Emotion Regulation Techniques Research Articles

Software Architecture for Smart Emotion Recognition and Regulation of the Ageing Adult

This paper introduces the architecture of an emotion-aware ambient intelligent and gerontechnological project named “Improvement of the Elderly Quality of Life and Care through Smart Emotion Regulation”. The objective of the proposal is to find solutions for improving the quality of life and care of the elderly who can or want to continue living at home by using emotion regulation techniques. A series of sensors is used for monitoring the elderlies’ facial and gestural expression, activity and behaviour, as well as relevant physiological data. This way the older people’s emotions are inferred and recognized. Music, colour and light are the stimulating means to regulate their emotions towards a positive and pleasant mood. Then, the paper proposes a gerontechnological software architecture that enables real-time, continuous monitoring of the elderly and provides the best-tailored reactions of the ambience in order to regulate the older person’s emotions towards a positive mood. After describing the benefits of the approach for emotion recognition and regulation in the elderly, the eight levels that compose the architecture are described.

Assessing Efficacy of Emotional Regulation Techniques on Alexithymia among Students Who Suffer From Dyscalculia

Background: Dyscalculia tends to debilitating for children with respect to their social interactions and learning process. Although it can cause so many problematic consequences in developmental stages of children, by implementing precise and in time therapeutic intervention, it can be mitigated. Current paper examines the efficacy of emotional regulation techniques among students who suffer from dyscalculia. Materials and Methods: This study was experimental study with pre-test and post-test and control group. Statistical Society of this study included all students (4th, 5th, 6th grader), who suffered from dyscalculia in Bileh town (Urumieh Province/Iran) during 2013-2014(N=76). This study consisted 34 students, who suffered from dyscalculia. These students were chosen via systematic random sampling. Data were collected using Raven IQ test, Shalev mathematical Test, Alexithymia Scale, Psychological wellbeing questionnaire. Regarding analyzing data, MANOVA was used. Results: The results of multivariate analysis of covariance show that between case group and control, significant difference in components of alexithymia and psychological wellbeing were noticed. Hence, it can be inferred that emotional regulation strategies improves component of alexithymia and psychological well being of students with dyscalculia. Conclusion: According to results, teaching emotion regulation strategies to students considered to be effective in promoting awareness and positive attitudes. Thus, it is plausible that implementing these strategies tend to play major role as an intervention among students with dyscalculia.

Compassion-based emotion regulation up-regulates experienced positive affect and associated neural networks.

Emotion regulation research has primarily focused on techniques that attenuate or modulate the impact of emotional stimuli. Recent evidence suggests that this mode regulation can be problematic in the context of regulation of emotion elicited by the suffering of others, resulting in reduced emotional connectedness. Here, we investigated the effects of an alternative emotion regulation technique based on the up-regulation of positive affect via Compassion-meditation on experiential and neural affective responses to depictions of individuals in distress, and compared these with the established emotion regulation strategy of Reappraisal. Using fMRI, we scanned 15 expert practitioners of Compassion-meditation either passively viewing, or using Compassion-meditation or Reappraisal to modulate their emotional reactions to film clips depicting people in distress. Both strategies effectively, but differentially regulated experienced affect, with Compassion primarily increasing positive and Reappraisal primarily decreasing negative affect. Imaging results showed that Compassion, relative to both passive-viewing and Reappraisal increased activation in regions involved in affiliation, positive affect and reward processing including ventral striatum and medial orbitfrontal cortex. This network was shown to be active prior to stimulus presentation, suggesting that the regulatory mechanism of Compassion is the stimulus-independent endogenous generation of positive affect.

Impaired regulation of emotion: neural correlates of reappraisal and distraction in bipolar disorder and unaffected relatives.

