Emotion Regulation Skills Training Research Articles

Emotion Regulation Moderates Associations between Discrimination and Cannabis Use Patterns among Sexual Minority Young Adult Women

Background: Sexual minority young adults (SMYAs) experience discrimination and have high cannabis use prevalence. Discrimination may be associated with cannabis use, including hazardous use and co-use with tobacco, depending on emotion regulation and gender. Methods: Fall 2020 survey data assessed discrimination, use frequency of emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression), current cannabis use, hazardous use, and cannabis-tobacco dual use among SMYAs (age 18-34) in 6 United States metropolitan areas (women: n=450, Mage =24.1, SD=4.7, 69.6% bisexual, 18.2% lesbian/gay, 12.2% other; men: n=254, Mage=24.7, SD=4.5, 33.5% bisexual, 54.3% gay, 12.2% other). Multivariable logistic regression examined the moderating roles of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on associations of discrimination with cannabis use outcomes, stratified by gender and adjusted for age, race and ethnicity, and employment. Results: Among SMYA women, 89.5% experienced any discrimination; 53.1% reported current cannabis use, of whom 49.4% and 47.7% reported hazardous use and cannabis-tobacco dual use, respectively. Adjusting for sociodemographics, experiencing greater discrimination was associated with greater odds of hazardous cannabis use (aOR=1.08, 95% CI [1.02, 1.15]) and cannabis-tobacco dual use (aOR=1.04, 95% CI [1.01, 1.08]) among SMYA women with greater use of expressive suppression. Among SMYA men, 83.9% experienced any discrimination; 49.2% reported current cannabis use, of whom 55.2% and 44.0% reported hazardous use and cannabis-tobacco dual use. Discrimination and emotion regulation were unrelated to cannabis use outcomes among men. Conclusions: Given high rates of discrimination experiences among SMYAs, emotion regulation skills training may empower SMYAs, particularly women, to cope with discrimination without using cannabis.

“It’s ok that I feel like this”: a qualitative study of adolescents’ and parents’ experiences of facilitators, mechanisms of change and outcomes in a joint emotion regulation group skills training

BackgroundEmotion regulation difficulties underlie several psychiatric conditions, and treatments that focus on improving emotion regulation can have an effect on a broad range of symptoms. However, participants’ in-depth experiences of participating in emotion regulation treatments have not been much studied. In this qualitative study, we investigated participants’ experiences of a joint emotion regulation group skills training in a child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient setting.MethodsTwenty-one participants (10 adolescents and 11 parents) were interviewed about their experiences after they had participated in a seven-session transdiagnostic emotion regulation skills training for adolescents and parents. The aim of the skills training was to decrease emotion regulation difficulties, increase emotional awareness, reduce psychiatric symptoms, and enhance quality of life. The skills training consisted of psychoeducation about emotions and skills for regulating emotions. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsThe analysis resulted in three overarching themes: Parent – Child processes, Individual processes, and Group processes. The result showed that participants considered an improved parent-child relationship to be the main outcome. Increased knowledge, emotion regulation skills and behavioural change were conceptualised as both mechanisms of change and outcomes. The group format, and the fact that parents and adolescents participated together, were seen as facilitators. Furthermore, the participants experienced targeting emotions in skills training as meaningful and helpful.ConclusionThe results highlight the potential benefits of providing emotion regulation skills training for adolescents and parents together in a group format to improve the parent-child relationship and enable the opportunity to learn skills.

