Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies in Borderline Personality Disorder: Diagnostic Comparisons and Associations with Potentially Harmful Behaviors

The study investigates whether adaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation (ER) strategies such as reappraisal, catastrophizing or self-blaming pro- spectively predict paranoia. We conducted an exploratory longitudinal study with two measurement points, 1 month apart, in a subclinical sample using an online-survey (N = 60). Using bivariate correlations and linear regres- sion analysis, we investigated the cross-sectional and pro- spective relationship of paranoia and cognitive ER strategies. Only maladaptive cognitive ER strategies were correlated with paranoia. The maladaptive ER strategy 'self-blaming' at Time 1 positively predicted paranoia at Time 2 (R 2 = 0.66, p \ 0.001). Maladaptive ER has an explanatory value to inform the underlying mechanisms of paranoia in subclinical and potentially clinical samples.

BackgroundPatients with depression struggle with significant emotion regulation difficulties, which adversely affect their psychological well-being and hinder recovery. Traditional therapeutic approaches often fail to adequately address these challenges, leading to a persistent gap in effective mental health care. This research seeks to address this gap by investigating the impact of emotion regulation skills training on patients with depression.AimTo assess the difficulties in emotion regulation among patients with depression and evaluate the impact of an emotion regulation skills training intervention on those with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties, specifically focusing on increasing the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies and reducing the use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.MethodA quasi-experimental research design was utilized, using three tools: a socio-demographic and Clinical Data structured interview schedule, Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale, and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Eighty patients with depression were recruited to assess those with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties; out of those with greater difficulties, 30 patients were chosen to participate in the emotion regulation skills training intervention.ResultThe 80 studied subjects' emotion regulation difficulties scores ranged from 158 to 169 (164.5 ± 3.21), and they indicated less use of adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and more use of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (56.07 ± 2.67). Regarding the intervention group, the overall mean score of the 30 patients’ emotion regulation difficulties decreased from 167.35 ± 2.21 pre-intervention to 105.85 ± 3.33 post-intervention (p < 0.0001). Cognitive emotion regulation total scores improved markedly from 54.07 ± 1.66 to 35.2 ± 3.46 (p < 0.01).ImplicationHealthcare providers should routinely assess emotion regulation difficulties in patients with depression and integrate personalized treatment plans that target individual emotion regulation difficulties.ConclusionThe findings suggest that the emotion regulation intervention has the potential to improve emotion regulation difficulties and cognitive emotion regulation strategies among patients with depression.

Maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies have been reliably associated with psychopathology while lower consistency has been found for adaptive strategies.The extent to which adaptive strategies may function as protective factors was explored by analyzing how adaptive and maladaptive strategies relate to a diverse range of symptoms in 370 college students.We used the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), the Brief Symptom Inventory, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale.We developed a Portuguese version of CERQ.Different cognitive strategies predicted the nine psychological symptoms tested.At least one maladaptive strategy predicted each symptom dimension, while the same was not true for adaptive strategies.Our study supports: 1) cognitive emotion regulation as a transdiagnostic process tha t encompasses va riability in the strategies underlying specific symptoma tology; 2) that lower adaptive strategies sometimes predict psychological symptoms, but that higher maladaptive strategies are more consistently associated with psychopathology; 3) Portuguese CERQ's validity.

Advancing our understanding of the intersection between emotion regulation and alcohol and drug use problems: Dyadic analysis in couples with intimate partner violence and alcohol use disorder

The purpose of this research is to examine the mediating role of automatic thoughts and cognitive emotion regulations strategies on the relationship among childhood maltreatment experiences, behavioral problems and resilience of adolescents. The sample of the study has consisted of 671 adolescents (338-girl, 322-boy). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form, Youth Self Report, Children’s Automatic Thoughts Scale, Resiliency Scale and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire have been used. Research findings have shown that adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and automatic thoughts have entire mediator role in relation between adolescents’ childhood abuse/neglect experience and resilience. However maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and automatic thoughts have partial mediating role in the relation between adolescents’ childhood abuse/neglect experience and behavioral problems. On the other hand maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies have no mediating effect on relationship between adolescents’ childhood abuse/neglect experience and resilience levels and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies have no mediating effect on relationship between adolescents’ childhood abuse/neglect experience and behavioral problems. In explaining the variance of behavioral problems, it has been found that the most effective variables are respectively the automatic thoughts, childhood abuse / neglect experiences and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies; adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and automatic thoughts are respectively the most important variables to explain variance of resilience.

