The Role of Inner Speech in Emotion Dysregulation and Emotion Regulation Strategy Use

Abstract

espanolResumen Estudios recientes han sugerido que estrategias de regulacion emocional (RE) como la re-interpretacion y supresion dependen del pensamiento verbal. Fuera del campo de la RE, el pensamiento verbal, como habla interna, ha sido vinculado con la regulacion cognitivo/conductual. Sin embargo, a la fecha ningun estudio ha explorado el rol del habla interna en la RE. En esta investigacion, 180 sujetos completaron cuestionarios de uso de habla interna (Inner Speech Questionnaire, ISQ), dificultades en la RE (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, DERS), uso de estrategias de RE (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, ERQ) y sintomatologia (HADS). Se realizaron analisis correlacionales y modelos de regresion lineal para explorar la relacion entre habla interna y variables de RE. Una relacion positiva fue encontrada entre frecuencia de uso de habla interna y la puntuacion global de la escala de dificultades en RE -relacion altamente mediada por el nivel de sintomatologia. Respecto a las estrategias de RE, solo la reinterpretacion presento una relacion positiva y significativa, de tamano medio, con la frecuencia de uso de habla interna -con independencia del nivel de sintomas. Los resultados de este estudio son discutidos en relacion a la conceptualizacion actual de la re-interpretacion asi como su relevancia para la practica clinica. EnglishAbstract Recent studies have suggested that emotion regulation (ER) strategies, such as reappraisal and suppression, rely on the use of verbal thinking. Outside the field of ER, verbal thinking, particularly in the form of inner speech, has been largely linked to behavior and cognitive regulation. However, no article has yet directly addressed the potential role of inner speech in ER. In this study, 180 participants completed a survey that included measures of inner speech usage (Inner Speech Questionnaire), ER difficulties (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale), ER strategy use (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire) and symptoms (HADS). Correlational analyses and hierarchical linear regression models were used to explore the potential relationship between inner speech and ER variables. A positive relationship was found between Inner Speech usage and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale overall score. This relationship was, however, heavily mediated by level of symptomatology. As for the ER strategies, only reappraisal presented a significant positive relationship, of medium size, with inner speech usage, which was independent of the level of symptoms. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the current conceptualization of reappraisal as well as its implications for clinical practice.