is associated with a wide range of negative outcomes, including increased risk for development of emotion dysregulation and psychopathology, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of the present study was to examine associations between child abuse, PTSD symptoms, and performance on an emotional conflict regulation task that assesses implicit emotion regulation abilities. The sample consisted of 67 (94% African American) females recruited from a public, urban hospital. Childhood abuse was measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and PTSD was measured using the modified PTSD Symptom Scale. Task accuracy and implicit emotion regulation were measured through an emotional conflict regulation behavioral task. A multivariate analysis of covariance showed that exposure to moderate to severe childhood abuse was significantly related to worse emotional conflict regulation scores independent of current PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and adult trauma exposure, suggesting a deficit in implicit emotion regulation. We also found an interaction between PTSD symptoms and abuse exposure in predicting accuracy on the behavioral task; high levels of PTSD symptoms were associated with poorer task accuracy among individuals who reported moderate to severe exposure to childhood abuse. However, no relationship between implicit emotion regulation abilities and overall PTSD symptom severity was found. This study provides preliminary evidence of an implicit emotion regulation deficit for individuals exposed to significant childhood abuse and further supports the growing evidence that addressing various aspects of emotion dysregulation, such as awareness of emotions and strategies to manage strong emotions, in the context of treatment would be valuable.

  7. Discrepancies in Parents' and Children's Reports of Child Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hourigan, Shannon E.; Goodman, Kimberly L.; Southam-Gerow, Michael A.

    2011-01-01

    The ability to regulate one's emotions effectively has been linked with many aspects of well-being. The current study examined discrepancies between mothers' and children's reports of child emotion regulation. This investigation examined patterns of discrepancies for key aspects of emotion regulation (i.e., inhibition and dysregulated expression)…

  8. Emotion regulation and the temporal dynamics of emotions: Effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on emotional inertia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koval, Peter; Butler, Emily A; Hollenstein, Tom; Lanteigne, Dianna; Kuppens, Peter

    2015-01-01

    The tendency for emotions to be predictable over time, labelled emotional inertia, has been linked to low well-being and is thought to reflect impaired emotion regulation. However, almost no studies have examined how emotion regulation relates to emotional inertia. We examined the effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on the inertia of behavioural, subjective and physiological measures of emotion. In Study 1 (N = 111), trait suppression was associated with higher inertia of negative behaviours. We replicated this finding experimentally in Study 2 (N = 186). Furthermore, in Study 2, instructed suppressors and reappraisers both showed higher inertia of positive behaviours, and reappraisers displayed higher inertia of heart rate. Neither suppression nor reappraisal were associated with the inertia of subjective feelings in either study. Thus, the effects of suppression and reappraisal on the temporal dynamics of emotions depend on the valence and emotional response component in question.

  9. Variation in orbitofrontal cortex volume: relation to sex, emotion regulation and affect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welborn, B Locke; Papademetris, Xenophon; Reis, Deidre L; Rajeevan, Nallakkandi; Bloise, Suzanne M; Gray, Jeremy R

    2009-12-01

    Sex differences in brain structure have been examined extensively but are not completely understood, especially in relation to possible functional correlates. Our two aims in this study were to investigate sex differences in brain structure, and to investigate a possible relation between orbitofrontal cortex subregions and affective individual differences. We used tensor-based morphometry to estimate local brain volume from MPRAGE images in 117 healthy right-handed adults (58 female), age 18-40 years. We entered estimates of local brain volume as the dependent variable in a GLM, controlling for age, intelligence and whole-brain volume. Men had larger left planum temporale. Women had larger ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), right lateral orbitofrontal (rlOFC), cerebellum, and bilateral basal ganglia and nearby white matter. vmPFC but not rlOFC volume covaried with self-reported emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal, suppression), expressivity of positive emotions (but not of negative), strength of emotional impulses, and cognitive but not somatic anxiety. vmPFC volume statistically mediated sex differences in emotion suppression. The results confirm prior reports of sex differences in orbitofrontal cortex structure, and are the first to show that normal variation in vmPFC volume is systematically related to emotion regulation and affective individual differences.

  10. Emotion Regulation in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berkovits, Lauren; Eisenhower, Abbey; Blacher, Jan

    2017-01-01

    There has been little research connecting underlying emotion processes (e.g., emotion regulation) to frequent behavior problems in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined the stability of emotion regulation and its relationship with other aspects of child functioning. Participants included 108 children with ASD,…

  11. Emotional regulation, attachment to possessions and hoarding symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phung, Philip J; Moulding, Richard; Taylor, Jasmine K; Nedeljkovic, Maja

    2015-10-01

    This study aimed to test which particular facets of emotion regulation (ER) are most linked to symptoms of hoarding disorder, and whether beliefs about emotional attachment to possessions (EA) mediate this relationship. A non-clinical sample of 150 participants (108 females) completed questionnaires of emotional tolerance (distress tolerance, anxiety sensitivity, negative urgency - impulsivity when experiencing negative emotions), depressed mood, hoarding, and beliefs about emotional attachment to possessions. While all emotional tolerance measures related to hoarding, when considered together and controlling for depression and age, anxiety sensitivity and urgency were the significant predictors. Anxiety sensitivity was fully mediated, and urgency partially mediated, via beliefs regarding emotional attachment to possessions. These findings provide further support for (1) the importance of anxiety sensitivity and negative urgency for hoarding symptoms, and (2) the view that individuals with HD symptoms may rely on items for emotion regulation, leading to stronger beliefs that items are integral to emotional wellbeing. © 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Emotional display rules as work unit norms: a multilevel analysis of emotional labor among nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diefendorff, James M; Erickson, Rebecca J; Grandey, Alicia A; Dahling, Jason J

    2011-04-01

    Emotional labor theory has conceptualized emotional display rules as shared norms governing the expression of emotions at work. Using a sample of registered nurses working in different units of a hospital system, we provided the first empirical evidence that display rules can be represented as shared, unit-level beliefs. Additionally, controlling for the influence of dispositional affectivity, individual-level display rule perceptions, and emotion regulation, we found that unit-level display rules are associated with individual-level job satisfaction. We also showed that unit-level display rules relate to burnout indirectly through individual-level display rule perceptions and emotion regulation strategies. Finally, unit-level display rules also interacted with individual-level dispositional affectivity to predict employee use of emotion regulation strategies. We discuss how future research on emotional labor and display rules, particularly in the health care setting, can build on these findings.

  13. vlPFC-vmPFC-Amygdala Interactions Underlie Age-Related Differences in Cognitive Regulation of Emotion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silvers, Jennifer A; Insel, Catherine; Powers, Alisa; Franz, Peter; Helion, Chelsea; Martin, Rebecca E; Weber, Jochen; Mischel, Walter; Casey, B J; Ochsner, Kevin N

    2017-07-01

    Emotion regulation is a critical life skill that develops throughout childhood and adolescence. Despite this development in emotional processes, little is known about how the underlying brain systems develop with age. This study examined emotion regulation in 112 individuals (aged 6-23 years) as they viewed aversive and neutral images using a reappraisal task. On "reappraisal" trials, participants were instructed to view the images as distant, a strategy that has been previously shown to reduce negative affect. On "reactivity" trials, participants were instructed to view the images without regulating emotions to assess baseline emotional responding. During reappraisal, age predicted less negative affect, reduced amygdala responses and inverse coupling between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and amygdala. Moreover, left ventrolateral prefrontal (vlPFC) recruitment mediated the relationship between increasing age and diminishing amygdala responses. This negative vlPFC-amygdala association was stronger for individuals with inverse coupling between the amygdala and vmPFC. These data provide evidence that vmPFC-amygdala connectivity facilitates vlPFC-related amygdala modulation across development. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. Marital, parental, and whole-family predictors of toddlers' emotion regulation: The role of parental emotional withdrawal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallegos, Martin I; Murphy, Sarah E; Benner, Aprile D; Jacobvitz, Deborah B; Hazen, Nancy L

    2017-04-01

    The present study aims to address how dyadic and triadic family interactions across the transition to parenthood contribute to the later development of toddlers' adaptive emotion regulation using structural equation modeling methods. Specifically, we examined the interrelations of observed marital negative affect before childbirth, parents' emotional withdrawal during parent-infant interactions at 8 months, and coparenting conflict at 24 months as predictors of toddlers' adaptive emotion regulation at 24 months. Data for the present study were drawn from a longitudinal dataset in which 125 families were observed across the transition to parenthood. Results suggested that prenatal marital negativity predicted mothers' and fathers' emotional withdrawal toward their infants at 8 months postbirth as well as coparenting conflict at 24 months postbirth. Coparenting conflict and father-infant emotional withdrawal were negatively associated with toddlers' adaptive emotion regulation; however, mother-infant emotional withdrawal was not related. The implications of our study extend family systems research to demonstrate how multiple levels of detrimental family functioning over the first 2 years of parenthood influence toddlers' emotion regulation and highlight the importance of fathers' emotional involvement with their infants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Mindful Emotion Regulation: Exploring the Neurocognitive Mechanisms behind Mindfulness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandro Grecucci

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to review some of the psychological and neural mechanisms behind mindfulness practice in order to explore the unique factors that account for its positive impact on emotional regulation and health. After reviewing the mechanisms of mindfulness and its effects on clinical populations we will consider how the practice of mindfulness contributes to the regulation of emotions. We argue that mindfulness has achieved effective outcomes in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and other psychopathologies through the contribution of mindfulness to emotional regulation. We consider the unique factors that mindfulness meditation brings to the process of emotion regulation that may account for its effectiveness. We review experimental evidence that points towards the unique effects of mindfulness specifically operating over and above the regulatory effects of cognitive reappraisal mechanisms. A neuroanatomical circuit that leads to mindful emotion regulation is also suggested. This paper thereby aims to contribute to proposed models of mindfulness for research and theory building by proposing a specific model for the unique psychological and neural processes involved in mindful detachment that account for the effects of mindfulness over and above the effects accounted for by other well-established emotional regulation processes such as cognitive reappraisal.

  16. What do YOUth feel? Understanding adolescents' momentary emotions and emotion regulation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lennarz, H.K.

    2018-01-01

    Adolescents experience many different emotions and have to learn to regulate them effectively to prevent the development of mood disorders. This dissertation showed that experience of emotions differed between persons and situations. Jealousy was most intensely experienced when with peers and in

  17. Emotional and attentional predictors of self-regulation in early childhood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stępień-Nycz Małgorzata

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The development of self-regulation in early childhood is related to development of emotional regulation and attention, in particular executive attention (Feldman, 2009; Posner & Rothbart, 1998. As the ability to self-regulate is crucial in life (Casey et al., 2011, it is important to reveal early predictors of self-regulation. The aim of the paper is to present the results of longitudinal studies on the relationships between the functioning of attention, regulation of emotion and later self-regulatory abilities. 310 children were assessed at three time points. At 12 months of age emotional regulation in situation of frustration and attention regulation were assessed. At 18 and 24 months behavioral-emotional regulation in the Snack Delay Task was measured. Additionally parents assessed executive attention using The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire when children were 26 months old. Structural equation modelling revealed two different paths to development of self-regulatory abilities at 18 months: emotional (reactive system and emotionalattentional and only one emotional-attentional path at 24 months. The early ability to focus attention and later executive attention functioning revealed to be important predictors of self-regulatory abilities both at 18 and 24 months of age.

  18. When less is more: Effects of the availability of strategic options on regulating negative emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bigman, Yochanan E; Sheppes, Gal; Tamir, Maya

    2017-09-01

    Research in several domains suggests that having strategic options is not always beneficial. In this paper, we tested whether having strategic options (vs. not) is helpful or harmful for regulating negative emotions. In 5 studies (N = 151) participants were presented with 1 or more strategic options prior to watching aversive images and using the selected strategic option. Across studies, we found that people reported less intense negative emotions when the strategy they used to regulate their emotions was presented as a single option, rather than as 1 of several options. This was regardless of whether people could choose between the options (Studies 3-5) or not (Studies 1, 2, and 4), and specific to negative (but not neutral) images (Study 5). A sixth study addressed an explanation based on demand characteristics, showing that participants expected to feel more positive when having more than 1 option. The findings indicate that having strategic options for regulating negative emotions can sometimes be costly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. Fathers' parenting, adverse life events, and adolescents' emotional and eating disorder symptoms: the role of emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McEwen, Ciara; Flouri, Eirini

    2009-04-01

    To investigate the role of emotion regulation in the relation between fathers' parenting (specifically warmth, behavioral control and psychological control) and adolescents' emotional and eating disorder symptoms, after adjustment for controls. A total of 203 11-18 year-old students from a school in a socio-economically disadvantaged area in North-East London completed questionnaires assessing emotional symptoms (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire's (SDQ) Emotional Symptoms Scale), eating disorder symptoms (measured with the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26)), difficulties in emotion regulation (measured with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)), and fathers' overprotection and warmth, measured with the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), as well as behavioral and psychological control. The confounding variables considered were number of proximal (i.e., during the last year) adverse life events experienced, gender, age, and socio-economic status (eligibility for free school meals). Adolescents' difficulties in emotion regulation mediated the link between fathers' psychological control and adolescents' emotional symptoms, but not the link between fathers' parenting and adolescents' eating disorder symptoms, which appeared to be more directly linked to fathers' psychological control and number of proximal adverse life events experienced. Proximal adverse life events experienced were also strongly associated with difficulties in emotion regulation. The study findings have implications for intervention programs which may prove more fruitful in addressing adolescent emotional problems by targeting underlying emotion regulation abilities, and in addressing adolescent eating disorder symptoms by protecting adolescents with a recent experience of multiple adverse life events. Parenting programs also stand to benefit from the evidence presented in this study that paternal psychological control may have uniquely harmful consequences for

  20. Neural processing of emotional-intensity predicts emotion regulation choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafir, Roni; Thiruchselvam, Ravi; Suri, Gaurav; Gross, James J; Sheppes, Gal

    2016-12-01

    Emotional-intensity is a core characteristic of affective events that strongly determines how individuals choose to regulate their emotions. Our conceptual framework suggests that in high emotional-intensity situations, individuals prefer to disengage attention using distraction, which can more effectively block highly potent emotional information, as compared with engagement reappraisal, which is preferred in low emotional-intensity. However, existing supporting evidence remains indirect because prior intensity categorization of emotional stimuli was based on subjective measures that are potentially biased and only represent the endpoint of emotional-intensity processing. Accordingly, this study provides the first direct evidence for the role of online emotional-intensity processing in predicting behavioral regulatory-choices. Utilizing the high temporal resolution of event-related potentials, we evaluated online neural processing of stimuli's emotional-intensity (late positive potential, LPP) prior to regulatory-choices between distraction and reappraisal. Results showed that enhanced neural processing of intensity (enhanced LPP amplitudes) uniquely predicted (above subjective measures of intensity) increased tendency to subsequently choose distraction over reappraisal. Additionally, regulatory-choices led to adaptive consequences, demonstrated in finding that actual implementation of distraction relative to reappraisal-choice resulted in stronger attenuation of LPPs and self-reported arousal. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  1. The Emotional Resources Group: Provisional outcome data for a pilot six-session emotion regulation programme for secondary care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacon, Thomas; Doughty, Caitriona; Summers, Andrew; Wiffen, Benjamin; Stanley, Zoe; McAlpine, Susan