Introduction: The goal of the present study was to investigate adolescents’ tendency to engage in high-risk behaviors based on traumatic life experiences and adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Method: A descriptive/correlational design was used. The participants included 220 adolescents (154 girls and 66 boys) who were selected among high-school students in Shiraz, using a convenience sampling method. The Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC), the Iranian Adolescents Risk-taking Scale (IARS), and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies Questionnaire (CERQ) were used collect data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. Results: According to the results, among traumatic experiences, only emotional abuse (P<0. 001), and among maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies, only rumination (P<0. 001) had a significant effect on high-risk behaviors. In addition, no significant relationship was found between adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and tendency to engage in high-risk behaviors. Conclusion: The results suggest that providing training on emotion regulation can help students select adaptive emotion regulation strategies in coping with high-risk situations. Declaration of Interest: None.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by both emotion regulation (ER) and interpersonal difficulties. Although the link between ER difficulties and interpersonal problems in BPD is well documented, less work has examined the directionality of these associations. The present study examined the temporal relationship between ER difficulties and interpersonal problems among individuals with BPD features in daily life. Participants were 173 undergraduate students who completed daily questionnaires for 2 weeks. Participants were prompted to identify their most stressful events each day and report their use of maladaptive ER strategies (i.e., expressive suppression, worry/rumination, and avoidance) and interpersonal conflict behaviors (i.e., argue, hit someone/throw things). BPD features were associated with greater interpersonal conflict and ER difficulties. Unexpectedly, maladaptive ER strategy use did not predict next-day interpersonal conflict. Interpersonal conflict significantly predicted next-day maladaptive ER strategy use; however, this association was weaker among those with elevated BPD features. Implications of these findings for treatment are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

BackgroundCognitive emotion regulation plays a crucial role in psychopathology, resilience and well-being by regulating response to stress situations. However, the relationship between personality and adaptive and maladaptive regulation has not been sufficiently examined.MethodsAdaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies of 247 university students were measured using the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and their temperament and character characteristics were analyzed with the Temperament and Character Inventory—Revised Short (TCI-RS). Two-step hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to analyze whether TCI-RS explains the use of adaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies. The latent classes of cognitive emotion regulation strategies were extracted with Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and significant differences in the subscales of CERQ and TCI-RS were examined with Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Profile Analysis after controlling for sex and age.ResultsThe two-step hierarchical multiple regression model using the seven TCI-RS subscales explained 32.30% of the adaptive and 41.70% of the maladaptive CERQ subscale scores when sex and age were introduced in the first step as covariates. As for temperament, Novelty Seeking (NS) and Persistence (PS) were pivotal for adaptive and Harm Avoidance (HA) and PS for maladaptive CERQ total scores. In addition, the character traits Self-Directedness (SD) and Cooperativeness (CO) were critical for high adaptive and low maladaptive CERQ scores. Four latent emotion regulation classes were confirmed through LCA, and distinct TCI-RS profiles were found. The temperament trait HA and character trait SD were significantly different among the four latent emotion regulation classes.DiscussionThis study demonstrated that SD and CO are related to cognitive emotion regulation strategies along with psychological health and well-being, and that PS exhibits dualistic effects when combined with NS or HA on response to stressful situations. The importance of developing mature character represented by higher SD and CO in regard to mental health and its clinical implementation was discussed.

BackgroundSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents may be associated with the use of maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies. The present study examined the use of maladaptive and adaptive ER strategies in adolescents with SAD.Methods30 adolescents with SAD (CLIN) and 36 healthy adolescents for the control group (CON) aged between 11 and 16 years were assessed with the standardized questionnaires PHOKI (Phobiefragebogen für Kinder und Jugendliche) for self-reported fears as well as FEEL-KJ (Fragebogen zur Erhebung der Emotionsregulation bei Kindern und Jugendlichen) for different emotion regulation strategies.ResultsCompared to controls, adolescents with SAD used adaptive ER strategies significantly less often, but made use of maladaptive ER strategies significantly more often. There was a significant positive correlation between maladaptive ER and social anxiety in adolescents. Examining group differences of single ER strategy use, the CLIN and CON differed significantly in the use of the adaptive ER strategy reappraisal with CLIN reporting less use of reappraisal than CON. Group differences regarding the maladaptive ER strategies withdrawal and rumination, as well as the adaptive ER strategy problem-solving were found present, with CLIN reporting more use of withdrawal and rumination and less use of problem-solving than CON.ConclusionsPromoting adaptive emotion regulation should be a central component of psychotherapy (cognitive behavioral therapy-CBT) for social anxiety in adolescents from the beginning of the therapy process. These findings provide rationale for special therapy programs concentrating on the establishment of different adaptive ER strategies (including reappraisal). As an increased use of maladaptive ER may be associated with SAD in adolescents, it may be paramount to focus on reduction of maladaptive ER (for example withdrawal and rumination) from the beginning of the psychotherapy process. Incorporating more ER components into psychotherapy (CBT) could increase the treatment efficacy. Further investigations of the patterns of emotion regulation in specific anxiety groups like SAD in adolescents is needed to continue to optimize the psychotherapy (CBT) concept.

Emotion regulation (ER) processes are directly associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. ER also underlies two salient and commonly co-occurring risk factors for IPV: trauma exposure and alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, the relationship between trauma exposure and ER has rarely been explored in dyadic contexts. Thus, this study examined the extent to which trauma exposure and adaptive and maladaptive cognitive ER strategies were related to IPV perpetration in a sample of couples with AUD. We also examined whether ER strategies moderated the relation between trauma exposure and IPV. Participants were adult romantic couples (N = 100 couples) with AUD and physical IPV in their current relationship. Data analysis was conducted using a multilevel mixture modeling framework, focusing on level 1 (within person) associations. Four separate models were run to examine the interactive effects of trauma exposure and both adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies on psychological and physical IPV outcomes. Greater trauma exposure and maladaptive ER were associated with greater psychological IPV perpetration. Greater adaptive ER was marginally associated with less physical IPV. Contrary to hypotheses, no interaction effects emerged. While not all hypotheses were supported in this examination, results suggest that the associations among trauma exposure, ER, and IPV warrant further attention as a potential treatment target for individuals and couples.

For a long time, associations between temperamental reactivity, emotion regulation (ER) strategies, and depression in youth were studied with a primary focus on the adverse impact of the negative emotionality (NE) temperament dimension and maladaptive ER strategies. The current study aims to answer the question whether positive emotionality (PE) and adaptive ER strategies also play a role in these associations. In a convenience sample of 176 youth (9–18 years; M = 13.58, SD = .94) data were obtained on NE and PE, the use of both maladaptive and adaptive ER strategies, and depressive symptoms. Results indicate that higher levels of NE and lower levels of PE were both associated with more depressive symptoms. Additionally, we found the interaction of NE and PE to be significantly related to depressive symptoms, with lower levels of PE being a vulnerability factor, facilitating the relationship between higher levels of NE and symptoms. Third, higher levels of NE were associated with the use of more maladaptive ER strategies, but were unrelated to adaptive ER strategies. There was no association between PE, and either maladaptive or adaptive ER strategies. Fourth, higher levels of maladaptive ER strategies, and lower levels of adaptive ER strategies were both associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Finally, no evidence was found for the mediation of ER strategies in the relationship between temperamental reactivity and depressive symptoms. Current study findings underline the need of identifying resilience factors for depression in youth. Insight into such factors is pivotal for the successful development and implementation of prevention and intervention programs.