Psychological and medical treatments for binge-eating disorder: A research update

Binge-eating disorder (BED), characterized by recurrent binge eating in the absence of regular weight-compensatory behaviors, is the most common eating disorder, associated with pronounced mental and physical sequelae. An increasing body of research documents the efficacy of diverse approaches to the treatment of this disorder, summarized in meta-analyses. This research update narratively reviewed randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) on the psychological and medical treatment of BED published between January 2018 and November 2022, identified through a systematic literature search. A total of 16 new RCTs and 3 studies on previous RCTs providing efficacy- and safety-related data were included. Regarding psychotherapy, confirmatory evidence supported the use of integrative-cognitive therapy and, with lower effects, brief emotion regulation skills training for binge eating and associated psychopathology. Behavioral weight loss treatment was revealed to be efficacious for binge eating, weight loss, and psychopathology, but its combination with naltrexone-bupropion did not augment efficacy. New treatment approaches were explored, including e-mental-health and brain-directed treatments, mostly targeting emotion and self-regulation. Additionally, different therapeutic approaches were evaluated in complex stepped-care models. In light of these advances, future research is necessary to further optimize effects of evidence-based treatments for BED, through improvement of existing or development of new treatments, based on mechanistic and/or interventional research, and/or tailoring treatments to personal characteristics in a precision medicine approach.

Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation for Refugees Integrated With Narrative Exposure Therapy: A Case Study on the Treatment of PTSD and Emotion Dysregulation for Refugees and Asylum-Seekers

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in individuals affected by war and conflict is high, with approximately 1 in 3 refugees and asylum-seekers meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD. PTSD in refugees and asylum-seekers is associated with significant emotion dysregulation which may arise from chronic trauma exposure and post-migration stressors and lead to impaired day-to-day functioning. There is evidence that treatments that target emotion regulation skills prior to implementing exposure-based therapies lead to improved treatment response and reduced attrition in survivors of interpersonal traumas such as sexual abuse. The current case study details the use of a novel adaptation of one such treatment – Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation for refugees and asylum-seekers (STAIR-R). In this case study, we report on the implementation of STAIR-R in combination with Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) with Sara, a 60-year-old Iraqi woman who presented with high levels of nightmares, avoidance and emotion dysregulation following exposure to war- and conflict-related trauma and post-migration stressors. In this case study, we explore the intersection of emotion regulation skills training (in STAIR-R) and exposure therapy (in NET), and the potential for this combined intervention to improve emotion regulation skills, enhance coping with post-migration stressors and facilitate engagement with exposure-based treatment for PTSD.

The efficacy of a transdiagnostic emotion regulation skills training in the treatment of binge-eating disorder-Results from a randomized controlled trial.

Deficits in emotion regulation (ER) have been shown to be associated with binge-eating disorder (BED). To further clarify the causal nature of this association, we tested whether systematically enhancing ER skills would reduce symptoms of BED. We randomly allocated N=101 individuals meeting the criteria for BED to a transdiagnostic ER skills training or to a waitlist control condition (WLC). Primary outcome was the reduction in binges during the treatment-vs.-waiting period as assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) interview. Mixed-model ANOVAs indicated that the average pre-to-post decrease in binges assessed with the EDE was significantly greater in the ER skills training condition than in the WLC (d=0.66). These effects were stable over the 6-month follow-up period (d=0.72). Remission rates at post/follow-up were 34.4/45.0% in the skills training and 7.5/20.0% in the WLC. Additionally, we found a greater reduction in general eating disorder psychopathology, of food consumption in a bogus taste test and of depression in the ER skills training condition. Moreover, the greater reduction in binge-eating episodes in the training condition was (partially) mediated by a greater increase in ER skills. The findings provide further support for the assumed importance of deficits in ER as a maintaining factor and, hence, as a target in the treatment of BED. As ER skills trainings have been shown to also reduce other kinds of psychopathology, they might be considered a promising transdiagnostic add-on component to disorder-specific interventions.

Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Skills Training on Academic Procrastination and Cognitive Flexibility among Students with Internet Addiction

Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Skills Training on Academic Procrastination and Cognitive Flexibility among Students with Internet Addiction

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy based on Emotion Regulation Skills Training on Impulsivity and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Type 1 Bipolar Patients

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy based on Emotion Regulation Skills Training on Impulsivity and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Type 1 Bipolar Patients

The role of cognitive control and emotion regulation in predicting mental health problems in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Many youth with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) experience mental health problems such as anxiety, depression or anger, and these are often associated with impairments of cognition and emotion regulation. The mechanisms that may be linking cognitive difficulties, emotion regulation and mental health are not known. The current study examined whether adaptive and maladaptive (dysregulated) emotion regulation mediated the link between different cognitive control processes (working memory, inhibition and shifting) and internalizing/externalizing symptoms in children with NDDs. Participants included 48 children (8-13 years of age) with one or more diagnoses of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, cerebral palsy and learning disability, who were enrolled in a larger study of cognitive behaviour therapy targeting emotion regulation. Multiple mediation analyses were implemented using the PROCESS macro. The mediation effects of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation were examined on the relationships between (1) working memory and internalizing/externalizing symptoms, (2) inhibition and internalizing/externalizing symptoms and (3) shifting and internalizing/externalizing symptoms. All data were collected prior to intervention, at baseline. Shifting, inhibitory control and working memory predicted increased emotion dysregulation, which functioned as a full mediator to both internalizing and externalizing problems in children with NDDs. In the presence of emotionally triggering situations, children with greater cognitive challenges experience greater maladaptive emotion regulation, which results in both internalizing and externalizing problems. For youth with NDDs, therapeutic plans that include strengthening of working memory, inhibition and shifting abilities in addition to emotion regulation skills training may be helpful in alleviating externalizing and internalizing behaviour.

Group-based emotion regulation skills training for adults with ADHD: A feasibility study in an outpatient psychiatric setting

The aim of this open non-controlled clinical trial was to investigate the feasibility and preliminary treatment effects of a new group-based skills training program for adult ADHD: Group Therapy for Improving Emotional Acceptance and Regulatory Skills in Adults with ADHD (GEARS). Out of the 226 allocated patients, 213 initiated the treatment and 170 (80%) were considered treatment completers (i.e., attending at least 9 out of 14 sessions). A total of 158 of the completers also completed pre- and post-treatment assessments, and 126 provided assessments at the 3-month follow-up. Treatment credibility received high ratings, as did treatment satisfaction. Preliminary treatment effects showed significant improvements in emotion regulation with large effect sizes. Significant effects were also found for all secondary outcome variables: ADHD symptom levels, depression, anxiety, and quality of life. All significant effects remained at the 3-month follow-up. In conclusion, GEARS should be considered a feasible treatment in an outpatient psychiatric setting. The results also indicate that GEARS could be an effective treatment for adults with ADHD who are also experiencing problems with emotion regulation. However, a randomized controlled trial is needed to further evaluate the effectiveness of this new treatment.

The Effectiveness of Training Emotional Regulation Skills in Reducing Addiction Ability in Male High School Students

Background: Emotional adjustment skills have recently been proposed as a new framework in the prevention of addiction in students. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of training emotional regulation skills on reducing addiction ability in high school male students. Methods: The statistical population of the present quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test design and a control group was male high school students in Tabriz District 3 in the academic year 2018-2019. Accordingly, using the cluster sampling method, the students of one school were selected as the statistical sample and those with higher than the average score (above 21) were selected randomly and divided into the experimental (n=25) and control (n=25) groups. The experimental group was subjected to Emotional regulation skills training for 8 sessions, each session lasting 90 minutes for two months. During this period, the control group received no intervention. Theoretical Addiction Questionnaire was used for data collection. Covariance analysis was used to analyze the results. Results: Data analysis showed that training of emotional regulation skills has an impact on reducing the addiction of talented students. Conclusion: Training emotional regulation skills has an impact on reducing the addiction of talented students. emotion regulation skills training can also be used as a coping approach in adolescent education that should be targeted by reference groups, such as counselors, school coaches, and social planners.

Parental emotion socialisation of young children and the mediating role of emotion regulation

ABSTRACT 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.

Altered regulation of negative affect in patients with fibromyalgia: A diary study.