    2018-06-01

    To examine the effectiveness of a new, six-session emotion regulation group intervention designed for the secondary care setting: The Emotional Resources Group (ERG). In this pilot study, participants were recruited by referral from secondary care mental health services. Forty-seven individuals participated in the study. Participants who attended the ERG were compared on measures of emotion regulation, well-being, and self-efficacy, pre- and post-intervention. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated highly statistically significant improvements in measures of emotion regulation, well-being, and self-efficacy, accompanied by large effect sizes. In addition, improvements in emotion regulation produced good rates of both reliable and clinically significant change. The ERG may be an effective, brief intervention to improve emotion regulation in the secondary care setting, worthy of further evaluation. Clinical implications Emotion regulation may be an appropriate treatment target to improve well-being and self-efficacy in a transdiagnostic population. The ERG may be effective as a brief emotion regulation intervention for secondary care mental health settings. Outcomes of the ERG appear to be equivalent to other more intensive group-based emotion regulation interventions. The ERG's tailored design may be responsible for positive outcomes. Limitations There was a small sample size. There was no control group. There was no follow-up data. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

  2. Pregaming and Emotion Regulation's Relationship to Alcohol Problems in College Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norberg, Melissa M; Ham, Lindsay S; Olivier, Jake; Zamboanga, Byron L; Melkonian, Alexander; Fugitt, Jessica L

    2016-07-02

    Pregaming is a high-risk drinking behavior associated with increased alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Quantity of alcohol consumed does not fully explain the level of problems associated with pregaming; yet, limited research has examined factors that may interact with pregaming behavior to contribute to the experience of alcohol-related problems. The current study examined whether use of two emotion regulation strategies influence pregaming's contribution to alcohol-related problems. Undergraduates (N = 1857) aged 18-25 years attending 19 different colleges completed an online survey in 2008-2009. Linear mixed models were used to test whether emotion regulation strategies moderate the association between pregaming status (pregamers vs. non/infrequent pregamers) and alcohol-related problems, when controlling for alcohol consumption, demographic covariates, and site as a random effect. Greater use of cognitive reappraisal was associated with decreased alcohol problems. Expressive suppression interacted with pregaming status. There was no relationship between pregaming status and alcohol problems for students who rarely used expression suppression; however, the relationship between pregaming status and alcohol problems was statistically significant for students who occasionally to frequently used expression suppression. Findings suggest that the relationship between pregaming and alcohol-related problems is complex. Accordingly, future studies should utilize event-level methodology to understand how emotion regulation strategies influence alcohol-related problems. Further, clinicians should tailor alcohol treatments to help students increase their use of cognitive reappraisal and decrease their use of suppression.

  3. Alexithymia and emotional regulation: A cluster analytical approach

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    Xu Ting

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Alexithymia has been a familiar conception of psychosomatic phenomenon. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were subtypes of alexithymia associating with different traits of emotional expression and regulation among a group of healthy college students. Methods 1788 healthy college students were administered with the Chinese version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20 and another set of questionnaires assessing emotion status and regulation. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted on the three factor scores of the TAS-20. The cluster solution was cross-validated by the corresponding emotional regulation. Results The results indicated there were four subtypes of alexithymia, namely extrovert-high alexithymia (EHA, general-high alexithymia (GHA, introvert-high alexithymia (IHA and non-alexithymia (NA. The GHA was characterized by general high scores on all three factors, the IHA was characterized by high scores on difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings but low score on externally oriented cognitive style of thinking, the EHA was characterized by high score on externally oriented cognitive style of thinking but normal score on the others, and the NA got low score on all factors. The GHA and IHA were dominant by suppressive character of emotional regulation and expression with worse emotion status as compared to the EHA and NA. Conclusions The current findings suggest there were four subtypes of alexithymia characterized by different emotional regulation manifestations.

  4. Roles of Impulsivity, Motivation, and Emotion Regulation in Procrastination – Path Analysis and Comparison Between Students and Non-students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marek Wypych

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Procrastination – an irrational delay of intended actions despite expecting to be worse off – is a complex and non-homogenous phenomenon. Previous studies have found a number of correlates of procrastination, some of which seem to be particularly important. Impulsivity is closely connected to procrastination on behavioral, genetic, and neuronal levels. Difficulties in emotion regulation have also been shown to be strongly related to procrastination. Procrastination can also be considered as a motivation-based problem. To try to disentangle the connections of impulsivity, emotion regulation, and motivation to procrastination we collected data from over 600 subjects using multiple questionnaires (PPS – Pure Procrastination Scale; UPPSP – Impulsive Behavior Scale, ERQ – Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and MDT – Motivational Diagnostic Test. Structural equation modeling was performed to test several possible relationships between the measured variables. The effects of student status and age have also been investigated. The final path model was a directional model based on six explanatory variables and accounted for 70% of the variance in procrastination. Path analysis revealed that the strongest contributions to procrastination came from lack of value, delay discounting, and lack of perseverance, suggesting the involvement of motivation and impulsivity. The model also revealed the moderating role of expressive suppression between several aspects of impulsivity and procrastination. Close inspection of the paths’ weights suggests that there may be two partly competing strategies for dealing with impulsivity and negative emotions: either to suppress emotions and impulsive reactions or to react impulsively, discarding previous plans, and to procrastinate. Path invariance analysis showed the significant moderating roles of student status and age. Both in non-students and high-age groups, the path leading from suppression to procrastination

  5. Roles of Impulsivity, Motivation, and Emotion Regulation in Procrastination – Path Analysis and Comparison Between Students and Non-students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wypych, Marek; Matuszewski, Jacek; Dragan, Wojciech Ł.

    2018-01-01

    Procrastination – an irrational delay of intended actions despite expecting to be worse off – is a complex and non-homogenous phenomenon. Previous studies have found a number of correlates of procrastination, some of which seem to be particularly important. Impulsivity is closely connected to procrastination on behavioral, genetic, and neuronal levels. Difficulties in emotion regulation have also been shown to be strongly related to procrastination. Procrastination can also be considered as a motivation-based problem. To try to disentangle the connections of impulsivity, emotion regulation, and motivation to procrastination we collected data from over 600 subjects using multiple questionnaires (PPS – Pure Procrastination Scale; UPPSP – Impulsive Behavior Scale, ERQ – Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and MDT – Motivational Diagnostic Test). Structural equation modeling was performed to test several possible relationships between the measured variables. The effects of student status and age have also been investigated. The final path model was a directional model based on six explanatory variables and accounted for 70% of the variance in procrastination. Path analysis revealed that the strongest contributions to procrastination came from lack of value, delay discounting, and lack of perseverance, suggesting the involvement of motivation and impulsivity. The model also revealed the moderating role of expressive suppression between several aspects of impulsivity and procrastination. Close inspection of the paths’ weights suggests that there may be two partly competing strategies for dealing with impulsivity and negative emotions: either to suppress emotions and impulsive reactions or to react impulsively, discarding previous plans, and to procrastinate. Path invariance analysis showed the significant moderating roles of student status and age. Both in non-students and high-age groups, the path leading from suppression to procrastination was insignificant

  6. The Effects of Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression on Memory of Emotional Pictures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Mei Wang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In the field of emotion research, the influence of emotion regulation strategies on memory with emotional materials has been widely discussed in recent years. However, existing studies have focused exclusively on regulating negative emotion but not positive emotion. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the influence of emotion regulation strategies for positive emotion on memory. One hundred and twenty college students were selected as participants. Emotional pictures (positive, negative and neutral were selected from Chinese Affective Picture System (CAPS as experimental materials. We employed a mixed, 4 (emotion regulation strategies: cognitive up-regulation, cognitive down-regulation, expressive suppression, passive viewing × 3 (emotional pictures: positive, neutral, negative experimental design. We investigated the influences of different emotion regulation strategies on memory performance, using free recall and recognition tasks with pictures varying in emotional content. The results showed that recognition and free recall memory performance of the cognitive reappraisal groups (up-regulation and down-regulation were both better than that of the passive viewing group for all emotional pictures. No significant differences were reported in the two kinds of memory scores between the expressive suppression and passive viewing groups. The results also showed that the memory performance with the emotional pictures differed according to the form of memory test. For the recognition test, participants performed better with positive images than with neutral images. Free recall scores with negative images were higher than those with neutral images. These results suggest that both cognitive reappraisal regulation strategies (up-regulation and down-regulation promoted explicit memories of the emotional content of stimuli, and the form of memory test influenced performance with emotional pictures.

  7. The Effects of Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression on Memory of Emotional Pictures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yan Mei; Chen, Jie; Han, Ben Yue

    2017-01-01

    In the field of emotion research, the influence of emotion regulation strategies on memory with emotional materials has been widely discussed in recent years. However, existing studies have focused exclusively on regulating negative emotion but not positive emotion. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the influence of emotion regulation strategies for positive emotion on memory. One hundred and twenty college students were selected as participants. Emotional pictures (positive, negative and neutral) were selected from Chinese Affective Picture System (CAPS) as experimental materials. We employed a mixed, 4 (emotion regulation strategies: cognitive up-regulation, cognitive down-regulation, expressive suppression, passive viewing) × 3 (emotional pictures: positive, neutral, negative) experimental design. We investigated the influences of different emotion regulation strategies on memory performance, using free recall and recognition tasks with pictures varying in emotional content. The results showed that recognition and free recall memory performance of the cognitive reappraisal groups (up-regulation and down-regulation) were both better than that of the passive viewing group for all emotional pictures. No significant differences were reported in the two kinds of memory scores between the expressive suppression and passive viewing groups. The results also showed that the memory performance with the emotional pictures differed according to the form of memory test. For the recognition test, participants performed better with positive images than with neutral images. Free recall scores with negative images were higher than those with neutral images. These results suggest that both cognitive reappraisal regulation strategies (up-regulation and down-regulation) promoted explicit memories of the emotional content of stimuli, and the form of memory test influenced performance with emotional pictures.

  8. Cognitive emotion regulation in children: Reappraisal of emotional faces modulates neural source activity in a frontoparietal network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wessing, Ida; Rehbein, Maimu A; Romer, Georg; Achtergarde, Sandra; Dobel, Christian; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Fürniss, Tilman; Junghöfer, Markus

    2015-06-01

    Emotion regulation has an important role in child development and psychopathology. Reappraisal as cognitive regulation technique can be used effectively by children. Moreover, an ERP component known to reflect emotional processing called late positive potential (LPP) can be modulated by children using reappraisal and this modulation is also related to children's emotional adjustment. The present study seeks to elucidate the neural generators of such LPP effects. To this end, children aged 8-14 years reappraised emotional faces, while neural activity in an LPP time window was estimated using magnetoencephalography-based source localization. Additionally, neural activity was correlated with two indexes of emotional adjustment and age. Reappraisal reduced activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during down-regulation and enhanced activity in the right parietal cortex during up-regulation. Activity in the visual cortex decreased with increasing age, more adaptive emotion regulation and less anxiety. Results demonstrate that reappraisal changed activity within a frontoparietal network in children. Decreasing activity in the visual cortex with increasing age is suggested to reflect neural maturation. A similar decrease with adaptive emotion regulation and less anxiety implies that better emotional adjustment may be associated with an advance in neural maturation. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  9. The Influence of Emotions and Learning Preferences on Learning Strategy Use before Transition into High-Achiever Track Secondary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obergriesser, Stefanie; Stoeger, Heidrun

    2016-01-01

    Research on the relationships between students' achievement emotions and their (self-regulated) learning behavior is growing. However, little is known about the relationships between students' learning preferences and achievement emotions and the extent to which these influence learning strategies. In this study we, first, looked at the…

  10. An examination of emotion regulation, temperament, and parenting style as potential predictors of adolescent depression risk status: a correlational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Betts, Jennifer; Gullone, Eleonora; Allen, J Sabura

    2009-06-01

    Given that depression is a debilitating disorder, it is critical that we advance our understanding about the aetiology of this disorder. This study investigated both traditional (temperament and parenting) and novel (emotion regulation strategy) risk factors associated with adolescent depression. Forty-four adolescents (12-16 years; 64% females) with high scores on a self-report depressive symptomatology questionnaire were compared to a similar group of 44 adolescents with low scores, matched for age, gender, and ethnicity. Significant group differences were present on all assessed risk factors. The presence of high depressive symptomatology was found to be associated with (1) low levels of temperamentally based positive mood, flexibility, and approach behaviours, (2) a parenting style characterized by low nurturance and high overprotection, and (3) emotion regulation characterized by higher levels of expressive suppression and lower levels of cognitive reappraisal. It was concluded that, in addition to specific temperament characteristics and parenting style, use of particular emotion regulation strategies is associated with varying levels of depressive symptomatology. These findings reinforce the importance of incorporating emotion regulation into explanatory models of depression symptomatology. Further research that tests the direction of effects for these cross-sectional findings is warranted.

  11. Measuring ability to enhance and suppress emotional expression: The Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) Scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burton, Charles L; Bonanno, George A

    2016-08-01

    Flexibility in self-regulatory behaviors has proved to be an important quality for adjusting to stressful life events and requires individuals to have a diverse repertoire of emotion regulation abilities. However, the most commonly used emotion regulation questionnaires assess frequency of behavior rather than ability, with little evidence linking these measures to observable capacity to enact a behavior. The aim of the current investigation was to develop and validate a Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) Scale that measures a person's ability to enhance and suppress displayed emotion across an array of hypothetical contexts. In Studies 1 and 2, a series of confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the FREE Scale consists of 4 first-order factors divided by regulation and emotional valence type that can contribute to 2 higher order factors: expressive enhancement ability and suppression ability. In Study 1, we also compared the FREE Scale to other commonly used emotion regulation measures, which revealed that suppression ability is conceptually distinct from suppression frequency. In Study 3, we compared the FREE Scale with a composite of traditional frequency-based indices of expressive regulation to predict performance in a previously validated emotional modulation paradigm. Participants' enhancement and suppression ability scores on the FREE Scale predicted their corresponding performance on the laboratory task, even when controlling for baseline expressiveness. These studies suggest that the FREE Scale is a valid and flexible measure of expressive regulation ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Emotional regulation, perceived socialalienation and well-being of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Emotional regulation, perceived socialalienation and well-being of students in a Nigerian University: implilcations for assessment and coaching of emotional regulation. A O Ojedokun. Abstract. No Abstract. African Journal for the psychological studies of social issue Vol. 10 (1&2) 2007: pp. 76-90. Full Text: EMAIL FULL ...