Deficient emotion regulation has been proposed as a crucial pathological mechanism in bipolar disorder (BD). We therefore investigated emotion regulation impairments in BD, the related neural underpinnings and their etiological relevance for the disorder. Twenty-two euthymic patients with bipolar-I disorder and 17 unaffected first-degree relatives of BD-I patients, as well as two groups of healthy gender-, age- and education-matched controls (N=22/17, respectively) were included. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while applying two different emotion regulation techniques, reappraisal and distraction, when presented with emotional images. BD patients and relatives showed impaired downregulation of amygdala activity during reappraisal, but not during distraction, when compared with controls. This deficit was correlated with the habitual use of reappraisal. The negative connectivity of amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) observed during reappraisal in controls was reversed in BD patients and relatives. There were no significant differences between BD patients and relatives. As being observed in BD patients and unaffected relatives, deficits in emotion regulation through reappraisal may represent heritable neurobiological abnormalities underlying BD. The neural mechanisms include impaired control of amygdala reactivity to emotional stimuli and dysfunctional connectivity of the amygdala to regulatory control regions in the OFC. These are, thus, important aspects of the neurobiological basis of increased vulnerability for BD.

Healing Words: Using Affect Labeling to Reduce the Effects of Unpleasant Cues on Symptom Reporting in IBS Patients.

The present study aimed to induce elevated symptom reports through the presentation of unpleasant cues in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and examine whether applying an emotion regulation technique (affect labeling) can reduce symptom reporting in patients. Patients diagnosed with IBS (N = 29) and healthy controls (N = 26) were presented with six picture series (three pleasant, three unpleasant) under three within-subject conditions: merely viewing, emotional labeling, or content (non-emotional) labeling. Each picture viewing trial was followed by affect ratings and a symptom checklist, consisting of general arousal and IBS-specific symptoms. Viewing unpleasant pictures led to overall increased symptom reports, both for arousal and gastrointestinal symptoms, in both groups. Labeling the pictures did not reduce these effects significantly, although a trend toward less arousal symptoms after unpleasant cues emerged in the patient group only, especially during emotional labeling. Current findings indicate that the mere presentation of unpleasant cues can induce elevated symptom reports in IBS patients. The results of the labeling manipulation provide modest support for the effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies in reversing these effects of unpleasant cues in patients suffering from functional syndromes. Methodological issues that may have confounded present results are discussed.

Daily deliberative dissonance acting among police officers

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the relationships of daily deliberative dissonance acting (DDA) with daily strain and daily work engagement. DDA refers to the deliberate acting of emotions to achieve one's work goals. The authors hypothesized that daily DDA would be positively related to strain through feelings of emotional dissonance. In addition, the authors predicted that DDA would be positively related to daily work engagement via job accomplishment.Design/methodology/approach–The authors applied a five-day quantitative diary design with two measurement occasions per day using a sample of 54 police officers (i.e. 270 measurement occasions). In the multilevel analyses, the authors controlled for previous levels of the dependent variables in order to analyse change.Findings– Multilevel analyses revealed that police officers deliberatively engaged in emotional labor with both detrimental and beneficial consequences, as assessed via their daily reports of strain and work engagement.Practical implications– The results suggest that acting emotions is not inherently harmful, but may also be beneficial for job accomplishment, which fosters work engagement. The training of police officers and possibly other service employees should include the topic of DDA as a form of emotional labor and its consequences for psychological well-being.Social implications– Police officers who accomplish their job tasks by acting the appropriate emotions may not only experience strain, but may also become more engaged in their work.Originality/value– The present study showed that police officers engage in deliberate dissonance acting. The authors showed how this emotion regulation technique is related to strain and engagement – on a daily basis.