BackgroundFibromyalgia is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and often accompanied by cognitive and emotional problems. Adaptation to fibromyalgia may therefore also rely on one's ability to regulate emotional problems. In this study, we examined two indices of emotion regulation, that is, (a) affective instability, involving frequent large fluctuations in self‐reported affect, and (b) resting heart rate variability (HRV).MethodsParticipants were 46 patients with fibromyalgia (M age = 45.4 years; 39 females) and 46 matched healthy controls (M age = 44.9 years; 37 females). Heart rate was monitored under resting conditions to derive HRV. Subsequently, participants completed an electronic end‐of‐day diary for 14 consecutive days assessing daily levels of pain, disability, negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA). Affective instability was operationalized as the mean square of successive differences in daily mood.ResultsResults indicate increased levels of NA instability and reduced levels of HRV in patients with fibromyalgia in comparison with healthy controls. Furthermore, HRV and NA instability were inversely related. Finally, in patients, higher NA instability was related to increased pain disability.ConclusionsCurrent findings support the idea that patients with fibromyalgia are confronted with fluctuating emotions. These results may have important implications for treatment as they provide support for the use of emotion regulation skills training in patients with fibromyalgia to impact upon NA instability.SignificanceThis study provides novel insight in the link between emotion regulation indices,that is, heart‐rate variability and negative affective (NA) instability, in patients with fibromyalgia, and presents evidence for differences in both emotion regulation indices between patients with fibromyalgia and healthy people. Furthermore, results link increased NA instability with increased levels of daily disability in patients with fibromyalgia. Together, these findings offer support for a key role of emotion regulation in fibromyalgia outcomes, providing pathways for clinical practice.

The effect of emotion regulation skills training on mental health, happiness, and organizational performance in employees

Background: Coping with negative emotions are of the everyday life challenges that all individuals encounter constantly. Employing efficient Emotion Regulation [ER] strategies could significantly influence individuals’ quality of life and wellbeing. ER has also been targeted as a core process in the research and treatment of psychopathology. Accordingly, the present study aimed to examine the effects of an ER skills training program on mental health, happiness, and organizational performance in employees. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and a control group design. The statistical population of the present study consisted of the employees of the central offices of Bank Mellat [all of which are located in Tehran City, Iran] in April and May 2017 [N=2107]. According to Morgan’s table for sample size, 40 individuals were calculated as the study participants. The experimental group received training for four weeks [two 90-min sessions per week]. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance [MANCOVA] was used to compare the two groups of control and training and eliminate the effect of the pretest. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS at the significance level of p<0.05. Results: A total of 40 individuals completed the intervention course. The age of the study subjects ranged between 28 and 50 years. The mean±SD age of the study participants in the training and control groups was 26.67±0.49 and 26.89±0.57 years, respectively. The Independent Samples t-test results indicated no significant difference in terms of age between the study groups. Furthermore, the MANCOVA data suggested that after controlling the pretest scores as a covariate variable, the provided emotion regulation training significantly improved the posttest scores of the study subjects [p<0.05, F9.20=-3.295]. Conclusion: ER training could play an essential role in reducing physical symptoms, anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions by informing a person about positive and negative emotions, as well as accepting and expressing them in a timely manner. The present research findings highlighted the effectiveness of ER skills training on mental health, happiness, and organizational performance of the investigated employees. Accordingly, the significance of ER skills training should be considered in improving mental health, happiness, and organizational performance among employees.