  13. Abnormal Default System Functioning in Depression: Implications for Emotion Regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messina, Irene; Bianco, Francesca; Cusinato, Maria; Calvo, Vincenzo; Sambin, Marco

    2016-01-01

    Depression is widely seen as the result of difficulties in regulating emotions. Based on neuroimaging studies on voluntary emotion regulation, neurobiological models have focused on the concept of cognitive control, considering emotion regulation as a shift toward involving controlled processes associated with activation of the prefrontal and parietal executive areas, instead of responding automatically to emotional stimuli. According to such models, the weaker executive area activation observed in depressed patients is attributable to a lack of cognitive control over negative emotions. Going beyond the concept of cognitive control, psychodynamic models describe the development of individuals' capacity to regulate their emotional states in mother-infant interactions during childhood, through the construction of the representation of the self, others, and relationships. In this mini-review, we link these psychodynamic models with recent findings regarding the abnormal functioning of the default system in depression. Consistently with psychodynamic models, psychological functions associated with the default system include self-related processing, semantic processes, and implicit forms of emotion regulation. The abnormal activation of the default system observed in depression may explain the dysfunctional aspects of emotion regulation typical of the condition, such as an exaggerated negative self-focus and rumination on self-esteem issues. We also discuss the clinical implications of these findings with reference to the therapeutic relationship as a key tool for revisiting impaired or distorted representations of the self and relational objects.

  14. Individual differences in self-reported self-control predict successful emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paschke, Lena M; Dörfel, Denise; Steimke, Rosa; Trempler, Ima; Magrabi, Amadeus; Ludwig, Vera U; Schubert, Torsten; Stelzel, Christine; Walter, Henrik

    2016-08-01

    Both self-control and emotion regulation enable individuals to adapt to external circumstances and social contexts, and both are assumed to rely on the overlapping neural resources. Here, we tested whether high self-reported self-control is related to successful emotion regulation on the behavioral and neural level. One hundred eight participants completed three self-control questionnaires and regulated their negative emotions during functional magnetic resonance imaging using reappraisal (distancing). Trait self-control correlated positively with successful emotion regulation both subjectively and neurally, as indicated by online ratings of negative emotions and functional connectivity strength between the amygdala and prefrontal areas, respectively. This stronger overall connectivity of the left amygdala was related to more successful subjective emotion regulation. Comparing amygdala activity over time showed that high self-controllers successfully maintained down-regulation of the left amygdala over time, while low self-controllers failed to down-regulate towards the end of the experiment. This indicates that high self-controllers are better at maintaining a motivated state supporting emotion regulation over time. Our results support assumptions concerning a close relation of self-control and emotion regulation as two domains of behavioral control. They further indicate that individual differences in functional connectivity between task-related brain areas directly relate to differences in trait self-control. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  15. Emotion regulation in the workplace: a new way to conceptualize emotional labor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grandey, A A

    2000-01-01

    The topic of emotions in the workplace is beginning to garner closer attention by researchers and theorists. The study of emotional labor addresses the stress of managing emotions when the work role demands that certain expressions be shown to customers. However, there has been no overarching framework to guide this work, and the previous studies have often disagreed on the definition and operationalization of emotional labor. The purposes of this article are as follows: to review and compare previous perspectives of emotional labor, to provide a definition of emotional labor that integrates these perspectives, to discuss emotion regulation as a guiding theory for understanding the mechanisms of emotional labor, and to present a model of emotional labor that includes individual differences (such as emotional intelligence) and organizational factors (such as supervisor support).

  16. Cross-Cultural Differences in the Determinants of Maternal Emotion Coaching:  Role of Maternal Emotional Awareness and Emotion Regulation

    OpenAIRE

    Tan, Lin

    2017-01-01

    Despite many positive outcomes associated with emotion coaching, factors related to individual differences in emotion coaching have yet to be explored. The current study examined cultural differences in the role of maternal characteristics, specifically emotional awareness and emotion regulation, as determinants of emotion coaching. These findings will facilitate culturally desired emotion socialization practices leading to optimal emotional development of children. In the current study...

  17. Cognitive Emotional Regulation Model in Human-Robot Interaction

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Xin; Xie, Lun; Liu, Anqi; Li, Dan

    2015-01-01

    This paper integrated Gross cognitive process into the HMM (hidden Markov model) emotional regulation method and implemented human-robot emotional interaction with facial expressions and behaviors. Here, energy was the psychological driving force of emotional transition in the cognitive emotional model. The input facial expression was translated into external energy by expression-emotion mapping. Robot’s next emotional state was determined by the cognitive energy (the stimulus after cognition...

  18. The Relationship of Adult Attachment Theory and Affect Regulation Strategies to Depression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manolya Calisir

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available According to the attachment theory which is also known as an affect regulation theory, internal working models that are constituted by the interaction between primary care giver and infant in the early period of life. These working models plays an important role how the infant gives a meaning to the world and himself/ herself and it determines the individual’s personality development and by the way the probable psychopathologies that can be observed in the future like depression. In relation with this, many of the empirical studies in the adult literature states on how internal models and cognitive representations have an influence on emotional reactions. According to various studies, reporting different attachment styles and individuals who has probably different internal models, differs in each others’ emotional reactions and how they behave according to these reactions. In view of attachment literature, individual makes a decision in terms of making affect regulation for maintaining proximity seeking and this process evokes the activation of secondary attachment strategies which are named as hyper and deactivating strategies. From the framework of this review, the relationship between major depression and adult attachment styles, affect regulation strategies is examined. Firstly, Bowlby’s attachment theory is mentioned shortly and adult attachment styles are introduced. Secondly, affect regulation strategies, which are thought to be related with major depression as a mood disorder are identified and finally, the empirical research findings relevant to the topic are represented.

  19. The Relationship between Emotion Regulation and Emotion Expression Styles with Bullying Behaviors in Adolescent Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sajjad Basharpoor

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Background & objectives: Students bullying, especially in the adolescence period, is a prevalent problem in the schools, that emotional dysregulation is posed as a one cause of it. Considering this issue, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between emotion regulation and emotion expression styles with bullying behaviors in adolescent students.   Methods: The method of this study was correlation. Whole male students of secondary and high schools in Ardabil at 90-91 educational year comprised statistical population of this research. Two hundred thirty students, were selected by multistage cluster sampling method, responded to the questionnaires of bullying/victimization, emotion regulation and emotion expression. Gathered data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and multiple regression tests.   Results: The results showed that victimization by bullying has positive relationship with cognitive reappraisal (r= 0.15, p<0.02, emotion suppression (r= 0.47, p<0.001, and positive expression (r= 0.25, p<0.02, but has negative relationship with impulse severity (r= -0.35, p<0.001, and negative emotion expression (r= -0.43, p<0.001. Furthermore bullying has a positive relationship with cognitive reappraisal (r= 0.14, p<0.03, impulse severity (r= 0.31, p<0.003, and negative expression (r= 0.29, p<0.001, but has negative relationship with emotion suppression (r= 0.28, p<0.001, and positive expression (r= 0.24, p<0.001. In sum emotion regulation and emotion expression styles explained 36 percent of the variance of the victimization by bullying and 19 percent of the variance of the bullying.   Conclusion: This research demonstrated that emotion dysregulation at the adolescent period plays important role in bullying and victimization, thus the training of emotion regulation abilities is suggested as the one of interventions methods for this behavioral problems.

  20. An Age-Related Mechanism of Emotion Regulation: Regulating Sadness Promotes Children's Learning by Broadening Information Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Elizabeth L.

    2016-01-01

    Emotion regulation predicts positive academic outcomes like learning, but little is known about "why". Effective emotion regulation likely promotes learning by broadening the scope of what may be attended to after an emotional event. One hundred twenty-six 6- to 13-year-olds' (54% boys) regulation of sadness was examined for changes in…

  1. Physiological correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation in early adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latham, Melissa D; Cook, Nina; Simmons, Julian G; Byrne, Michelle L; Kettle, Jonathan W L; Schwartz, Orli; Vijayakumar, Nandita; Whittle, Sarah; Allen, Nicholas B

    2017-07-01

    Few studies have examined physiological correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation in adolescents, despite the occurrence in this group of significant developmental changes in emotional functioning. The current study employed multiple physiological measures (i.e., startle-elicited eyeblink and ERP, skin conductance, facial EMG) to assess the emotional reactivity and regulation of 113 early adolescents in response to valenced images. Reactivity was measured while participants viewed images, and regulation was measured when they were asked to discontinue or maintain their emotional reactions to the images. Adolescent participants did not exhibit fear-potentiated startle blink. However, they did display affect-consistent zygomatic and corrugator activity during reactivity, as well as inhibition of some of these facial patterns during regulation. Skin conductance demonstrated arousal dependent activity during reactivity, and overall decreases during regulation. These findings suggest that early adolescents display reactivity to valenced pictures, but not to startle probes. Psychophysiological patterns during emotion regulation indicate additional effort and/or attention during the regulation process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Therapeutic affect reduction, emotion regulation, and emotional memory reconsolidation: A neuroscientific quandary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaBar, Kevin S

    2015-01-01

    Lane et al. emphasize the role of emotional arousal as a precipitating factor for successful psychotherapy. However, as therapy ensues, the arousal diminishes. How can the unfolding therapeutic process generate long-term memories for reconsolidated emotional material without the benefit of arousal? Studies investigating memory for emotionally regulated material provide some clues regarding the neural pathways that may underlie therapy-based memory reconsolidation.

  3. Masculine Discrepancy Stress, Emotion-Regulation Difficulties, and Intimate Partner Violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berke, Danielle S; Reidy, Dennis E; Gentile, Brittany; Zeichner, Amos

    2016-05-24

    Research suggests that masculine socialization processes contribute to the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) by men. Although this research has traditionally focused on men who strongly adhere to traditional gender norms, men who negatively evaluate themselves as falling short of these norms (a construct termed masculine discrepancy stress) have proven to be at increased risk of IPV perpetration. Likewise, men experiencing problems with emotion regulation, a multidimensional construct reflecting difficulties in effectively experiencing and responding to emotional states, are also at risk of IPV perpetration. In the present research, we tested the hypothesis that the link between discrepancy stress and IPV perpetration is mediated via difficulties in emotion regulation. Three hundred fifty-seven men completed online surveys assessing their experience of discrepancy stress, emotion-regulation difficulties, and history of IPV perpetration. Results indicated that discrepancy-stressed men's use of physical IPV was fully mediated by emotion-regulation difficulties. In addition, emotion-regulation difficulties partially mediated the association between discrepancy stress and sexual IPV. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential utility of emotion-focused interventions for modifying men's experience and expression of discrepancy stress and reducing perpetration of IPV. © The Author(s) 2016.

  4. Masculine Discrepancy Stress, Emotion-Regulation Difficulties, and Intimate Partner Violence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berke, Danielle S.; Reidy, Dennis E.; Gentile, Brittany; Zeichner, Amos

    2018-01-01

    Research suggests that masculine socialization processes contribute to the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) by men. Although this research has traditionally focused on men who strongly adhere to traditional gender norms, men who negatively evaluate themselves as falling short of these norms (a construct termed masculine discrepancy stress) have proven to be at increased risk of IPV perpetration. Likewise, men experiencing problems with emotion regulation, a multidimensional construct reflecting difficulties in effectively experiencing and responding to emotional states, are also at risk of IPV perpetration. In the present research, we tested the hypothesis that the link between discrepancy stress and IPV perpetration is mediated via difficulties in emotion regulation. Three hundred fifty-seven men completed online surveys assessing their experience of discrepancy stress, emotion-regulation difficulties, and history of IPV perpetration. Results indicated that discrepancy-stressed men's use of physical IPV was fully mediated by emotion-regulation difficulties. In addition, emotion-regulation difficulties partially mediated the association between discrepancy stress and sexual IPV. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential utility of emotion-focused interventions for modifying men's experience and expression of discrepancy stress and reducing perpetration of IPV. PMID:27226013

  5. Adipostatic regulation of motivation and emotion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Jon F

    2010-05-01

    The proper maintenance of body weight and mood are two of the most prevalent health issues present in society today. Obese humans display higher levels of mood-related disorders and the causality of such an association is unknown. A common feature of obesity is the imbalance of regulatory hormones which normally act to maintain stable energy balance and body weight. The adiposity hormone leptin is one such signal elevated in obesity with the capacity to dampen feeding behavior through action on brain circuits which regulate appetite and metabolism. Recent evidence suggests that leptin may regulate motivation through its actions within brain reward circuitry. In addition, leptin signaling within central nervous system regions that regulate cognition and emotion elicits anti-depressant like effects. Together, these data indicate that leptin may regulate the decreased motivation and mood present in obesity and depression. This review describes the capacity of leptin to regulate motivation and depression through actions within brain circuits that modulate effort-based behavior and emotion, respectively.

  6. Neural Circuitry of Impaired Emotion Regulation in Substance Use Disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilcox, Claire E; Pommy, Jessica M; Adinoff, Bryon

    2016-04-01

    Impaired emotion regulation contributes to the development and severity of substance use disorders (substance disorders). This review summarizes the literature on alterations in emotion regulation neural circuitry in substance disorders, particularly in relation to disorders of negative affect (without substance disorder), and it presents promising areas of future research. Emotion regulation paradigms during functional magnetic resonance imaging are conceptualized into four dimensions: affect intensity and reactivity, affective modulation, cognitive modulation, and behavioral control. The neural circuitry associated with impaired emotion regulation is compared in individuals with and without substance disorders, with a focus on amygdala, insula, and prefrontal cortex activation and their functional and structural connectivity. Hypoactivation of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex/ventromedial prefrontal cortex (rACC/vmPFC) is the most consistent finding across studies, dimensions, and clinical populations (individuals with and without substance disorders). The same pattern is evident for regions in the cognitive control network (anterior cingulate and dorsal and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices) during cognitive modulation and behavioral control. These congruent findings are possibly related to attenuated functional and/or structural connectivity between the amygdala and insula and between the rACC/vmPFC and cognitive control network. Although increased amygdala and insula activation is associated with impaired emotion regulation in individuals without substance disorders, it is not consistently observed in substance disorders. Emotion regulation disturbances in substance disorders may therefore stem from impairments in prefrontal functioning, rather than excessive reactivity to emotional stimuli. Treatments for emotion regulation in individuals without substance disorders that normalize prefrontal functioning may offer greater efficacy for substance disorders

  7. The Effects of Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression on Memory of Emotional Pictures

    OpenAIRE

    Yan Mei Wang; Jie Chen; Ben Yue Han

    2017-01-01

    In the field of emotion research, the influence of emotion regulation strategies on memory with emotional materials has been widely discussed in recent years. However, existing studies have focused exclusively on regulating negative emotion but not positive emotion. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the influence of emotion regulation strategies for positive emotion on memory. One hundred and twenty college students were selected as participants. Emotional pictures (positive, n...