Mieux vivre avec la fibromyalgie via un dispositif thérapeutique cognitivo-comportemental : étude du cas clinique « Mme L. »

Les patients souffrant de fibromyalgie rapportent avoir eu un style de vie prémorbide comme « très dynamique, avec des journées très remplies, avec l’impossibilité de s’arrêter et le besoin d’aller jusqu’à l’épuisement en dépassant leurs limites ». Cette propension excessive à l’action (« ergomanie » ou « workaholism ») constitue à la fois un facteur de risque, facteur précipitant et un facteur d’entretien de la douleur fibromyalgique, entraînant fatigue et incapacité fonctionnelle. Ainsi, les patients fibromyalgiques peuvent finir par éviter toute activité physique de peur d’accroître leurs douleurs et la fatigue. L’objectif est de rendre compte d’un cas clinique qui présente une propension excessive à l’action traitée avec une thérapie comportementale et cognitive de groupe pour la gestion de la fibromyalgie au centre d’évaluation et traitement de la douleur de l’hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris. Les résultats de cette étude corroborent ceux de la littérature sur l’efficacité de certaines techniques comportementales et cognitives telles que le « pacing ». Toutefois, ils méritent d’être approfondis pour proposer des stratégies efficaces pour apprendre aux patients à réguler leur comportement de propension excessive à l’action, augmenter leurs capacités physiques et leur bien-être et ainsi arriver à « mieux vivre avec la fibromyalgie ». Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) now has a place in the treatment of chronic pain (Williams et al., 2012 [28] ) and, in particular, fibromyalgia (Bernardy et al., 2010 [29] ). This debilitating pathology is characterized by chronic widespread pain associated with functional disability, fatigue, sleep disturbance, cognitive disorders and psychological distress. (Wolf et al., 2011 [1] ). Patients suffering from fibromyalgia often report having a hectic lifestyle before falling ill, a tendency to exhaustion and exceeding limits. This high action-proneness, (“ergomania” or “workaholism”) is both a risk factor (Aguerre et al., 2008 [7] ), a precipitating factor (“premorbid personality”) and a maintaining factor of fibromyalgic pain and its impact on life quality, through fatigue and functional disability. Patients with fibromyalgia eventually try to avoid all physical activity through fear of increasing their pain (Vlaeyen et al., 2000 [12] ). The aim of our work is to suggest behavioral and cognitive strategies such as “pacing” (McCracken et al., 2007 [14] ) to help patients with fibromyalgia regulate their physical activity gradually, step by step, taking into consideration their bodily sensations, their emotions, their limits, (Jammet and Laroche, 2012 [10] ) and also to improve their general well-being. Clinical case: Mrs L., 52 years old, lives with her retired husband. Their adult children have left home. Currently on sick leave, with the diagnosis of “fibromyalgia in a context of anxiety and depression”, she would like to return to work, but feels exhausted. She reported a difficult and isolated childhood, and mental and physical trauma. She describes alternating periods of hyperactivity and exhaustion prohibiting any activity, which matches “high action proneness” behavior. Assessment: This took place at three separate intervals: before and after the program, then nine months following the end of the CBT. The parameters assessed were: quality of life (questionnaire on the impact of fibromyalgia [QIF]), anxiety and depression (HAD), pain intensity (EVA), coping strategies (CSQ) and willingness to change (PSOCQ). Therapeutic proposal: inclusion in a cognitive-behavioral group program “Coping with fibromyalgia”, involving eight weekly two-hour sessions (Jammet and Laroche, 2012 [10] ), with four individual sessions and follow-up after the end of the therapy. Therapeutic procedure: The program implemented several strategies: information on and awareness of the psychological aspect of pain, cognitive restructuring, “pacing”, gradual return to physical and enjoyable activities, learning of coping strategies, stress management and emotion regulation techniques (Jacobson's progressive relaxation, work on “mindfulness” style body awareness). The assessments showed the acquisition of new coping strategies by our patient, notably with regard to activity and physical effort. She was able to plan her activities and take pauses (breathing, relaxation, distraction). Nine months after the program, there was a decrease in depressive signs (−80%), anxiety levels (46%) and dramatization (−60%). The intensity of pain over the last seven days had reduced by 40%, the score of the impact of fibromyalgia had decreased by 50%. Mrs L. has gone back to work fulltime. These results confirm the literature supporting the efficiency of certain behavioral and cognitive strategies in the treatment of fibromyalgia, notably “pacing” to reduce action proneness. The specific features, benefits and limits of this therapy will be discussed in the context of this case study which is a prototype of cognitive-behavioral treatment of a fibromyalgia group in the centre d’évaluation et traitement de la douleur “François-Boureau” at the hôpital Saint-Antoine in Paris.

