Role of emotion regulation in the relationship between mindful attention awareness and resilience in adolescents

Purpose: To analyze the differences in mindfulness level and emotional regulation skills, as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression subdimensions, according to sex and years of work experience in a sample of Italian nurses directly involved in the care of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Then, correlations were also performed in order to evidence relationships between the mindfulness tendency and the emotional regulation skills, both in cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, too. Design of study: Descriptive correlational study. Methods: In June 2020, an online questionnaire was administered. Data relating to sex and years of work experience, the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) in the cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression subdimensions were collected. Findings: Two hundred nurses were enrolled. Males recorded higher MAAS values compared to females (p = .001). No significant differences were registered in the MAAS scores according to years of work experience and regarding the ERQ subscales according to sex and work of experience, too. Also, any correlations were reported between MAAS and ERQ subscales. Conclusions: Future training on the basic principles of mindfulness and Emotion Regulation were considered a priority in nurses to better self-modulate their own beings, particularly during the pandemic period.

Emotional regulation plays a crucial role in enhancing resilience to stress and life pressures. This study employs a qualitative method through a literature review (library research) to explore the relationship between emotional regulation and resilience. By analyzing various scholarly sources, this research examines how effective emotional regulation strategies contribute to individuals' ability to adapt to adversities and maintain psychological well-being. The findings indicate that emotional regulation functions as a protective factor, enabling individuals to manage negative emotions, reframe stressful situations, and develop coping mechanisms that foster resilience. Cognitive reappraisal, emotional acceptance, and mindfulness are among the key strategies that strengthen resilience by promoting adaptive emotional responses. Furthermore, the study highlights that individuals with higher emotional regulation skills exhibit greater psychological flexibility, which helps mitigate the adverse effects of stress. The role of emotional intelligence in facilitating emotional regulation is also emphasized, as it enhances self-awareness, impulse control, and interpersonal effectiveness. This research underscores the importance of integrating emotional regulation training into mental health interventions and educational settings to improve individuals' resilience against life’s challenges. Future studies are recommended to explore the long-term impact of emotional regulation on resilience in diverse populations and cultural contexts. Overall, understanding and cultivating emotional regulation skills are essential for fostering resilience, reducing stress, and enhancing overall well-being.

An investigation of the relationships between two emotion regulation strategies and adolescent depressive symptomatology

This study aimed to find out the relationship between emotion regulation (ER) and its domains with social responsiveness (SR) to investigate ER and its domains as predictors of SR. A sample of 60 male and female adults diagnosed by a professional with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was studied with ER and its domains of RI or Cognitive Reappraisal, SI or Expressive Suppression and SR as variables. Tools used were Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (Adult, Relative/Other online form) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). ERQ domain of Cognitive Reappraisal or RI was found to be negatively correlated with Social Responsiveness or SR but positively correlated with Expressive Suppression or SI domain with Pearson's r value of -0.662 for RI and of 0.275 for SI. Furthermore, RI and SI variables were found to be significantly negatively correlated with each other. Multiple regression analysis results showed R to be 0.666 and predictor variables explained 44.4% of the variance in the data since R square was found to be 0.444. The model was found to be a significant predictor of the variable SR, F (2, 57) = 22.76, P = 0.000. The present study found that ASD adults with high or good SR engage in less cognitive reappraisal (RI) ER strategy and more in expressive suppression (SI) strategy of ER. Multiple regression analysis results suggest a good and strong relationship suggesting our model is a relatively good predictor of the outcome.

Emotion dysregulation in adults with ADHD: The role of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression

Objective Parental emotion regulation plays a central role in the socialisation of emotion, especially when teaching young children to cope with negative emotions. This study aimed to explore to what extent parental psychological distress contributes to difficulties in emotion regulation, the way parents respond to children’s expression of negative emotions and whether two emotion regulation strategies are mediating mechanisms through which psychological distress affects parental responses. Method A sample of 307 Australian parents with children aged 3 to 10 years completed an online questionnaire that explored recent symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, the use of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal as emotion regulation strategies, and hypothetical parental responses to scenarios related to children’s expression of negative emotions. Results Parents who reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress reported more frequent use of expressive suppression and less frequent use of cognitive reappraisal as emotion regulation strategies. Mixed findings were noted, with expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal acting as mediators of depression and stress symptoms but not anxiety. Conclusion The findings highlight the need for targeting overarching factors such as difficulties in parental emotion regulation, not only as intervention for parental psychological distress but also for detection and prevention of maladaptive parenting practices. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Parental emotion socialisation is of key importance to children’s development. (2) Parental emotion regulation is a vital component of adaptive parenting. (3) Psychological distress compromises emotion regulation and functional parenting behaviour. What this topic adds: (1) Maladaptive emotion regulation may be present even at subclinical levels of emotional distress, thus highlighting the need for emotion regulation skills to be addressed preventatively. (2) Emotion regulation skills training in interventions with parents experiencing psychological distress may offer benefit in terms of parenting and child outcomes. (3) Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression may be two underlying processes which predict subsequent problems with parental emotion socialisation.