  8. Regulating emotion in the context of interpersonal decisions: The role of anticipated pride and regret

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Job eVan Der Schalk

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Recent theories about the relation between emotion and behavior hold that social behavior is influenced not only by the experience of emotion, but also by the anticipation of emotion. We argue that anticipating future emotional states is an emotion regulation strategy when it leads to a change in behavior. In the current studies we examined how construal of a fair or an unfair situation in terms of positive or negative anticipated emotions influences the fairness of subsequent behavior. We used the Ultimatum Bargaining Game--an experimental game in which participants divide a resource between themselves and another person--as a social situation that offers the opportunity to engage in fair and unfair behavior. In Study 1 we used an autobiographical recall task to manipulate anticipated emotions. Although the task did not influence anticipated emotions directly, results showed that anticipated pride about fair behavior increased levels of fairness, whereas anticipated pride about unfair behavior decreased levels of fairness. Similarly, anticipated regret about fair behavior decreased levels of fairness, whereas anticipated regret about unfair behavior increased levels of fairness. In Study 2 we replicated this pattern of findings, and found that participants who thought about their anticipated emotions (pride or regret in relation to unfair behavior behaved more fairly. We discuss these findings in relation to theories of emotion regulation and economic decision-making.

  9. Emotion regulation and the dynamic of feelings: A conceptual and methodological framework

    OpenAIRE

    Hoeksma, J.B.; Oosterlaan, J.; Schipper, E.

    2004-01-01

    The emotional system is defined as a dynamical system that has neurological and biochemical structures that force the system to change in a regular and consistent way. This dynamic view allows for an alternative definition of emotion regulation, which describes when emotion regulation is needed, identifies its goal, and illustrates how regulation is achieved. The thesis developed here is that feelings - the private mental experience of emotion - play a crucial role in emotion regulation. Spec...

  10. On the dynamics of implicit emotion regulation: counter-regulation after remembering events of high but not of low emotional intensity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwager, Susanne; Rothermund, Klaus

    2014-01-01

    Valence biases in attention allocation were assessed after remembering positive or negative personal events that were either still emotionally hot or to which the person had already adapted psychologically. Differences regarding the current state of psychological adjustment were manipulated experimentally by instructing participants to recall distant vs. recent events (Experiment 1) or affectively hot events vs. events to which the person had accommodated already (Experiment 2). Valence biases in affective processing were measured with a valence search task. Processes of emotional counter-regulation (i.e., attention allocation to stimuli of opposite valence to the emotional event) were elicited by remembering affectively hot events, whereas congruency effects (i.e., attention allocation to stimuli of the same valence as the emotional event) were obtained for events for which a final appraisal had already been established. The results of our study help to resolve conflicting findings from the literature regarding congruent vs. incongruent effects of remembering emotional events on affective processing. We discuss implications of our findings for the conception of emotions and for the dynamics of emotion regulation processes.

  11. Emotion regulation during isolation

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Poláčková Šolcová, Iva; Šolcová, Iva

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 47, Suppl. 1 (2012) ISSN 0020-7594. [International Congress of Psychology /30./. 22.07.2012-27.07.2012, Cape Town] R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP407/11/2226 Institutional support: RVO:68081740 Keywords : emotion regulation * isolation * Mars500 Subject RIV: AN - Psychology

  12. Tell it to a child! A brain stimulation study of the role of left inferior frontal gyrus in emotion regulation during storytelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urgesi, Cosimo; Mattiassi, Alan D A; Buiatti, Tania; Marini, Andrea

    2016-08-01

    In everyday life we need to continuously regulate our emotional responses according to their social context. Strategies of emotion regulation allow individuals to control time, intensity, nature and expression of emotional responses to environmental stimuli. The left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) is involved in the cognitive control of the selection of semantic content. We hypothesized that it might also be involved in the regulation of emotional feelings and expressions. We applied continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over LIFG or a control site before a newly-developed ecological regulation task that required participants to produce storytelling of pictures with negative or neutral valence to either a peer (unregulated condition) or a child (regulated condition). Linguistic, expressive, and physiological responses were analyzed in order to assess the effects of LIFG-cTBS on emotion regulation. Results showed that the emotion regulation context modulated the emotional content of narrative productions, but not the physiologic orienting response or the early expressive behavior to negative stimuli. Furthermore, LIFG-cTBS disrupted the text-level structuring of negative picture storytelling and the early cardiac and muscular response to negative pictures; however, it did not affect the contextual emotional regulation of storytelling. These results may suggest that LIFG is involved in the initial detection of the affective arousal of emotional stimuli. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Automatic control of negative emotions: evidence that structured practice increases the efficiency of emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christou-Champi, Spyros; Farrow, Tom F D; Webb, Thomas L

    2015-01-01

    Emotion regulation (ER) is vital to everyday functioning. However, the effortful nature of many forms of ER may lead to regulation being inefficient and potentially ineffective. The present research examined whether structured practice could increase the efficiency of ER. During three training sessions, comprising a total of 150 training trials, participants were presented with negatively valenced images and asked either to "attend" (control condition) or "reappraise" (ER condition). A further group of participants did not participate in training but only completed follow-up measures. Practice increased the efficiency of ER as indexed by decreased time required to regulate emotions and increased heart rate variability (HRV). Furthermore, participants in the ER condition spontaneously regulated their negative emotions two weeks later and reported being more habitual in their use of ER. These findings indicate that structured practice can facilitate the automatic control of negative emotions and that these effects persist beyond training.

  14. Toddler's self-regulation strategies in a challenge context are nap-dependent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Alison L; Seifer, Ronald; Crossin, Rebecca; Lebourgeois, Monique K

    2015-06-01

    Early childhood represents a time of developmental changes in both sleep and self-regulation, a construct reflecting the ability to control one's behaviour, attention and emotions when challenged. Links between sleep and self-regulation processes have been proposed, but experimental evidence with young children is lacking. In the current study, we tested the effects of acute sleep restriction (nap deprivation) on toddlers' self-regulation. Healthy children (n = 12; four males; aged 30-36 months (33.9 ± 1.7)) slept on a strict schedule (verified with actigraphy and sleep diaries) for 5 days before each of two afternoon assessments following a nap and a no-nap condition (~11-day protocol). Children were videotaped while attempting an unsolvable puzzle, and 10 mutually exclusive self-regulation strategies were later coded. On average, children lost ~90 min of sleep on the no-nap versus the nap day. Nap deprivation resulted in moderate-to-large effects on self-regulation strategies, with decreases in scepticism (d = 0.77; 7% change), negative self-appraisal (d = 0.92; 5% change) and increases in physical self-soothing (d = 0.68; 10% change), focus on the puzzle piece that would not fit (perseveration; d = 0.50; 9% change) and insistence on completing the unsolvable puzzle (d = 0.91; 10% change). Results suggest that sleep serves an important role in the way that toddlers respond to challenging events in their daily lives. After losing daytime sleep, toddlers were less able to engage effectively in a difficult task and reverted to less mature self-regulation strategies than when they were well rested. Over time, chronically missed sleep may impair young children's self-regulation abilities, resulting in risk for social-emotional, behavioural and school problems. © 2014 European Sleep Research Society.

  15. Positive Emotion Regulation and Psychopathology: A Transdiagnostic Cultural Neuroscience Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hechtman, Lisa A.; Raila, Hannah; Chiao, Joan Y.; Gruber, June

    2013-01-01

    There is burgeoning interest in the study of positive emotion regulation and psychopathology. Given the significant public health costs and the tremendous variance in national prevalence rates associated with many disorders of positive emotion, it is critical to reach an understanding of how cultural factors, along with biological factors, mutually influence positive emotion regulation. Progress in this domain has been relatively unexplored, however, underscoring the need for an integrative review and empirical roadmap for investigating the cultural neuroscientific contributions to positive emotion disturbance for both affective and clinical science domains. The present paper thus provides a multidisciplinary, cultural neuroscience approach to better understand positive emotion regulation and psychopathology. We conclude with a future roadmap for researchers aimed at harnessing positive emotion and alleviating the burden of mental illness cross-culturally. PMID:24812583

  16. The association of emotion regulation with lifestyle behaviors in inner-city adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isasi, Carmen R; Ostrovsky, Natania W; Wills, Thomas A

    2013-12-01

    Recent research suggests a role of cognitive self-regulation skills on obesity and lifestyle behaviors. However, very little is known about the role of emotion regulation. This study examined the association of emotion regulation with lifestyle behaviors and examined a mediational model testing the effects of emotion regulation through self-efficacy and depressive symptoms. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 602 adolescents (mean age 12.7 years) from 4 public schools in the Bronx, NY. The sample was 58% female, predominantly Hispanic (74%) and US born (81%). Emotion regulation was assessed by 3 indicators and defined as a latent variable. Dependent variables included fruit/vegetable intake, snack/junk food intake, frequency of physical activity, and time spent in sedentary behaviors. Structural equation modeling examined the association of emotion regulation with lifestyle behaviors, with self-efficacy and depressive symptoms defined as potential mediators. The analyses showed that there was a positive association of emotion regulation with higher intake of fruits/vegetable and greater physical activity, which was mediated by self-efficacy. Emotion regulation was related to snack/junk food intake and sedentary behavior, and the structural equation model indicated pathways through an inverse relation to depressive symptoms, but these pathways were only observed in adolescent girls and not boys. These findings indicate that the ability to regulate emotions among adolescents has a role in weight-related behaviors. Future studies may need to explore the relation of other dimensions of emotion to positive health behaviors and study aspects of emotion regulation that may be more relevant for boys. © 2013.

  17. Adolescent Deliberate Self-Harm: Linkages to Emotion Regulation and Family Emotional Climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Leslie; Adrian, Molly; Zeman, Janice; Cassano, Michael; Friedrich, William N.

    2009-01-01

    Parents' responses to their children's emotional expressivity have been shown to significantly influence children's subsequent psychosocial functioning. This study hypothesized that adolescents' deliberate self-harm (DSH) may be an outcome associated with poor emotion regulation as well as an invalidating family environment. The mediational role…

  18. Fostering parents' emotion regulation through a sibling-focused experimental intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravindran, Niyantri; Engle, Jennifer M; McElwain, Nancy L; Kramer, Laurie

    2015-06-01

    In this study, we assessed whether an intervention designed to improve children's sibling relationships, the More Fun with Sisters and Brothers program (MFWSB), may also help parents manage their emotions more effectively. Families with at least 2 children between the ages of 4 and 8 years were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 50) or wait-list control (n = 34) group. Parents completed pre- and posttest questionnaires on sibling warmth and agonism, their emotion regulation during sibling conflict, and their global emotion regulation styles. Program participation had a direct effect on 3 of the 4 emotion regulation outcomes for mothers. Mothers in the intervention versus control group reported lower levels of dysregulation and suppression and higher levels of reappraisal at posttest, controlling for pretest regulation scores. Additionally, path models examining posttest responses showed that participation in MFWSB led to lower levels of maternal and paternal negative reactivity in the sibling context via lower levels of sibling agonism, controlling for pretest levels of negative reactivity. Alternate path models, with parents' emotion regulation as mechanisms linking MFWSB and sibling relationship quality, were tested but not supported. Results highlight the value of a sibling-focused intervention for promoting parents' abilities to regulate their emotions. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. Role of Emotional Intelligence in Conflict Management Strategies of Nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Başoğul, Ceyda; Özgür, Gönül

    2016-09-01

    This study analyzes the emotional intelligence levels and conflict management strategies of nurses and the association between them. This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted with 277 nurses in a stratified random sample from a university hospital in Turkey. The data were collected from nurses who gave their informed consent to participate using a personal information form, the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II and Bar-On's Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I). Data were assessed by descriptive statistics, t tests, and Pearson correlation analyses, using SPSS software. The levels of the nurses' strategies were as follows: avoiding (M = 2.98), dominating (M = 2.76), and obliging (M = 2.71) were medium; compromising (M = 1.99) and integration (M = 1.96) were low. The levels of the emotional intelligence of nurses (mean = 2.75) were medium on a 5-point scale. Integration (r = .168), obliging (r = .25), dominating (r = .18), and compromising (r = .33), which are conflict management strategies, were positively correlated with scores of emotional intelligence, and avoiding (r = -.25) was negatively correlated with scores of emotional intelligence (p emotional intelligence affects conflict management strategies. To use effective strategies in conflict management, nurses must develop emotional intelligence. Training programs on conflict management and emotional intelligence are needed to improve effective conflict management in healthcare facilities. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  20. Verbal responses, depressive symptoms, reminiscence functions and cognitive emotion regulation in older women receiving individual reminiscence therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Dongmei; Chen, Taolin; Yang, Hao; Gong, Qiyong; Hu, Xiuying

    2018-07-01

    To examine the effectiveness of individual reminiscence therapy in community-dwelling older women with depressive symptoms and to explore the characteristics of participants' verbalisation in the process. Previous studies have found reminiscence was related to depression and anxiety. Although reminiscence therapy is widely used to reduce depression, little is known about how it works, and the content of verbalisations might provide one explanation. The study employed a one-group pretest-post-test design. Twenty-seven participants underwent 6-week interventions of individual reminiscence therapy at home that were conducted by one nurse and induced through seeing old photographs. The Geriatric Depression Scale, Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale, Reminiscence Functions Scale and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire were used to measure the emotional states, reminiscence functions and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Participants' verbalisations were categorised using the Client Behavior System. Reminiscence therapy relieved depression and anxiety. Both the reminiscence function and cognitive emotion regulation became more favourable after interventions. Furthermore, higher frequencies of recounting, cognitive-behavioural exploration and affective exploration were noted in the process. Participants with more severe depressive symptoms tended to display a higher frequency of affective exploration. The reduction in depression, self-negative reminiscence and negative-focused emotion regulation were respectively associated with verbalisations. Individual reminiscence therapy might relieve negative emotion and improve reminiscence function and cognitive emotion regulation. The participants' verbalisation is worthy of our attention, due to its correlation with the severity of depression and its mitigating effects on the depression, anxiety, self-negative reminiscence and negative-focused regulation in older women. The results contribute to our understanding of

  1. Associations of Coping and Appraisal Styles with Emotion Regulation during Preadolescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zalewski, Maureen; Lengua, Liliana J.; Wilson, Anna C.; Trancik, Anika; Bazinet, Alissa

    2011-01-01

    We investigated the associations of appraisal and coping styles with emotion regulation in a community sample of preadolescents (N = 196, 9-12 years of age), with appraisal, coping styles, and emotion regulation measured at a single time point. In a previous study, we identified five frustration and four anxiety emotion regulation profiles based…

  2. Culture, emotion regulation, and adjustment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsumoto, David; Yoo, Seung Hee; Nakagawa, Sanae

    2008-06-01

    This article reports differences across 23 countries on 2 processes of emotion regulation--reappraisal and suppression. Cultural dimensions were correlated with country means on both and the relationship between them. Cultures that emphasized the maintenance of social order--that is, those that were long-term oriented and valued embeddedness and hierarchy--tended to have higher scores on suppression, and reappraisal and suppression tended to be positively correlated. In contrast, cultures that minimized the maintenance of social order and valued individual Affective Autonomy and Egalitarianism tended to have lower scores on Suppression, and Reappraisal and Suppression tended to be negatively correlated. Moreover, country-level emotion regulation was significantly correlated with country-level indices of both positive and negative adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

  3. Associations of Emotion-Related Regulation with Language Skills, Emotion Knowledge, and Academic Outcomes

    OpenAIRE

    Eisenberg, Nancy; Sadovsky, Adrienne; Spinrad, Tracy L.