Loving‐Kindness in the Treatment of Traumatized Refugees and Minority Groups: A Typology of Mindfulness and the Nodal Network Model of Affect and Affect Regulation

This article discusses how loving-kindness can be used to treat traumatized refugees and minority groups, focusing on examples from our treatment, culturally adapted cognitive-behavioral therapy (CA-CBT). To show how we integrate loving-kindness with other mindfulness interventions and why loving-kindness should be an effective therapeutic technique, we present a typology of mindfulness states and the Nodal Network Model (NNM) of Affect and Affect Regulation. We argue that mindfulness techniques such as loving-kindness are therapeutic for refugees and minority populations because of their potential for increasing emotional flexibility, decreasing rumination, serving as emotional regulation techniques, and forming part of a new adaptive processing mode centered on psychological flexibility. We present a case to illustrate the clinical use of loving-kindness within the context of CA-CBT.

Expressive suppression and acting classes.

Frequent use of expressive suppression to regulate one’s emotions can impair long-term health and well-being for both children and adults. Therefore, there are important pragmatic benefits to identifying contexts in which individuals learn to avoid expressive suppression. We hypothesized that individuals involved in acting classes—a context in which expression of emotion is highly valued—may use expressive suppression as an emotion regulation technique less than do other individuals. Study 1 showed that adolescents majoring in acting at a high school for the arts used suppression less than did adolescents majoring in other kinds of art classes (visual arts, music). Study 2 showed that after 10 months of acting (but not visual arts) classes, expressive suppression decreased in elementary school-age children. These findings suggest that experience in acting may be associated with a decrease in the use of expressive suppression, a relatively maladaptive emotion regulation strategy.

The neural correlates of regulating positive and negative emotions in medication-free major depression

Depressive cognitive schemas play an important role in the emergence and persistence of major depressive disorder (MDD). The current study adapted emotion regulation techniques to reflect elements of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and related psychotherapies to delineate neurocognitive abnormalities associated with modulating the negative cognitive style in MDD. Nineteen non-medicated patients with MDD and 19 matched controls reduced negative or enhanced positive feelings elicited by emotional scenes while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Although both groups showed significant emotion regulation success as measured by subjective ratings of affect, the controls were significantly better at modulating both negative and positive emotion. Both groups recruited regions of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) when regulating negative emotions. Only in controls was this accompanied by reduced activity in sensory cortices and amygdala. Similarly, both groups showed enhanced activity in VLPFC and ventral striatum when enhancing positive affect; however, only in controls was ventral striatum activity correlated with regulation efficacy. The results suggest that depression is associated with both a reduced capacity to achieve relief from negative affect despite recruitment of ventral and dorsal prefrontal cortical regions implicated in emotion regulation, coupled with a disconnect between activity in reward-related regions and subjective positive affect.

Factors related to advanced stages of change in a clinical sample of adolescents.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the factors predicting a greater motivation to change in a clinical sample of adolescents. A total of 107 adolescents participated in this research prior to beginning outpatient treatment. Participants completed a modified version of the Motivational Stages of Change for Adolescents Recovering from an ED, the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale and the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-Self-Report. More advanced stages of change were associated with better parent-adolescent relationships and better emotional regulation. Incorporating parents in treatment to enhance parent-adolescent relationships and instructing parents in emotional regulation techniques to assist the adolescent may enhance their motivation to recover.