In today’s fast-changing world, the internet has been one click away from an abundance of information. However, cyberchondria, or excessive online health-related searching, has become widely common among emerging adults, creating a significant gap in understanding its impact on mental well-being and the role of emotion in managing it. The study examined the relationships between cyberchondria, mental well-being, and emotion regulation strategies, and assessed the potential moderating roles of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression among emerging adults. A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed with 340 respondents aged 18-24, selected through stratified disproportionate sampling. Standardized instruments, such as the Cyberchondria Severity Scale-Short Form, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression were analyzed using SPSS. While moderation analysis was performed using Jamovi software. Results revealed moderate levels of cyberchondria, mental well-being, and expressive suppression, with high levels of cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal (r = 0.366, p < 0.001) was found to have a positive relationship with mental well-being. Meanwhile, cyberchondria (r = 0.075, p = 0.167) and expressive suppression (r = -0.018, p = 0.737) were observed to be inadequately related to mental well-being. Moderation analysis indicated that cognitive reappraisal (β = 0.013, p = 0.273) and expressive suppression (β = -0.007, p = 0.683) did not substantially moderate the association between cyberchondria and mental well-being. However, cognitive reappraisal directly enhanced mental well-being (β = 0.564, p < .001). These results suggest that while emotion regulation strategies may not buffer the impact of cyberchondria, promoting cognitive reappraisal could be beneficial for improving the mental well-being of emerging adults who frequently engage in online health searching, which may lead to health anxiety. The findings also emphasize the importance of implementing sustainable interventions that aim to strengthen adaptive emotion regulation, thereby fostering the mental well-being of individuals in today’s digital age.

Effective communication skills, including emotion regulation (ER) skills, are critical for physicians to manage patient interactions and their own well-being. However, ER skills are rarely included in medical communication training programs. This study evaluated the feasibility of ‘RE.COMMUNICATION’, an 8-h online synchronous training program designed to enhance communication skills, including ER, among physicians. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study primarily examined five feasibility dimensions including (1) recruitment procedures, (2) data collection procedures, (3) resources and the ability to implement the training, (4) acceptability and (5) suitability of the training. Additionally, the study attested the preliminary effects of the training through the analyses of change scores in communication competence and ER (i.e. cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) one-month post-training. First, several adjustments for future iterations regarding recruitment, data collection and implementation procedures were identified by the researchers. Second, the 52 physicians enrolled in the training rated very positively the training’s content, relevance, utility, satisfaction and applicability, indicating high rates of acceptability and suitability of the training. Thematic analyses revealed that group dynamics, trainer competence and practical exercises were particularly valued as strengths of the training program. And third, communication competence and cognitive reappraisal improved significantly 1 month post-training. No significant changes were observed in expressive suppression. While no changes were registered regarding physicians’ sex, differences emerged based on professional status: specialists significantly increased their use of cognitive reappraisal, and they displayed contrasting tendencies in the use of expressive suppression, with specialists increasing its use post-training. This study attested the feasibility of ‘RE.COMMUNICATION’ and highlighted opportunities for refinement, providing a foundation for optimizing this training program and designing a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Theoretical perspectives suggest the importance of teachers' emotion regulation skills, occupational health (e.g., burnout), and well-being (e.g., life satisfaction) for students, yet few studies have empirically tested these associations. The current study tested whether teachers' cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, occupational burnout, and life satisfaction in the fall were related to the level, and trajectory across the school year, of three indicators of student well-being: student-reported positive outlook, student-reported emotional distress, and peer-reported prosocial behavior. Multilevel growth modeling was employed to examine data from 15 elementary teachers and their 320 students. Teachers' emotion regulation skills and life satisfaction were associated with students' well-being: when teachers used cognitive reappraisal, students reported low emotional distress; when teachers used expressive suppression, students reported a less positive outlook and peers reported few prosocial behaviors; teachers' life satisfaction was associated with high levels of prosocial behavior. Effects on the trajectory of student well-being were not significant.

Broad deficits in emotion regulation skills have been observed in children with anxiety-related disorders. These deficits typically improve during cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), but few studies have examined changes in expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal in youth with anxiety disorders and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during CBT, especially in real-world settings. In a naturalistic treatment-seeking sample, 123 youth completed measures of anxiety, depression, and emotion regulation strategy use before and after 15 sessions of CBT. For anxious youth, anxiety and expressive suppression decreased over treatment, while cognitive reappraisal increased. Reductions in expressive suppression and increases in cognitive reappraisal were significantly associated with improvements in anxiety and remained significantly associated with post-treatment anxiety after accounting for baseline anxiety and depression. Changes in expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal over the course of treatment were not found for youth with primary OCD. Thus, CBT improves emotion regulation abilities in anxious youth, and these improvements are associated with anxiety reduction; improvements in emotion regulation do not appear to drive changes in OCD symptoms. Further research is needed to determine whether changes in emotion regulation strategies mediate changes in anxiety among youth receiving CBT.

Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) often struggle with adaptive strategies like self-reflection and cognitive reappraisal, relying instead on maladaptive ones like self-rumination and emotional suppression. Mindfulness-based techniques (MBTs) have been identified as a promising complementary psychological intervention for this population. To evaluate the effects of MBTs on mindful attention awareness, self-rumination, self-reflection, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in patients with MDD between patients who receive MBTs and those who do not. This quasi-experimental research was carried out at the Psychiatric Outpatient Clinics. A representative sample of 120 patients with MDD were randomly recruited to either a study group (n = 60) or a control group (n = 60). The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), The Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ) and The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were utilised to collect data. After participation in MBTs, the study group had significantly greater improvements in the mean scores of MAAS, RRQ, Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression compared to the control group (p < 0.001 each). The study recommends developing and implementing training programmes for nurses to equip them with the skills and knowledge to effectively deliver MBTs as part of patient care. Conducting longitudinal studies is necessary to assess the sustainability of these improvements.

This paper analyzes the role of emotion regulation in patients diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Although there are various types of emotion regulation, this paper studies cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression specifically because of their prevalence and imperative role in the behavioral aftermath of emotion. Cognitive reappraisal is studied as an antecedent-focused strategy to control and modify the meaning of a situation, whereas expressive suppression is analyzed as a response-focused strategy that alters behaviors associated with situations that elicit emotion. Patients diagnosed with GAD use emotion regulation as both a defensive strategy and a coping mechanism. Through this understanding, the role of Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT) in conjunction with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is depicted. Emotion Regulation Therapy is also proposed as an alternative to CBT because of its ability to cater specifically to individuals with anxiety disorders. This paper studies the implications of the usage of emotion regulation both as a coping mechanism that is self-employed and therapeutically used by health professionals.

Posttraumatic distress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) may coexist in trauma survivors, but there are mixed relationships between PTSD and PTG. To elucidate their relationship and constructs, it is necessary to examine simultaneously predictive factors, and to compare their determining factors. The aim of this study was to increasing our understanding the relationship between PTSD and PTG by examining simultaneously the role of social support and emotion regulation in PTSD and PTG among adolescents after the earthquake. Six months after the Ya'an earthquake, 315 middle school students in Lushan county were assessed using measures of trauma exposure, social support, and emotion regulation, as well as Child PTSD Symptom Scale and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Social support had significant direct association with PTG but not with PTSD, but social support had a negative indirect prediction on PTSD and a positive indirect prediction on PTG through cognitive reappraisal. Social support, through expressive suppression, had a significant and indirect prediction on PTSD, but a nonsignificant indirect prediction on PTG. This study indicate that the predictive mechanism of PTSD and PTG were different and further suggest that PTSD and PTG are separate, independent dimensions of psychological experiences following adversity. (PsycINFO Database Record

The relationship between habitual use and real-time emotion regulation strategies in adolescents: Evidence from frontal EEG asymmetry

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve internationally, increasing levels of psychological stress in adolescents around the world, and thereby increasing their risk for emotional disorders associated with chronic stress. This ongoing threat to adolescents’ mental health requires that we identify factors that contribute to their ability to cope with situations shown to carry significant risks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., their resiliency).Negative emotions are associated with chronic stress, and factors that reduce levels of negative emotions are associated with improved resiliency. Healthier sleep is associated with lower levels of negative emotions. Cognitive reappraisal (changing the way one thinks about potentially emotion-eliciting events) is an emotional regulation strategy that downregulates negative emotions. However, there is little information about the associations between sleep quality, emotional regulation, and resiliency in adolescents. The present study sought to fill this gap by examining the associations between adolescents’ sleep quality and disturbances, emotional regulation strategies and adolescents’ resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Forty-five adolescents (M=13.47, SD=1.7 years) participated in the study during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada (May 15 to June 30, 2020). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to assess adolescents’ self-reported sleep quality and disturbances. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was used to assess respondents' tendencies to regulate their emotions using cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale was used to measure resilience. Behavioral/emotional problems were assessed before the pandemic using the Youth Self Report (YSR). Results Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses revealed that lower levels of sleep disturbances and frequent use of cognitive reappraisal to regulate emotions were associated with a higher level of resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic, above and beyond the contributions of gender or pre-pandemic emotional or behavioral problems. Conclusion Better sleep quality and the habitual use of an emotional regulation strategy that is effective in downregulating negative emotions are associated with higher resiliency in adolescents facing the COVID-19 pandemic. The cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow the inference of causation. Support (If Any) CIHR 418638 to Reut GruberRGPIN-2015-04467 to Reut Gruber