    2005-01-01

    Research suggests that the development of emotional regulation in early childhood is interrelated with emotional understanding and language skills. Heuristic models are proposed on how these factors influence children’s emerging academic motivation and skills.

  4. The emotion regulation questionnaire in women with cancer: A psychometric evaluation and an item response theory analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandão, Tânia; Schulz, Marc S; Gross, James J; Matos, Paula Mena

    2017-10-01

    Emotion regulation is thought to play an important role in adaptation to cancer. However, the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ), a widely used instrument to assess emotion regulation, has not yet been validated in this context. This study addresses this gap by examining the psychometric properties of the ERQ in a sample of Portuguese women with cancer. The ERQ was administered to 204 women with cancer (mean age = 48.89 years, SD = 7.55). Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory analysis were used to examine psychometric properties of the ERQ. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the 2-factor solution proposed by the original authors (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal). This solution was invariant across age and type of cancer. Item response theory analyses showed that all items were moderately to highly discriminant and that items are better suited for identifying moderate levels of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal. Support was found for the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the ERQ. The pattern of relationships with emotional control, alexithymia, emotional self-efficacy, attachment, and quality of life provided evidence of the convergent and concurrent validity for both dimensions of the ERQ. Overall, the ERQ is a psychometrically sound approach for assessing emotion regulation strategies in the oncological context. Clinical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  5. A Longitudinal Study of Emotion Regulation, Emotion Lability-Negativity, and Internalizing Symptomatology in Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen; Cicchetti, Dante; Rogosch, Fred A.

    2013-01-01

    The longitudinal contributions of emotion regulation and emotion lability-negativity to internalizing symptomatology were examined in a low-income sample (171 maltreated and 151 nonmaltreated children, from age 7 to 10 years). Latent difference score models indicated that for both maltreated and nonmaltreated children, emotion regulation was a…

  6. Study of relation of cognitive emotion regulation styles with impulsivity and borderline personality disorder among university students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    mozafar Ghaffari

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background : Cognitive emotion regulation plays an immense role to control mental disorders. The aim of this research was to study the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation styles and impulsivity and students, borderline personality disorders.   Materials and Methods: Statistical samples of this study included 200 students of Pyam-e-Noor university. Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ, Barrat Impulsivity Scale (BIS and Borderline Personality Scale (STB have been used for data collection. The data was analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis.   Results: Between variable of borderline personality disorder, and styles self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing and blaming others there was a positive correlation, but a negative relationship with acceptance, positive refocusing and positive reappraisal styles was observed (p>0.05. There was a positive relationship between variable of impulsivity with styles of self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing and blaming others, but had a negative relationship with acceptance, positive refocusing and positive reappraisal styles (p>0.05. The results of multi-variable correlation coefficient with Enter method indicated that cognitive emotion regulation styles play a role in explaining borderline personality disorder (R2= 0.646 and impulsivity (R2= 0.645.  Conclusion: Training the effective strategies of cognitive emotion regulation should be considered as a part of the intervention in the treatment of impulsivity and borderline personality disorder.

  7. The effect of the social regulation of emotion on emotional long-term memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores, Luis E; Berenbaum, Howard

    2017-04-01

    Memories for emotional events tend to be stronger than for neutral events, and weakening negative memories can be helpful to promote well-being. The present study examined whether the social regulation of emotion (in the form of handholding) altered the strength of emotional long-term memory. A sample of 219 undergraduate students viewed sets of negative, neutral, and positive images. Each participant held a stress ball while viewing half of the images and held someone's hand while viewing the other half. Participants returned 1 week later to complete a recognition task. Performance on the recognition task demonstrated that participants had lower memory accuracy for negative but not for positive pictures that were shown while they were holding someone's hand compared with when they were holding a stress ball. Although handholding altered the strength of negative emotional long-term memory, it did not down-regulate negative affective response as measured by self-report or facial expressivity. The present findings provide evidence that the social regulation of emotion can help weaken memory for negative information. Given the role of strong negative memories in different forms of psychopathology (e.g., depression, posttraumatic stress disorder), these findings may help better understand how close relationships protect against psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Cultural differences and similarities in beliefs, practices, and neural mechanisms of emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Yang; Telzer, Eva H

    2017-01-01

    The current research examined whether culture shapes the beliefs, practices, and neural basis of emotion regulation. Twenty-nine American and Chinese participants reported their implicit theory of emotion and frequency of reappraisal use. They also underwent an fMRI scan while completing an emotion regulation task. Chinese (vs. American) participants reported more frequent use of reappraisal, which was mediated by their higher incremental theory of emotion (i.e., believing that emotion is changeable through effort). Although there were some cultural similarities in neural activation during emotion regulation, Chinese participants showed less ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) activation than American participants when regulating negative emotions. Lower VLPFC activation was associated with higher incremental theory of emotion and more frequent use of cognitive reappraisal. Findings suggest that culture may shape how individuals perceive and engage in emotion regulation, and ultimately, the neural mechanisms underlying emotion regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Emotion Regulation in Mathematics Homework: An Empirical Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jianzhong

    2018-01-01

    The author examined 2 distinctive aspects of emotion regulation in mathematics homework, including emotion management and cognitive reappraisal. Participants were 1,799 high school students from 46 classes in China. Two multilevel models were run, 1 with emotion management and another with cognitive reappraisal as the dependent variable. Both…

  10. Parental Emotion Coaching and Child Emotion Regulation as Protective Factors for Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunsmore, Julie C.; Booker, Jordan A.; Ollendick, Thomas H.

    2013-01-01

    We assessed linkages of mothers' emotion coaching and children's emotion regulation and emotion lability/negativity with children's adjustment in 72 mother-child dyads seeking treatment for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Dyads completed the questionnaires and discussed emotion-related family events. Maternal emotion coaching was associated…

  11. Linking children's neuropsychological processing of emotion with their knowledge of emotion expression regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watling, Dawn; Bourne, Victoria J

    2007-09-01

    Understanding of emotions has been shown to develop between the ages of 4 and 10 years; however, individual differences exist in this development. While previous research has typically examined these differences in terms of developmental and/or social factors, little research has considered the possible impact of neuropsychological development on the behavioural understanding of emotions. Emotion processing tends to be lateralised to the right hemisphere of the brain in adults, yet this pattern is not as evident in children until around the age of 10 years. In this study 136 children between 5 and 10 years were given both behavioural and neuropsychological tests of emotion processing. The behavioural task examined expression regulation knowledge (ERK) for prosocial and self-presentational hypothetical interactions. The chimeric faces test was given as a measure of lateralisation for processing positive facial emotion. An interaction between age and lateralisation for emotion processing was predictive of children's ERK for only the self-presentational interactions. The relationships between children's ERK and lateralisation for emotion processing changes across the three age groups, emerging as a positive relationship in the 10-year-olds. The 10-years-olds who were more lateralised to the right hemisphere for emotion processing tended to show greater understanding of the need for regulating negative emotions during interactions that would have a self-presentational motivation. This finding suggests an association between the behavioural and neuropsychological development of emotion processing.

  12. Associations of Emotion-Related Regulation with Language Skills, Emotion Knowledge, and Academic Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenberg, Nancy; Sadovsky, Adrienne; Spinrad, Tracy L.

    2005-01-01

    Research suggests that the development of emotional regulation in early childhood is interrelated with emotional understanding and language skills. Heuristic models are proposed on how these factors influence children's emerging academic motivation and skills. (Contains 2 figures.)

  13. Strategic self-regulation, decision-making and emotion processing in poly-substance abusers in their first year of abstinence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verdejo-García, Antonio; Rivas-Pérez, Cristina; Vilar-López, Raquel; Pérez-García, Miguel

    2007-01-12

    Individuals with substance dependence (ISD) frequently show signs of impaired emotion processing, self-regulation and decision-making, even after prolonged abstinence from drug use and partial recovery of other neuropsychological functions. These impairments have been associated with alterations in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in lesion and imaging studies. The aim of this study was to examine the performance of a group of ISD, who had been abstinent for at least 4 months, on a series of emotional perception, self-regulation and decision-making tests sensitive to OFC dysfunction. Thirty ISD (poly-substance abusers in their first year of abstinence) and 35 healthy comparison (HC) participants were in the study. We administered the Ekman Faces Test (EFT), the Revised Strategy Application Test (R-SAT) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to both ISD and HC. Results showed that the ISD presented significant deficits in the recognition of facial emotional expressions and decision-making as measured by the EFT and the IGT. The ISD also showed poorer strategy awareness, impaired self-regulation and higher impulsivity on the R-SAT. We found significant correlations between the different measures linked to OFC functioning. We did not find significant correlations between length of abstinence and performance on these tests. These results suggest that the evaluation of emotion, self-regulation and decision-making contributes greatly to the characterization of the persistent deficits exhibited by ISD during prolonged abstinence.

  14. A change in strategy: Static emotion recognition in Malaysian Chinese

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chrystalle B.Y. Tan

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Studies have shown that while East Asians focused on the center of the face to recognize identities, participants adapted their strategy by focusing more on the eyes to identify emotions, suggesting that the eyes may contain salient information pertaining to emotional state in Eastern cultures. However, Western Caucasians employ the same strategy by moving between the eyes and mouth to identify both identities and emotions. Malaysian Chinese have been shown to focus on the eyes and nose more than the mouth during face recognition task, which represents an intermediate between Eastern and Western looking strategies. The current study examined whether Malaysian Chinese continue to employ an intermediate strategy or shift towards an Eastern or Western pattern (by fixating more on the eyes or mouth respectively during an emotion recognition task. Participants focused more on the eyes, followed by the nose then mouth. Directing attention towards the eye region resulted in better recognition of certain own- than other-race emotions. Although the fixation patterns appear similar for both tasks, further analyses showed that fixations on the eyes were reduced whereas fixations on the nose and mouth were increased during emotion recognition, indicating that participants adapt looking strategies based on their aims.

  15. Fluid Cognitive Ability is a Resource for Successful Emotion Regulation in Older and Younger Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philipp C. Opitz

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The Selection, Optimization, and Compensation with Emotion Regulation (SOC-ER framework suggests that (1 emotion regulation (ER strategies require resources and that (2 higher levels of relevant resources may increase ER success. In the current experiment, we tested the specific hypothesis that individual differences in one internal class of resources, namely cognitive ability, would contribute to greater success using cognitive reappraisal (CR, a form of ER in which one reinterprets the meaning of emotion-eliciting situations. To test this hypothesis, 60 participants (30 younger and 30 older adults completed standardized neuropsychological tests that assess fluid and crystallized cognitive ability, as well as a CR task in which participants reinterpreted the meaning of sad pictures in order to alter (increase or decrease their emotions. In a control condition, they viewed the pictures without trying to change how they felt. Throughout the task, we indexed subjective emotional experience (self-reported ratings of emotional intensity, expressive behavior (corrugator muscle activity, and autonomic physiology (heart rate and electrodermal activity as measures of emotional responding. Multilevel models were constructed to explain within-subjects variation in emotional responding as a function of ER contrasts comparing increase or decrease conditions with the view control condition and between-subjects variation as a function of cognitive ability and/or age group (older, younger. As predicted, higher fluid cognitive ability – indexed by perceptual reasoning, processing speed, and working memory – was associated with greater success using reappraisal to alter emotional responding. Reappraisal success did not vary as a function of crystallized cognitive ability or age group. Collectively, our results provide support for a key tenet of the SOC-ER framework that higher levels of relevant resources may confer greater success at emotion regulation.

  16. Fluid cognitive ability is a resource for successful emotion regulation in older and younger adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Opitz, Philipp C.; Lee, Ihno A.; Gross, James J.; Urry, Heather L.

    2014-01-01

    The Selection, Optimization, and Compensation with Emotion Regulation (SOC-ER) framework suggests that (1) emotion regulation (ER) strategies require resources and that (2) higher levels of relevant resources may increase ER success. In the current experiment, we tested the specific hypothesis that individual differences in one internal class of resources, namely cognitive ability, would contribute to greater success using cognitive reappraisal (CR), a form of ER in which one reinterprets the meaning of emotion-eliciting situations. To test this hypothesis, 60 participants (30 younger and 30 older adults) completed standardized neuropsychological tests that assess fluid and crystallized cognitive ability, as well as a CR task in which participants reinterpreted the meaning of sad pictures in order to alter (increase or decrease) their emotions. In a control condition, they viewed the pictures without trying to change how they felt. Throughout the task, we indexed subjective emotional experience (self-reported ratings of emotional intensity), expressive behavior (corrugator muscle activity), and autonomic physiology (heart rate and electrodermal activity) as measures of emotional responding. Multilevel models were constructed to explain within-subjects variation in emotional responding as a function of ER contrasts comparing increase or decrease conditions with the view control condition and between-subjects variation as a function of cognitive ability and/or age group (older, younger). As predicted, higher fluid cognitive ability—indexed by perceptual reasoning, processing speed, and working memory—was associated with greater success using reappraisal to alter emotional responding. Reappraisal success did not vary as a function of crystallized cognitive ability or age group. Collectively, our results provide support for a key tenet of the SOC-ER framework that higher levels of relevant resources may confer greater success at emotion regulation. PMID:24987387

  17. Which emotional regulatory strategy makes Chinese adolescents happier? A longitudinal study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sang, B.; Deng, X.; Luan, Z.