Cognitive and emotion regulation strategies play an influential role in the display of aggression, however much of this research has failed to identify specific regulation strategies related to aggression. The study’s objective was to assess how emotional processes and the habitual use of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies are associated with trait aggression. Participants (N = 306; Mage = 33.79; SD = 13.29), completed a self-report survey battery assessing four subtypes of trait aggression (physical, verbal and romantic relational and peer-directed relational), emotion (anger, hostility) and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (blaming others, blaming self, ruminating, catastrophizing). Results indicated that anger and hostility (the emotion based variables) had greater influence on all subtypes of trait aggression (physical, verbal, and relational aggression), compared to cognitive emotion regulation strategies which had less of an influence. Blaming others had a positive association with physical and peer directed relational aggression. Low levels of rumination were associated with physical aggression, while low levels of self-blame were associated with peer directed relational aggression. Findings suggest that maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies have differential impact on different forms of aggressive behavior.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between childhood trauma, risky alcohol and substance use, and sexual compulsions.Method: The research involved 303 participants from universities in Ankara. Data collection included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Sexual Compulsions Scale, Addiction Profile Index Risk Screening Scale, and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. The relationships between the variables were analyzed using correlation, simple linear regression, and Model 4 for mediation analysis.Results: The study found that childhood trauma significantly predicted risky alcohol and substance use, sexual compulsions, and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Additionally, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies were found to significantly impact sexual compulsions. The analysis also revealed that childhood trauma influences sexual compulsions through these maladaptive strategies, highlighting the crucial role of cognitive emotion regulation in the development of addictive behaviors.Conclusion: Childhood trauma and cognitive emotion regulation strategies are vital factors in addiction risk processes. These results suggest that interventions targeting emotion regulation could help address maladaptive behaviors linked to trauma and addiction, providing valuable insights for researchers and practitioners.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotional awareness and psychological well-being in adolescents with cognitive emotion regulation strategies as mediators. Methods A total of 375 middle and high school students in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do participated. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess their emotional awareness, adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and psychological well-being. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlations, and regression analyses in PROCESS macro. Results First, emotional awareness was related to both cognitive emotion regulation strategies and psychological well-being. Also, adaptive strategies for regulating emotions were strongly related to psychological well-being, while maladaptive strategies were inversely related to psychological well-being. Second, both adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies partially mediated the link between emotional awareness and psychological well-being in adolescents. Conclusions These findings indicate that emotional awareness and cognitive emotion regulation strategies are important factors in improving the psychological well-being of adolescents. Keywords: emotional awareness, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, psychological well-being, adolescents

Objective Despite longstanding interest in emotion regulation and cardiovascular health, limited studies have investigated the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies and coronary heart disease (CHD) using objective measures of heart rate variability (HRV) and coronary stenosis. This study aimed to objectively explore the associations between CER strategies and both HRV and coronary stenosis and provide empirical evidence for the relationship between emotion regulation and CHD. Methods Questionnaires on CER strategies were distributed to 251 CHD patients and 250 healthy persons. HRV and coronary stenosis were measured for CHD respondents using the 24-h dynamic electrocardiogram and coronary angiography, respectively. Results CHD patients with low HRV/severe stenosis used maladaptive emotion regulation more frequently and adaptive emotion regulation less frequently. Various maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g. acceptance, rumination, putting into perspective) were positively associated with lower HRV and coronary stenosis severity, while adaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g. positive refocusing, refocusing on planning) were negatively associated with lower HRV and coronary stenosis severity. Conclusions Patients with more serious diseases exhibited increased maladaptive emotion regulation, which was associated with lower HRV and severe coronary stenosis. Further, adaptive emotion regulation was associated with higher HRV and moderate coronary stenosis.