The effect of emotion regulation skills training on mental health, happiness, and organizational performance in employees

The effect of emotion regulation skills training on mental health, happiness, and organizational performance in employees

Pilot Study of a Treatment Using Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills for Adults with Overweight/Obesity and Emotional Eating

The current study was a preliminary investigation of Live FREE, a pilot study of a treatment that included a combination of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and behavioral weight loss techniques for overweight/obese adult emotional eaters. Live FREE was based on the premise that impaired emotion regulation skills promote emotional eating behavior and lead to weight gain. Consistent with the ORBIT model of behavioral treatment development, the primary study aim was to refine the treatment protocol. Adults with overweight/obesity (n = 10) who self-identified as emotional eaters were enrolled in Live FREE and completed baseline and post-treatment assessments. The intervention delivered 10-weeks of emotion regulation skills training followed by 6-weeks of behavioral weight loss treatment in a group-based format. Pilot study findings resulted in several changes to the treatment protocol. Changes included reducing the number of skills introduced, extending session length, and reviewing DBT material. Ninety percent of subjects completed the program, and all of these participants attended 14–16 sessions total. Preliminary data showed significant improvements in BMI, emotional eating, emotion regulation, and DBT skills use over the course of the program. The Live FREE program was refined and is ready to be examined for clinically significant effects. Targeting emotion regulation in overweight/obese adult emotional eaters may be an effective strategy for enhancing weight loss. Future investigations should use a larger sample size, a longer follow-up period, and a randomized controlled trial design to examine the efficacy of Live FREE. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov. NCT04185506; retrospectively registered on 12/2/19. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04185506?cond=Freedom+from+emotional+eating&draw=2&rank=1

The Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Training on Reducing Aggressive and Oppositional Behaviors Among Children Aged 4 to 6 Years

Background: Emotion regulation is necessary for psychological wellbeing and social functioning. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of emotion regulation skills training on reducing aggressive and oppositional behaviors in children (4-6 years old) in Shiraz, City, Iran during the fall and winter of 2018-19. Methods: This was quasi-experimental study with pre-test & posttest design and controlgroup.The current study's statistical population consisted of 26 children with symptoms of aggressive and oppositional behaviour through the Child Symptom Inventory (CSI-4) and the Seyedi questionnaire for aggression. Among these people, a purposeful sampling method was used to select 26 individuals (13 to a control group and 13 individuals assigned to an experimental group). The experimental group participated in 28, 30-45-minute emotion regulation training sessions from a programme called DECA-P2, whereas the control group received no treatment. A posttest was conducted after the sessions were done. The Child Symptom Inventory-4(CSI-4) and Aggression questionnaire were used to collect the data. Data were analyzed MANCOVA by using SPSS V. 23 software. Results: Results of covariance analysis showed that emotion regulation training with the DECA-P2 approach was effective in reducing aggressive and oppositional behavior among children (P<0.01). Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of emotion regulation training (the DECA-P2 approach) in reducing the aggressive and oppositional behaviors among children, we recommended that authorities apply this training to reduce children’s maladaptive behaviors and prepare them for the next emotional and social development stages.

Emotion regulation group skills training: a pilot study of an add-on treatment for eating disorders in a clinical setting

BackgroundEmotion regulation difficulties appear to play a role in the development and maintenance of several eating disorders. This pilot study aimed at examining whether a short add-on group skills training in emotion regulation for young adults with different eating disorders was feasible in a psychiatric clinical setting. We also investigated if the treatment increased knowledge of emotions, and decreased self-reported difficulties with emotion regulation, alexithymia, symptoms of eating disorder, anxiety and depression, as well as clinical impairment.MethodsSix skills training groups were piloted with a total of 29 participants (M = 21.41 years, SD = 1.92). The treatment consisted of five sessions dealing with psychoeducation about emotions and emotion regulation skills training. Paired samples t-test was used to compare differences between before-and-after measures.ResultsThe primary outcomes measures difficulties in emotion regulation (p < 0.001) and alexithymia (p < 0.001) showed significant improvement after treatment. The total eating disorder score (p = 0.009) was also significantly reduced, as was clinical impairment (p < 0.001). Acceptance/valued direction, identifying primary emotions and learning about secondary emotions was rated as especially helpful.ConclusionsThis preliminary pilot study showed that group training targeting emotion regulation skills was feasible and appreciated by participants, as well as being potentially promising as an adjunctive treatment for different eating disorders. Further controlled studies are needed.Trial registrationThe study was retrospectively registered NCT04148014 on October 30th 2019.