    2014-01-01

    Growing interest in emotion regulation is reflected in the studies of cognitive and social development. However, the extant studies mainly highlight how emotion regulation develops based on a western value system. This study utilised a longitudinal design to examine the development of emotion

  18. Emotional Strategies and Their Relationship to Complaints of Psychosomatic and Neurotic Symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogden, Jenni A.; Von Sturmer, Guy

    1984-01-01

    Examined the emotional strategies people use and their psychological consequences. Adults (N=270 and 329) were classified into emotional strategy groups. Suppressed emotives had a significantly higher score on the Complaint Questionnaire than emotive and nonemotive groups, suggesting neurotic tendencies. (JAC)

  19. Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Written Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wisco, Blair E.; Sloan, Denise M.; Marx, Brian P.

    2014-01-01

    We examined the extent to which cognitive emotion-regulation (ER) strategies moderated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment outcome among 40 motor vehicle accident survivors. Participants were randomly assigned to either a brief written exposure therapy (WET) condition or a waitlist condition and were assessed pre- and posttreatment and at a 3-month follow-up. Positive-reappraisal and putting-into-perspective strategies at baseline interacted with condition to predict symptom change over time. Both strategies predicted greater reductions in PTSD in the waitlist group, suggesting facilitation of natural recovery. However, positive reappraisal was associated with smaller reductions in PTSD in the WET group, suggesting that this strategy may interfere with treatment. Treatment also reduced use of the maladaptive ER strategy of rumination. These results provide evidence that putting-into-perspective and positive-reappraisal strategies are beneficial in the absence of treatment and that certain types of ER strategies may reduce response to WET, highlighting the importance of future research examining ER during treatment. PMID:24482755

  20. Preschoolers' Emotion Expression and Regulation: Relations with School Adjustment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herndon, Kristina J.; Bailey, Craig S.; Shewark, Elizabeth A.; Denham, Susanne A.; Bassett, Hideko H.

    2013-01-01

    Children's expression and regulation of emotions are building blocks of their experiences in classrooms. Thus, the authors' primary goal was to investigate whether preschoolers' expression or ability to regulate emotions were associated with teachers' ratings of school adjustment. A secondary goal was to investigate how boys and girls differed…

  1. Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family: Relations with parents' cultural orientations and children's emotion-related regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Stephen H; Zhou, Qing; Main, Alexandra; Lee, Erica H

    2015-10-01

    The present study examined 2 measures of Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family context: self-reported emotional expressivity and observed emotional expression during a parent-child interaction task. Path analyses were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between measures of emotional expression and (a) parents' American and Chinese cultural orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social affiliation domains, and (b) parents' and teachers' ratings of children's emotion-related regulation. Results suggested that cultural orientations were primarily associated with parents' self-reported expressivity (rather than observed emotional expression), such that higher American orientations were generally associated with higher expressivity. Although parents' self-reported expressivity was only related to their own reports of children's regulation, parents' observed emotional expression was related to both parents' and teachers' reports of children's regulation. These results suggest that self-reported expressivity and observed emotional expression reflect different constructs and have differential relations to parents' cultural orientations and children's regulation. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  2. Parent and Friend Emotion Socialization in Adolescence: Associations with Emotion Regulation and Internalizing Symptoms

    OpenAIRE

    Slough, Rachel Miller

    2017-01-01

    Both parents and close friends are central figures in adolescents' emotional and psychological adjustment. However, little is known about how close friends socialize adolescents' emotions or how friends' socialization messages compare to those from parents in adolescence. The present study will explore how parents and friends discuss negative emotions with adolescents in relation to adolescents' emotion regulation and internalizing symptoms. Participants were 30 parent-adolescent-friend tri...

  3. Regulating Emotions-Young Children's Views on What Adults Can Do

    OpenAIRE

    Johnson, Mercedes

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand the emotion regulation experience of young children, aged three to four, attending a nursery school of a Local Authority. This study aimed to reveal young children’s perspectives on emotion regulation and in particular on the way the children see adults playing a part in the children’s emotion regulation. It also aimed to explore ways of engaging young children and eliciting their views.\\ud A sample size of 6 participants together with a...

  4. Measuring the executive regulation of emotion with self-rating scales in a nonclinical population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spinella, Marcello

    2007-01-01

    Prefrontal systems play an important role in the regulation of emotion as evidenced by clinical neuroimaging studies. Both subjective and objective neuropsychological tests provide functional evidence of executive dysfunction in emotional deregulation. The present authors evaluated these relationships here in a nonclinical community sample using the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale, Profile of Mood States (POMS), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS). Positive correlations uniformly emerged between prefrontal system dysfunction and negative emotional states (anger, depression, anxiety, stress, confusion, and fatigue), whereas positive emotion (vigor) showed a modest inverse correlation with prefrontal system dysfunction, even after control for demographic influences. These relationships may result from cognitive strategies for managing emotion mediated by reciprocal connections between prefrontal systems and the limbic system. The findings corroborated those of other methodologies, supporting the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe) as a valid tool to measure prefrontal function in nonclinical populations.

  5. An expectancy-value model of emotion regulation: implications for motivation, emotional experience, and decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamir, Maya; Bigman, Yochanan E; Rhodes, Emily; Salerno, James; Schreier, Jenna

    2015-02-01

    According to expectancy-value models of self-regulation, people are motivated to act in ways they expect to be useful to them. For instance, people are motivated to run when they believe running is useful, even when they have nothing to run away from. Similarly, we propose an expectancy-value model of emotion regulation, according to which people are motivated to emote in ways they expect to be useful to them, regardless of immediate contextual demands. For instance, people may be motivated to get angry when they believe anger is useful, even when there is nothing to be angry about. In 5 studies, we demonstrate that leading people to expect an emotion to be useful increased their motivation to experience that emotion (Studies 1-5), led them to up-regulate the experience of that emotion (Studies 3-4), and led to emotion-consistent behavior (Study 4). Our hypotheses were supported when we manipulated the expected value of anxiety (Study 1) and anger (Studies 2-5), both consciously (Studies 1-4) and unconsciously (Study 5). We discuss the theoretical and pragmatic implications of the proposed model. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  6. Study Protocol for the Preschooler Regulation of Emotional Stress (PRES Procedure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Livio Provenzi

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: Emotional stress regulation (ESR rapidly develops during the first months of age and includes different behavioral strategies which largely contribute to children’s behavioral and emotional adjustment later in life. The assessment of ESR during the first years of life is critical to identify preschool children who are at developmental risk. Although ESR is generally included in larger temperament batteries [e.g., the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB], there is no standardized observational procedure to specifically assess and measure ESR in preschool aged children.Aim: Here, we describe the development of an observational procedure to assess ESR in preschool aged children [i.e., the Preschooler Regulation of Emotional Stress (PRES Procedure] and the related coding system.Methods: Four Lab-TAB emotional stress episodes (i.e., the Stranger, the Perfect Circle, the Missing Sticker, and the Transparent Box have been selected. Independent coders developed a list of ESR codes resulting in two general indexes (i.e., active engagement and stress level and five specific indexes (i.e., anger, control, fear, inhibition, sadness. Finally, specific actions have been planned to assess the validity and the coding system reliability of PRES procedure.Ethics and Dissemination: The study has been approved by the Ethical Committee of the Scientific Institute IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini (Italy. The PRES validation and reliability assessment as well as its use with healthy and at-risk populations of preschool children will be object of future scientific publications and international conference presentations.

  7. Emotion Regulation Profiles, Temperament, and Adjustment Problems in Preadolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zalewski, Maureen; Lengua, Liliana J.; Wilson, Anna C.; Trancik, Anika; Bazinet, Alissa

    2011-01-01

    The longitudinal relations of emotion regulation profiles to temperament and adjustment in a community sample of preadolescents (N = 196, 8-11 years at Time 1) were investigated using person-oriented latent profile analysis (LPA). Temperament, emotion regulation, and adjustment were measured at 3 different time points, with each time point…

  8. Yoga and Emotion Regulation in High School Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leslie A. Daly

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Middle adolescents (15–17 years old are prone to increased risk taking and emotional instability. Emotion dysregulation contributes to a variety of psychosocial difficulties in this population. A discipline such as yoga offered during school may increase emotion regulation, but research in this area is lacking. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of a yoga intervention on the emotion regulation of high school students as compared to physical education (PE. In addition, the potential mediating effects of mindful attention, self-compassion, and body awareness on the relationship between yoga and emotion regulation were examined. High school students were randomized to participate in a 16-week yoga intervention (n=19 or regular PE (n=18. Pre-post data analyses revealed that emotion regulation increased significantly in the yoga group as compared to the PE group (F (1,32 = 7.50, p=.01, and eta2 = .19. No significant relationship was discovered between the changes in emotion regulation and the proposed mediating variables. Preliminary results suggest that yoga increases emotion regulation capacities of middle adolescents and provides benefits beyond that of PE alone.

  9. Cortical associates of emotional reactivity and regulation in childhood stuttering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zengin-Bolatkale, Hatun; Conture, Edward G; Key, Alexandra P; Walden, Tedra A; Jones, Robin M

    2018-06-01

    This study sought to determine the cortical associates of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation (as indexed by the amplitude of evoked response potentials [ERP]) in young children who do and do not stutter during passive viewing of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral pictures. Participants were 17 young children who stutter and 22 young children who do not stutter (between 4 years 0 months to 6 years 11 months). The dependent measures were (1) mean amplitude of late positive potential (LPP, an ERP sensitive to emotional stimuli) during passive (i.e., no response required) picture viewing and directed reappraisal tasks and (2) emotional reactivity and regulation related scores on caregiver reports of young children's temperament (Children's Behavior Questionnaire, CBQ). Young CWS, when compared to CWNS, exhibited significantly greater LPP amplitudes when viewing unpleasant pictures, but no significant between-group difference when viewing pleasant pictures and during the emotion regulation condition. There were, however, for CWS, but not CWNS, significant correlations between temperament-related measures of emotion and cortical measures of emotional reactivity and regulation. Findings provide further empirical support for the notion that emotional processes are associated with childhood stuttering, and that CWS's inherent temperamental proclivities need to be taken into account when empirically studying or theorizing about this association. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Adverse Life Experience and Psychological Distress in Adolescence: Moderating and Mediating Effects of Emotion Regulation and Rumination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyes, Mark E; Hasking, Penelope A; Martin, Graham

    2016-10-01

    The current study tested whether emotion regulation and rumination moderated and/or mediated the relationship between accumulated adverse life experience and psychological distress in adolescence. In class, Australian high school students (n = 2637, 12-18 years, 68% female) from 41 schools completed well-validated measures of adverse life experience, emotion regulation, rumination and psychological distress, and were followed up 1 year later (n = 1973, 75% retention rate). Adjusting for age, gender and baseline psychological distress, adverse life experience predicted psychological distress 1 year later. Expressive suppression and rumination were positively associated with psychological distress. Cognitive reappraisal was negatively associated with psychological distress and moderated the relationship between adverse life experience and psychological distress. This relationship was also partially mediated by cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression and rumination. Promoting cognitive reappraisal and minimizing expressive suppression and rumination may be useful strategies to improve mental health for adolescents who have experienced adverse life events. Future research should examine whether adolescents who have experienced adverse life events can be trained in effective emotion regulation strategies and whether this training can prevent development of psychological maladjustment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Longitudinal associations between physically abusive parents' emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milojevich, Helen M; Haskett, Mary E

    2018-03-01

    The present study took a developmental psychopathology approach to examine the longitudinal association between parents' emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation. Data collection spanned from 2004 to 2008. Ninety-two physically abusive parents completed yearly assessments of their emotional expressiveness, as well as their children's self-regulation abilities. Observational and behavioral measures were also obtained yearly to capture both parents' emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation. Specifically, parents participated in a parent-child interaction task, which provided insight into their levels of flat affect. A puzzle box task was completed by each child to assess self-regulation. Results indicated, first, that greater parental expression of negative emotions predicted poorer self-regulation in children, both concurrently and across time. Second, parental expressions of positive emotions and parents' flat affect were unrelated to children's self-regulation. Findings inform our understanding of parental socialization of self-regulation and provide insight into the roles of distinct components of emotional expressiveness. Moreover, findings have crucial implications for understanding emotional expressiveness in high-risk samples and increase our understanding of within-group functioning among maltreating families that may serve as a means to direct intervention efforts. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. "Keep calm and carry on": structural correlates of expressive suppression of emotions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Kühn

    Full Text Available There is a growing appreciation that individuals differ systematically in their use of particular emotion regulation strategies. Our aim was to examine the structural correlates of the habitual use of expressive suppression of emotions. Based on our previous research on the voluntary suppression of actions we expected this response-focused emotion regulation strategy to be associated with increased grey matter volume in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC. On high-resolution MRI scans of 42 college-aged healthy adults we computed optimized voxel-based-morphometry (VBM to explore the correlation between grey matter volume and inter-individual differences in the tendency to suppress the expression of emotions assessed by means of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Gross & John, 2003. We found a positive correlation between the habitual use of expressive suppression as an emotion regulation strategy and grey matter volume in the dmPFC. No other brain area showed a significant positive or negative correlation with the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire scores. The association between the suppression of expression of emotions and volume in the dmPFC supports the behavioural stability and biological foundation of the concept of this particular emotion regulation strategy within an age-homogenous sample of adults.

  13. The heterogeneity of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and conduct problems: Cognitive inhibition, emotion regulation, emotionality, and disorganized attachment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forslund, Tommie; Brocki, Karin C; Bohlin, Gunilla; Granqvist, Pehr; Eninger, Lilianne

    2016-09-01

    This study examined the contributions of several important domains of functioning to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and conduct problems. Specifically, we investigated whether cognitive inhibition, emotion regulation, emotionality, and disorganized attachment made independent and specific contributions to these externalizing behaviour problems from a multiple pathways perspective. The study included laboratory measures of cognitive inhibition and disorganized attachment in 184 typically developing children (M age = 6 years, 10 months, SD = 1.7). Parental ratings provided measures of emotion regulation, emotionality, and externalizing behaviour problems. Results revealed that cognitive inhibition, regulation of positive emotion, and positive emotionality were independently and specifically related to ADHD symptoms. Disorganized attachment and negative emotionality formed independent and specific relations to conduct problems. Our findings support the multiple pathways perspective on ADHD, with poor regulation of positive emotion and high positive emotionality making distinct contributions to ADHD symptoms. More specifically, our results support the proposal of a temperamentally based pathway to ADHD symptoms. The findings also indicate that disorganized attachment and negative emotionality constitute pathways specific to conduct problems rather than to ADHD symptoms. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

  14. The Role of Emotion Regulation in Autism Spectrum Disorder RH: Emotion Regulation in ASD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazefsky, Carla A.; Herrington, John; Siegel, Matthew; Scarpa, Angela; Maddox, Brenna B.; Scahill, Lawrence; White, Susan W.