Adding emotion-regulation techniques into the Barkley's behavioral parent training program for parents of school-aged children with ADHD

Adding emotion-regulation techniques into the Barkley's behavioral parent training program for parents of school-aged children with ADHD

The effects of acceptance and suppression on anticipation and receipt of painful stimulation

Background and objectivesPrevious research has found that in some contexts, suppression increases distress, whereas acceptance decreases distress. It is not clear, however, whether these two common forms of emotion regulation have comparable or divergent physiological and behavioral effects during the anticipation and receipt of a painful stimulus. MethodsTo address this issue, we randomized participants to suppression, acceptance, or no instruction control groups, and assessed their cardiovascular and behavioral responses while they anticipated and then received electric shocks. ResultsFindings revealed that compared to the control condition (1) acceptance and suppression led to comparable reductions in pain reports and cardiac defense responses; and (2) acceptance led to greater reductions in reports of anticipatory anxiety than suppression. LimitationsThe current study tested only two emotion regulation techniques in the context of a pain-inducing stimulus that has limited ecological validity. ConclusionsIn contrast to previous research, we found that both acceptance and suppression are effective in reducing pain and anxiety in response to experimentally induced pain.

Adapting CBT for traumatized refugees and ethnic minority patients: Examples from culturally adapted CBT (CA-CBT)

In this article, we illustrate how cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be adapted for the treatment of PTSD among traumatized refugees and ethnic minority populations, providing examples from our treatment, culturally adapted CBT, or CA-CBT. CA-CBT has a unique approach to exposure (typical exposure is poorly tolerated in these groups), emphasizes the treatment of somatic sensations (a particularly salient part of the presentation of PTSD in these groups), and addresses comorbid anxiety disorders and anger. To accomplish these treatment goals, CA-CBT emphasizes emotion exposure and emotion regulation techniques such as meditation and aims to promote emotional and psychological flexibility. We describe 12 key aspects of adapting CA-CBT that make it a culturally sensitive treatment of traumatized refugee and ethnic minority populations. We discuss three models that guide our treatment and that can be used to design culturally sensitive treatments: (a) the panic attack-PTSD model to illustrate the many processes that generate PTSD in these populations, highlighting the role of arousal and somatic symptoms; (b) the arousal triad to demonstrate how somatic symptoms are produced and the importance of targeting comorbid anxiety conditions and psychopathological processes; and (c) the multisystem network (MSN) model of emotional state to reveal how some of our therapeutic techniques (e.g., body-focused techniques: bodily stretching paired with self-statements) bring about psychological flexibility and improvement.

Emotion regulation reduces loss aversion and decreases amygdala responses to losses

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.

The impact of emotions and predominant emotion regulation technique on driving performance

Emotion-provoking stimuli abound on modern roadways. Driving measures, of both longitudinal and lateral control of the vehicle, have been shown to vary based on affective influences. Research, however, has yet to address how drivers' individual techniques to mitigate emotional reactions influence driving performance. To address this issue, the present study featured a dual-task protocol involving simulated driving together with processing of emotionally-valenced images with a focus on different Predominant Emotion Regulation Techniques (PERT): one adaptive strategy (task-focused coping) and one maladaptive style (emotion-focused coping). Dependent measures included mean driving speed and number of lane excursions. Results indicated that pleasant images degraded longitudinal control to the greatest extent, while unpleasant images produced the greatest detriment in lateral control. Additionally, individuals' PERT played a major interactive role in drivers' longitudinal control leading task-focused females and emotion-focused males to adhere more closely to the speed limit; yet, it did not affect their lateral control. Results hold important potential implications for the amount or variety of training necessary for driver licensure to promote and sustain safe vehicle control.