Emotion Regulation Training in a First-Year Experience Course: A Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Experiences

ABSTRACT The transition to college is a stressful time that can present many emotional challenges and demands. One way to help ease this transition is through the implementation of emotion regulation skills training in first-year experience courses. However, little is known about how students who receive such instruction implement emotion regulation, and what challenges and difficulties they face in doing so. In the present study, first-semester college students (N= 24) who were enrolled in a first-year experience course and received emotion regulation traitning and reported on their experiences regulating their emotions in their everyday lives. Results of thematic analysis revealed six themes in the experience of emotion regulation: emotion regulation as an effortful process, the impact of regulatory goals on regulatory success, the role of timing, emotional awareness, affective forecasting, and regulatory clarity. Findings highlight the challenges that first-semester college students experience while attempting to regulate their emotions during emotional situations, and may aid counseling psychologists understanding of the transition to college with respect to emotion regulation skill development. Further, findings suggest that implementing emotion regulation training in first-year experience courses can provide a meaningful training ground for the development of emotion regulation during the first semester of college.

The effect of emotion regulation training on family relationships of hyperactive children.

INTRODUCTION:One of the psychiatric disorders related to childhood is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that can negatively affect the family interactions of these children. Parents of these children, especially the mother as the main caregiver, need comprehensive training to make a positive difference in their attitudes and behaviors with these children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of emotion regulation training on family relationships in hyperactive children.METHODS:This was a randomized clinical trial study with a control group performed on eighty mothers of hyperactive children who were selected randomly. The intervention group members attended emotion regulation skills training sessions for one session of 90 min each week for 8 weeks. During the training course in the intervention group, the control group did not receive any training. Data collection tools included demographic information questionnaires, Mother–Child Relationship Evaluation, and Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II. Data analysis was performed by descriptive statistics and the analysis of covariance.RESULTS:The mean scores of the mother–child relationship in the intervention group showed a significant improvement in the subscales of acceptance, overprotection, facilitation, and rejection (P < 0.0001). The results of this research also showed improvements in all the five communication styles of integrating, avoiding, compromising, obliging (P < 0.0001), and dominating (P < 0.012) between spouses.CONCLUSION:It seems that the emotion regulation training approach in mothers with hyperactive children improved both the mother–child relationship and the interactive spousal styles and can be considered by the managers of treatment and rehabilitation field as an adjunctive therapy for the families of these children.

Emotion Regulation via the Autonomic Nervous System in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Replication and Extension.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent disorder characterized by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity, as well as executive dysfunction. Recent work underlines the importance in understanding the role of emotion reactivity and regulatory deficits in the context of the disorder. One study (i.e., Musser et al. 2011) utilized a positive and negative emotion induction and suppression task, as well as indexes of autonomic nervous system reactivity, to examine emotional functioning in youth with ADHD. This study revealed inflexible parasympathetic-based regulation across emotion conditions among youth with ADHD compared to typically developing youth. The present study sought to replicate and extend these findings to a clinically recruited, diverse sample, while also examining sympathetic functioning. Two hundred fifty-nine participants (160 youth with ADHD), aged 5 to 13, completed the task utilized in Musser et al. 2011, while indexes of parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and sympathetic (i.e., pre-ejection period [PEP] and electrodermal activity [EDA]) reactivity were obtained. ADHD was associated with significantly elevated parasympathetic (i.e., augmented RSA) and sympathetic (as indexed by EDA) reactivity. Overall, results replicate and extend Musser et al. 2011, revealing sympathetic-linked disruptions in emotion reactivity and parasympathetic-linked disruptions in emotion regulation among youth with ADHD. Future studies of behavioral therapies for ADHD should consider the efficacy of adding an emotion regulation skills training component.