    2013-01-01

    Objective Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with amplified emotional responses and poor emotional control, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. This paper provides a conceptual and methodological framework for understanding compromised emotion regulation (ER) in ASD. Method After defining ER and related constructs, methods to study ER were reviewed with special consideration on how to apply these approaches to ASD. Against the backdrop of cognitive characteristics in ASD and existing ER theories, available research was examined to identify likely contributors to emotional dysregulation in ASD. Results Little is currently known about ER in youth with ASD. Some mechanisms that contribute to poor ER in ASD may be shared with other clinical populations (e.g., physiological arousal, degree of negative and positive affect, alterations in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex), whereas other mechanisms may be more unique to ASD (e.g., differences in information processing/perception, cognitive factors (e.g., rigidity), less goal-directed behavior and more disorganized emotion in ASD). Conclusions Although assignment of concomitant psychiatric diagnoses is warranted in some cases, poor ER may be inherent in ASD and may provide a more parsimonious conceptualization for the many associated socio-emotional and behavioral problems in this population. Further study of ER in youth with ASD may identify meaningful subgroups of patients and lead to more effective individualized treatments. PMID:23800481

  15. Situation Selection and Modification for Emotion Regulation in Younger and Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Livingstone, Kimberly M; Isaacowitz, Derek M

    2015-11-01

    This research investigated age differences in use and effectiveness of situation selection and situation modification for emotion regulation. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests stronger emotional well-being goals in older age; emotion regulation may support this goal. Younger and older adults assigned to an emotion regulation or "just view" condition first freely chose to engage with negative, neutral, or positive material (situation selection), then chose to view or skip negative and positive material (situation modification), rating affect after each experience. In both tasks, older adults in both goal conditions demonstrated pro-hedonic emotion regulation, spending less time with negative material compared to younger adults. Younger adults in the regulate condition also engaged in pro-hedonic situation selection, but not modification. Whereas situation selection was related to affect, modification of negative material was not. This research supports more frequent pro-hedonic motivation in older age, as well as age differences in use of early-stage emotion regulation.

  16. [Emotional regulation and motivation in children with ADHD].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Høvik, Marie Farstad; Plessen, Kerstin J

    2010-12-02

    Impaired cognitive control functions have long been regarded as the main problem in the development of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A more recent model emphasizes the importance of emotional and motivational problems. We have reviewed the evidence for this model, which may have important implications for clinical practice. The article is based on literature identified through a non-systematic search in PubMed. Although limited research was carried out in this topic earlier, studies are currently emerging. Persons with ADHD react differently than controls on tasks that include rewards and on tasks that stress their capacity to regulate emotions. Abnormal signals during examination with electroencephalography (EEG) and anatomical and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reflect problems with emotional regulation in patients with ADHD. Neurobiological research supports a model that includes emotional and motivational problems in the development of ADHD. Increased knowledge about emotional and motivational problems may improve treatment of these patients through development of more individually adapted therapy.

  17. Interactions Between Emotion Regulation Measures, Depression, and Gender

    OpenAIRE

    Wicker, Rachael Kimberly

    2012-01-01

    Throughout history there has been anecdotal, observational and empirical evidence, as well as entire theoretical frameworks indicating that there are differences between men and women when it comes to emotional expression and regulation. For example, differences exist in how and why different emotions are felt in a given circumstance for men versus women and what behaviors these emotions elicit in others. Yet despite these differences the same questionnaires are used to assess emotion regulat...

  18. Acceptance alone is a better predictor of psychopathology and well-being than emotional competence, emotion regulation and mindfulness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotsou, Ilios; Leys, Christophe; Fossion, Pierre

    2018-01-15

    Emotional competence, emotion regulation, mindfulness and acceptance have all been strongly associated to emotional disorders and psychological well-being in multiple studies. However little research has compared the unique predictive ability of these different constructs. We hypothesised that they will all share a large proportion of common variance and that when compared to the broader constructs emotional competence, emotion regulation and mindfulness, acceptance alone would predict a larger proportion of unique variance METHODS: 228 participants from a community sample completed anonymously measures of anxiety, depression, happiness, acceptance, mindfulness, emotional competence and emotion regulation. We then ran multiple regressions to assess and compare the predictive ability of these different constructs. For measures of psychological distress, the acceptance measure uniquely accounted for between 4 and 30 times the variance that the emotional competence, emotion regulation and mindfulness measures did. These results are based on cross-sectional designs and non-clinical samples, longitudinal and experimental studies as clinical samples may be useful in order to assess the potential protective power of acceptance over time. Another limitation is the use of self-report questionnaires. Results confirmed our hypothesis, supporting the research on the importance of acceptance as a central factor in the understanding of the onset and maintenance of emotional disorders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. When authenticity matters most: Physicians' regulation of emotional display and patient satisfaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yagil, Dana; Shnapper-Cohen, Moran

    2016-10-01

    The emotions expressed by physicians in medical encounters have significant impact on health outcomes and patient satisfaction. This study explored how physicians' regulation of displayed emotions affects patients' satisfaction, under low and high levels of patient distress and length of physician-patient acquaintance. Questionnaires were administered to 46 physicians and 230 of their patients (before and after the medical encounter) in outpatient clinics of two hospitals. Data were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling which takes the nested data structure into account. We found a significant interaction effect of physician regulation of displayed emotions and patient distress on satisfaction: When distress was high, physician regulation of emotions was negatively related to patient satisfaction. The results also show a significant interaction effect of physician regulation of displayed emotions and length of physician-patient acquaintance: With a longer acquaintance, physician regulation of emotions was negatively related to patient satisfaction. The effect of the physicians' emotional display on patient satisfaction depends on contextual factors, such as patient distress and length of physician-patient acquaintance, which affect patients' emotional needs and expectations. When patients have high emotional involvement in the encounter it is suggested that physicians consider presenting genuine emotions to patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Toddler’s Self-Regulation Strategies in a Challenge Context are Nap-Dependent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Alison L.; Seifer, Ronald; Crossin, Rebecca; LeBourgeois, Monique K.

    2015-01-01

    SUMMARY Early childhood represents a time of developmental changes in both sleep and self-regulation, a construct reflecting the ability to control one’s behavior, attention, and emotion when challenged. Links between sleep and self-regulation processes have been proposed, but experimental evidence with young children is lacking. In the current study, we tested the effects of acute sleep restriction (nap deprivation) on toddlers’ self-regulation. Healthy children (n=12; 4 males; 30–36 months (33.9±1.7) slept on a strict schedule (verified with actigraphy and sleep diaries) for 5 days before each of two afternoon assessments following a Nap and a No-Nap condition (~11-day protocol). Children were videotaped while attempting an unsolvable puzzle, and 10 mutually exclusive self-regulation strategies were later coded. On average, children lost ~90 min of sleep on the No-Nap versus the Nap day. Nap deprivation resulted in moderate-to-large effects on self-regulation strategies, with decreases in skepticism (d=0.77; 7% change), negative self-appraisal (d=0.92; 5% change), and increases in physical self-soothing (d=0.68; 10% change), focus on the puzzle piece that would not fit (perseveration; d=0.50; 9% change), and insistence on completing the unsolvable puzzle (d=0.91; 10% change). Results suggest sleep serves an important role in the way toddlers respond to challenging events in their daily lives. After losing daytime sleep, toddlers were less able to effectively engage in a difficult task and reverted to less mature self-regulation strategies, than when they were well-rested. Over time, chronically missed sleep may impair young children’s self-regulation abilities, resulting in risk for social-emotional, behavioral, and school problems. PMID:25394169

  1. Emotional Intelligence Profiles and Learning Strategies in Secondary School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inglés, Cándido J.; Martínez-Monteagudo, María C.; Pérez Fuentes, Maria C.; García-Fernández, José M.; Molero, María del Mar; Suriá-Martinez, Raquel; Gázquez, José J.

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship among emotional intelligence (EI) and learning strategies, identifying different emotional intelligence profiles and determining possible statistically significant differences in learning strategies through the identified profiles. Thousand and seventy-one Spaniards secondary school students…

  2. The effects of mother's physical and emotional unavailability on emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Field, T

    1994-01-01

    In summary, emotion dysregulation can develop from brief or more prolonged separations from the mother as well as from the more disturbing effects of her emotional unavailability, such as occurs when she is depressed. Harmonious interaction with the mother or the primary caregiver (attunement) of the mother's physical unavailability were seen in studies of separations from the mother due to her hospitalization or to her conference trips. These separations affected the infants' play behaviors and sleep patterns. Comparisons between hospitalizations and conference trips, however, suggested that the infants' behaviors were more negatively affected by the hospitalizations than the conference trips. This probably related to these being hospitalizations for the birth of another baby--the infants no longer had the special, exclusive relationship with their mothers after the arrival of the new sibling. This finding highlights the critical importance of emotional availability. The mother had returned from the hospital, but, while she was no longer physically unavailable, she was now emotionally unavailable. Emotional unavailability was investigated in an acute form by comparing two laboratory situations, the still face paradigm and the momentary leave taking. The still face had more negative effects on the infants' interaction behaviors than the physical separation. The most extreme form of emotional unavailability, mother's depression, had the most negative effects. The disorganization or emotion dysregulation in this case is more prolonged. Changes in physiology (heart rate, vagal tone, and cortisol levels), in play behavior, affect, activity level, and sleep organization as well as other regulating functions such as eating and toileting, and even in the immune system persist for the duration of the mother's depression. My colleagues and I have suggested that these changes occur because the infant is being chronically deprived of an important external regulator of

  3. The role of emotion regulation in situational empathy-related responding and prosocial behaviour in the presence of negative affect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hein, Sascha; Röder, Mandy; Fingerle, Michael

    2016-12-15

    Empathy and prosocial behaviour are crucial factors for children's positive social adjustment. Contemporary models of empathy highlight the capacity to regulate vicariously experienced emotions as a precursor to empathy-related responses (e.g., prosocial behaviour). The goal of this study was to examine the role of emotion regulation (ER) in situational empathy-related responding and prosocial behaviour. A sample of 157 children (76 boys and 81 girls; M age = 9.94 years) participated in a two-tiered interview procedure that utilised vignettes to assess empathy and prosocial behaviour. Between both phases of the interview, a negative affect was induced to investigate the influence of ER on the change between the two phases. Results from a latent change model showed that ER strategies positively predicted change scores, that is, children with higher abilities to regulate emotions showed a higher increase in empathy and prosocial behaviour. Implications for the promotion of social-emotional learning in school are discussed. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

  4. Predicting risk of school refusal: Examining the incremental role of trait EI beyond personality and emotion regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filippello Pina

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Research has not yet been deepened in the link between personality factors and risk of school refusal. Furthermore, previous studies fail to verify the direct relation between trait EI and the risk of school refusal. The present study examined personality traits, emotion regulation and trait EI for the contributory role they may play in predicting the risk of school refusal. The sample consisted of 311 participants, 112 males (36% and 199 females (64% with an average age of 14.19 (SD = .60, from a high school in the city of Messina (Sicily, Italy. Results show that the risk of school refusal is positively related to neuroticism and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, while it is negatively related to the extroversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness and trait EI. Moreover, trait EI can be considered as a strong incremental negative predictor of risk of school refusal over and above personality traits and emotion regulation.

  5. A qualitative analysis of the role of emotions in different patterns of long-term weight loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ingels, John Spencer; Zizzi, Sam

    2018-08-01

    To explore participant perspectives of the impact emotions have on weight loss. A qualitative design gathered data through semi-structured interviews with participants in a weight management programme. The interview addresses the following research questions: (1) how do individuals working to lose weight perceive the impact emotions have on their long-term success, and (2) what strategies do more or less successful participants use to regulate their emotions? Researchers conducted and transcribed the interviews then completed content analysis to create and organise themes. Two broad themes emerged through the interviews with 21 participants: emotional impact and emotional regulation. Further subthemes captured emotions blocking action toward goals, strategies for regulating emotions (e.g. exercise, food) and the need for new strategies to regulate emotions. Themes were also split in to three groups based on weight outcomes: regainer, moderate success (3-6% loss) and large success (>7% loss). More successful participants, compared to regainers, shared being aware of the impact of their emotions and made efforts to develop healthy regulation strategies. Emotional awareness and regulation play an important role in participant's weight management experience. Taking time to build emotional awareness and strategies to manage emotions is important to participants in weight management.

  6. Emotional reactivity and emotion regulation among adults with a history of self-harm: laboratory self-report and functional MRI evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Tchiki S; Mauss, Iris B; Lumian, Daniel; Troy, Allison S; Shallcross, Amanda J; Zarolia, Paree; Ford, Brett Q; McRae, Kateri

    2014-08-01

    Intentionally hurting one's body (deliberate self-harm; DSH) is theorized to be associated with high negative emotional reactivity and poor emotion regulation ability. However, little research has assessed the relationship between these potential risk factors and DSH using laboratory measures. Therefore, we conducted 2 studies using laboratory measures of negative emotional reactivity and emotion regulation ability. Study 1 assessed self-reported negative emotions during a sad film clip (reactivity) and during a sad film clip for which participants were instructed to use reappraisal (regulation). Those with a history of DSH were compared with 2 control groups without a history of DSH matched on key demographics: 1 healthy group low in depression and anxiety symptoms and 1 group matched to the DSH group on depression and anxiety symptoms. Study 2 extended Study 1 by assessing neural responding to negative images (reactivity) and negative images for which participants were instructed to use reappraisal (regulation). Those with a history of DSH were compared with a control group matched to the DSH group on demographics, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Compared with control groups, participants with a history of DSH did not exhibit greater negative emotional reactivity but did exhibit lower ability to regulate emotion with reappraisal (greater self-reported negative emotions in Study 1 and greater amygdala activation in Study 2 during regulation). These results suggest that poor emotion regulation ability, but not necessarily greater negative emotional reactivity, is a correlate of and may be a risk factor for DSH, even when controlling for mood disorder symptoms. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  7. The Effect of Temperament on Emotion Regulation among Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Teacher Emotional Empathy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Xiaomei; Zhang, Wenhai

    2012-01-01

    Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to explored individual and contextual factors of emotion regulation in a sample of 2074 adolescents from grade 7 through grade 12 and 54 head teachers in China mainland. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R) were administered among…

  8. Increased deficits in emotion recognition and regulation in children and adolescents with exogenous obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Percinel, Ipek; Ozbaran, Burcu; Kose, Sezen; Simsek, Damla Goksen; Darcan, Sukran

    2018-03-01

    In this study we aimed to evaluate emotion recognition and emotion regulation skills of children with exogenous obesity between the ages of 11 and 18 years and compare them with healthy controls. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children was used for psychiatric evaluations. Emotion recognition skills were evaluated using Faces Test and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. The Difficulties in Emotions Regulation Scale was used for evaluating skills of emotion regulation. Children with obesity had lower scores on Faces Test and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, and experienced greater difficulty in emotional regulation skills. Improved understanding of emotional recognition and emotion regulation in young people with obesity may improve their social adaptation and help in the treatment of their disorder. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate both emotional recognition and emotion regulation functions in obese children and obese adolescents between 11 and 18 years of age.