Effects of empathic paraphrasing - extrinsic emotion regulation in social conflict.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of empathic paraphrasing as an extrinsic emotion regulation technique in social conflict. We hypothesized that negative emotions elicited by social conflict can be regulated extrinsically in a conversation by a listener following the narrator’s perspective and verbally expressing cognitive empathy. Twenty participants were interviewed on an ongoing or recently self-experienced social conflict. The interviewer utilized 10 standardized open questions inviting participants to describe their perception of the conflict. After each of the 10 descriptions, the interviewer responded by either paraphrasing or taking notes (control condition). Valence ratings pertaining to the current emotional state were assessed during the interview along with psychophysiological and voice recordings. Participants reported feeling less negative after hearing the interviewer paraphrase what they had said. In addition, we found a lower sound intensity of participants’ voices when answering to questions following a paraphrase. At the physiological level, skin conductance response, as well as heart rate, were higher during paraphrasing than during taking notes, while blood volume pulse amplitude was lower during paraphrasing, indicating higher autonomic arousal. The results show that demonstrating cognitive empathy through paraphrasing can extrinsically regulate negative emotion on a short-term basis. Paraphrasing led to enhanced autonomic activation in recipients, while at the same time influencing emotional valence in the direction of feeling better. A possible explanation for these results is that being treated in an empathic manner may stimulate a more intense emotion processing helping to transform and resolve the conflict.

The impact of emotions and predominant emotion regulation technique on driving performance

Emotion-provoking stimuli abound on modern roadways. Driving measures, of both longitudinal and lateral control of the vehicle, have been shown to vary based on affective influences. Research, however, has yet to address how drivers' individual techniques to mitigate emotional reactions influence driving performance. To address this issue, the present study featured a dual-task protocol involving simulated driving together with processing of emotionally-valenced images with a focus on different Predominant Emotion Regulation Techniques (PERT): one adaptive strategy (task-focused coping) and one maladaptive style (emotion-focused coping). Dependent measures included mean driving speed and number of lane excursions. Results indicated that pleasant images degraded longitudinal control to the greatest extent, while unpleasant images produced the greatest detriment in lateral control. Additionally, individuals' PERT played a major interactive role in drivers' longitudinal control leading task-focused females and emotion-focused males to adhere more closely to the speed limit; yet, it did not affect their lateral control. Results hold important potential implications for the amount or variety of training necessary for driver licensure to promote and sustain safe vehicle control.

Acceptance and Mindfulness Techniques as Applied to Refugee and Ethnic Minority Populations With PTSD: Examples From "Culturally Adapted CBT"

In this article we illustrate how we utilize acceptance and mindfulness techniques in our treatment (Culturally Adapted CBT, or CA-CBT) for traumatized refugees and ethnic minority populations. We present a Nodal Network Model (NNM) of Affect to explain the treatment's emphasis on body-centered mindfulness techniques and its focus on psychological flexibility. We explain the definition of mindfulness that guides our treatment, and we outline a typology of mindfulness states and show how many of the techniques in our treatment can be analyzed by these categories. We argue that acceptance and mindfulness are therapeutic for refugees and minority populations for several reasons. These include their increasing psychological flexibility, decreasing somatic distress, decreasing rumination, serving as emotion regulation techniques, decreasing the attentional bias to threat, and forming part of a new adaptive processing mode (which in CA-CBT centers on psychological flexibility). We describe the specific ways we teach acceptance and mindfulness with Latino and Southeast Asian refugee populations and present case examples of the treatment of a traumatized Latino and Cambodian patient.

Emotional labor among trainee police officers: The interpersonal role of positive emotions

The aim of this study is to get an insight of the interpersonal process of emotional labor, and the role of positive emotions in the interaction between the sender and receiver, while taking both the perspective of the sender and the receiver into account. We tested the influence of the perceived display of positive emotions of Dutch trainee police officers (N = 80) during an interaction with offenders on perceived authenticity and perceived performance success, incorporating the senders’ emotion regulation technique (i.e., deep acting and surface acting). Consistent with hypotheses, results of structural equation modeling analyses showed that perceived authenticity mediates the relationship between the perceived display of positive emotions and perceived performance success, while the specific senders’ emotion regulation technique was not related to perceived performance success. Furthermore, results showed that perceived performance success mediated the relationship between the perceived display of positive emotions and senders’ felt positive emotions after the interaction, controlling for senders’ positive affect.