  9. The incorporation of emotion-regulation skills into couple- and family-based treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder.

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    Perlick, Deborah A; Sautter, Frederic J; Becker-Cretu, Julia J; Schultz, Danielle; Grier, Savannah C; Libin, Alexander V; Schladen, Manon Maitland; Glynn, Shirley M

    2017-01-01

    Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling, potentially chronic disorder that is characterized by re-experience and hyperarousal symptoms as well as the avoidance of trauma-related stimuli. The distress experienced by many veterans of the Vietnam War and their partners prompted a strong interest in developing conjoint interventions that could both alleviate the core symptoms of PTSD and strengthen family bonds. We review the evolution of and evidence base for conjoint PTSD treatments from the Vietnam era through the post-911 era. Our review is particularly focused on the use of treatment strategies that are designed to address the emotions that are generated by the core symptoms of the disorder to reduce their adverse impact on veterans, their partners and the relationship. We present a rationale and evidence to support the direct incorporation of emotion-regulation skills training into conjoint interventions for PTSD. We begin by reviewing emerging evidence suggesting that high levels of emotion dysregulation are characteristic of and predict the severity of both PTSD symptoms and the level of interpersonal/marital difficulties reported by veterans with PTSD and their family members. In doing so, we present a compelling rationale for the inclusion of formal skills training in emotional regulation in couple-/family-based PTSD treatments. We further argue that increased exposure to trauma-related memories and emotions in treatments based on learning theory requires veterans and their partners to learn to manage the uncomfortable emotions that they previously avoided. Conjoint treatments that were developed in the last 30 years all acknowledge the importance of emotions in PTSD but vary widely in their relative emphasis on helping participants to acquire strategies to modulate them compared to other therapeutic tasks such as learning about the disorder or disclosing the trauma to a loved one. We conclude our review by describing two recent innovative

  10. Emotion Regulation from Early Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood and Middle Adulthood: Age Differences, Gender Differences, and Emotion-Epecific Developmental Variations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmermann, Peter; Iwanski, Alexandra

    2014-01-01

    Despite the growing research on emotion regulation, the empirical evidence for normative age-related emotion regulation patterns is rather divergent. From a life-span perspective, normative age changes in emotion regulation may be more salient applying the same methodological approach on a broad age range examining both growth and decline during…

  11. Mindfulness meditation improves emotion regulation and reduces drug abuse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Yi-Yuan; Tang, Rongxiang; Posner, Michael I

    2016-06-01

    The core clinical symptoms of addiction include an enhanced incentive for drug taking (craving), impaired self-control (impulsivity and compulsivity), emotional dysregulation (negative mood) and increased stress reactivity. Symptoms related to impaired self-control involve reduced activity in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), adjacent prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and other brain areas. Behavioral training such as mindfulness meditation can increase the function of control networks including those leading to improved emotion regulation and thus may be a promising approach for the treatment of addiction. In a series of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), we tested whether increased ACC/mPFC activity is related to better self-control abilities in executive functions, emotion regulation and stress response in healthy and addicted populations. After a brief mindfulness training (Integrative Body-Mind Training, IBMT), we used the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Profile of Mood States (POMS) to measure emotion regulation, salivary cortisol for the stress response and fMRI for brain functional and DTI structural changes. Relaxation training was used to serve as an active control. In both smokers and nonsmokers, improved self-control abilities in emotion regulation and stress reduction were found after training and these changes were related to increased ACC/mPFC activity following training. Compared with nonsmokers, smokers showed reduced ACC/mPFC activity in the self-control network before training, and these deficits were ameliorated after training. These results indicate that promoting emotion regulation and improving ACC/mPFC brain activity can help for addiction prevention and treatment. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  12. Child Maltreatment and Neural Systems Underlying Emotion Regulation.

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    McLaughlin, Katie A; Peverill, Matthew; Gold, Andrea L; Alves, Sonia; Sheridan, Margaret A

    2015-09-01

    The strong associations between child maltreatment and psychopathology have generated interest in identifying neurodevelopmental processes that are disrupted following maltreatment. Previous research has focused largely on neural response to negative facial emotion. We determined whether child maltreatment was associated with neural responses during passive viewing of negative and positive emotional stimuli and effortful attempts to regulate emotional responses. A total of 42 adolescents aged 13 to 19 years, half with exposure to physical and/or sexual abuse, participated. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response was measured during passive viewing of negative and positive emotional stimuli and attempts to modulate emotional responses using cognitive reappraisal. Maltreated adolescents exhibited heightened response in multiple nodes of the salience network, including amygdala, putamen, and anterior insula, to negative relative to neutral stimuli. During attempts to decrease responses to negative stimuli relative to passive viewing, maltreatment was associated with greater recruitment of superior frontal gyrus, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and frontal pole; adolescents with and without maltreatment down-regulated amygdala response to a similar degree. No associations were observed between maltreatment and neural response to positive emotional stimuli during passive viewing or effortful regulation. Child maltreatment heightens the salience of negative emotional stimuli. Although maltreated adolescents modulate amygdala responses to negative cues to a degree similar to that of non-maltreated youths, they use regions involved in effortful control to a greater degree to do so, potentially because greater effort is required to modulate heightened amygdala responses. These findings are promising, given the centrality of cognitive restructuring in trauma-focused treatments for children. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

  13. Moving Ahead in the Study of the Development of Emotion Regulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Pamela M.

    2014-01-01

    This special section on the development of emotion regulation highlights several important new directions for research. Specifically, the findings of these studies indicate that: (1) emotion regulation develops across the lifespan and not just in early childhood and does so in complex ways, (2) it is necessary to distinguish among emotions to…

  14. Parental Emotion Socialization and Child Psychological Adjustment among Chinese Urban Families: Mediation through Child Emotion Regulation and Moderation through Dyadic Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Zhuyun; Zhang, Xutong; Han, Zhuo Rachel

    2017-01-01

    The theoretical model of emotion regulation and many empirical findings have suggested that children’s emotion regulation may mediate the association between parents’ emotion socialization and children’s psychological adjustment. However, limited research has been conducted on moderators of these relations, despite the argument that the associations between parenting practices and children’s psychological adjustment are probabilistic rather than deterministic. This study examined the mediating role of children’s emotion regulation in linking parents’ emotion socialization and children’s psychological adjustment, and whether dyadic collaboration could moderate the proposed mediation model in a sample of Chinese parents and their children in their middle childhood. Participants were 150 Chinese children (87 boys and 63 girls, Mage = 8.54, SD = 1.67) and their parents (Mage = 39.22, SD = 4.07). Parent–child dyadic collaboration was videotaped and coded from an interaction task. Parents reported on their emotion socialization, children’s emotion regulation and psychopathological symptoms. Results indicated that child emotion regulation mediated the links between parental emotion socialization and child’s psychopathological symptoms. Evidence of moderated mediation was also found: supportive emotion socialization and child emotion regulation were positively correlated only at high and medium levels of dyadic collaboration, with child’s psychopathological symptoms as the dependent variables. Our findings suggested that higher-level parent–child collaboration might further potentiate the protective effect of parental supportive emotion socialization practices against child psychopathological symptoms. PMID:29326629

  15. Parental Emotion Socialization and Child Psychological Adjustment among Chinese Urban Families: Mediation through Child Emotion Regulation and Moderation through Dyadic Collaboration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhuyun Jin

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The theoretical model of emotion regulation and many empirical findings have suggested that children’s emotion regulation may mediate the association between parents’ emotion socialization and children’s psychological adjustment. However, limited research has been conducted on moderators of these relations, despite the argument that the associations between parenting practices and children’s psychological adjustment are probabilistic rather than deterministic. This study examined the mediating role of children’s emotion regulation in linking parents’ emotion socialization and children’s psychological adjustment, and whether dyadic collaboration could moderate the proposed mediation model in a sample of Chinese parents and their children in their middle childhood. Participants were 150 Chinese children (87 boys and 63 girls, Mage = 8.54, SD = 1.67 and their parents (Mage = 39.22, SD = 4.07. Parent–child dyadic collaboration was videotaped and coded from an interaction task. Parents reported on their emotion socialization, children’s emotion regulation and psychopathological symptoms. Results indicated that child emotion regulation mediated the links between parental emotion socialization and child’s psychopathological symptoms. Evidence of moderated mediation was also found: supportive emotion socialization and child emotion regulation were positively correlated only at high and medium levels of dyadic collaboration, with child’s psychopathological symptoms as the dependent variables. Our findings suggested that higher-level parent–child collaboration might further potentiate the protective effect of parental supportive emotion socialization practices against child psychopathological symptoms.

  16. Determinants of aggressive behavior: Interactive effects of emotional regulation and inhibitory control.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I-Ju Hsieh

    Full Text Available Aggressive behavior can be defined as any behavior intended to hurt another person, and it is associated with many individual and social factors. This study examined the relationship between emotional regulation and inhibitory control in predicting aggressive behavior. Seventy-eight participants (40 males completed self-report measures (Negative Mood Regulation Scale and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, a stop signal task, and engaged in a modified version of Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP exercise, in which the outcome was used as a measure of direct physical aggression. We used a hierarchical, mixed-model multiple regression analysis test to examine the effects of emotion regulation and inhibitory control on physical reactive aggression. Results indicated an interaction between emotion regulation and inhibitory control on aggression. For participants with low inhibitory control only, there was a significant difference between high and low emotion regulation on aggression, such that low emotion regulation participants registered higher aggression than high emotion regulation participants. This difference was not found among participants with high inhibitory control. These results have implications for refining and targeting training and rehabilitation programs aimed at reducing aggressive behavior.

  17. Caffeine alters emotion and emotional responses in low habitual caffeine consumers.

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    Giles, Grace E; Spring, Alexander M; Urry, Heather L; Moran, Joseph M; Mahoney, Caroline R; Kanarek, Robin B

    2018-02-01

    Caffeine reliably increases emotional arousal, but it is unclear whether and how it influences other dimensions of emotion such as emotional valence. These experiments documented whether caffeine influences emotion and emotion regulation choice and success. Low to abstinent caffeine consumers (maximum 100 mg/day) completed measures of state anxiety, positive and negative emotion, and salivary cortisol before, 45 min after, and 75 min after consuming 400 mg caffeine or placebo. Participants also completed an emotion regulation choice task, in which they chose to employ cognitive reappraisal or distraction in response to high and low intensity negative pictures (Experiment 1), or a cognitive reappraisal task, in which they employed cognitive reappraisal or no emotion regulation strategy in response to negative and neutral pictures (Experiment 2). State anxiety, negative emotion, and salivary cortisol were heightened both 45 and 75 min after caffeine intake relative to placebo. In Experiment 1, caffeine did not influence the frequency with which participants chose reappraisal or distraction, but reduced negativity of the picture ratings. In Experiment 2, caffeine did not influence cognitive reappraisal success. Thus, caffeine mitigated emotional responses to negative situations, but not how participants chose to regulate such responses or the success with which they did so.

  18. Positive academic emotions moderate the relationship between self-regulation and academic achievement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villavicencio, Felicidad T; Bernardo, Allan B I

    2013-06-01

    Research has shown how academic emotions are related to achievement and to cognitive/motivational variables that promote achievement. Mediated models have been proposed to account for the relationships among academic emotions, cognitive/motivational variables, and achievement, and research has supported such mediated models, particularly with negative emotions. The study tested the hypotheses: (1) self-regulation and the positive academic emotions of enjoyment and pride are positive predictors of achievement; and (2) enjoyment and pride both moderate the relationship between self-regulation and achievement. Participants were 1,345 students enrolled in various trigonometry classes in one university. Participants answered the Academic Emotions Questionnaire-Math (Pekrun, Goetz, & Frenzel, 2005) and a self-regulation scale (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991) halfway through their trigonometry class. The students' final grades in the course were regressed to self-regulation, positive emotions, and the interaction terms to test the moderation effects. Enjoyment and pride were both positive predictors of grades; more importantly, both moderated the relationship between self-regulation and grades. For students who report higher levels of both positive emotions, self-regulation was positively associated with grades. However, for those who report lower levels of pride, self-regulation was not related to grades; and, for those who reported lower levels of enjoyment, self-regulation was negatively related to grades. The results are discussed in terms of how positive emotions indicate positive appraisals of task/outcome value, and thus enhance the positive links between cognitive/motivational variables and learning. ©2012 The British Psychological Society.

  19. Aggression, emotional self-regulation, attentional bias, and cognitive inhibition predict risky driving behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sani, Susan Raouf Hadadi; Tabibi, Zahra; Fadardi, Javad Salehi; Stavrinos, Despina

    2017-12-01

    The present study explored whether aggression, emotional regulation, cognitive inhibition, and attentional bias towards emotional stimuli were related to risky driving behavior (driving errors, and driving violations). A total of 117 applicants for taxi driver positions (89% male, M age=36.59years, SD=9.39, age range 24-62years) participated in the study. Measures included the Ahwaz Aggression Inventory, the Difficulties in emotion regulation Questionnaire, the emotional Stroop task, the Go/No-go task, and the Driving Behavior Questionnaire. Correlation and regression analyses showed that aggression and emotional regulation predicted risky driving behavior. Difficulties in emotion regulation, the obstinacy and revengeful component of aggression, attentional bias toward emotional stimuli, and cognitive inhibition predicted driving errors. Aggression was the only significant predictive factor for driving violations. In conclusion, aggression and difficulties in regulating emotions may exacerbate risky driving behaviors. Deficits in cognitive inhibition and attentional bias toward negative emotional stimuli can increase driving errors. Predisposition to aggression has strong effect on making one vulnerable to violation of traffic rules and crashes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Emotional and Cognitive Self-Regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G Matthews

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available A brief outline of four studies that investigated interrelations of cognitive and emotional regulation in collaboration between Departments of Psychology of the University of Cincinnati and Kazakh National University is presented in this article. The aim of the first research was to examine the role of EI in regulating the affective response to a potentially threatening video and relation to brain electrical activity. The second study, conducted at the University of Cincinnati, explored the role of emotion in the search for information relevant to decision-making. The third study was devoted to the evaluating the sensitivity of a range of EEG indexes of engagement to time-on-task effects and to workload manipulation (cueing during vigilance task performance. The fourth research was based on Posner’s theory of executive control and Matthews’ theory of task engagement. Results of empirical studies has theoretical meaning in understanding selfregulation and practical value in different fields of applied psychology.