Emotion-related Outcomes Research Articles

Making Choices: A Multi-institutional, Longitudinal Cohort Study Assessing Changes in Treatment Outcome Valuation for Low-Risk Thyroid Cancer.

To evaluate the relative importance of treatment outcomes to patients with low-risk thyroid cancer (TC). Overuse of total thyroidectomy (TT) for low-risk TC is common. Emotions from a cancer diagnosis may lead patients to choose TT resulting in outcomes that do not align with their preferences. Adults with clinically low-risk TC enrolled in a prospective, multi-institutional, longitudinal cohort study from 11/2019-6/2021. Participants rated treatment outcomes at the time of their surgical decision and again 9 months later by allocating 100 points amongst 10 outcomes. T-tests and Hotelling's T2 statistic compared outcome valuation within and between subjects based on chosen extent of surgery (TT vs. lobectomy). Of 177 eligible patients, 125 participated (70.6% response) and 114 completed the 9-month follow-up (91.2% retention). At the time of the treatment decision, patients choosing TT valued the risk of recurrence more than those choosing lobectomy and the need to take thyroid hormone less (P<0.05). At repeat valuation, all patients assigned fewer points to cancer being removed and the impact of treatment on their voice, and more points to energy levels (P<0.05). The importance of the risk of recurrence increased for those who chose lobectomy and decreased for those choosing TT (P<0.05). The relative importance of treatment outcomes changes for patients with low-risk TC once the outcome has been experienced to favor quality of life over emotion-related outcomes. Surgeons can use this information to discuss the potential for asthenia or changes in energy levels associated with total thyroidectomy.

Preliminary report: Sleep duration during late pregnancy predicts postpartum emotional responses among parents at risk for postpartum depression.

Sleep loss is common during the perinatal period; however, few studies have assessed potential consequences of insufficient sleep for postnatal emotional responding, a key contributor to parenting behaviors with implications for parent-infant bonding and mental health. To generate hypotheses for future work assessing perinatal sleep and emotion-related outcomes, this pilot study explored whether prenatal sleep duration predicted postnatal emotional responding in a sample at risk for postpartum depression. Participants were nine birthing parents with a prior mood disorder who were not in a current episode at enrollment. We estimated sleep with actigraphy collected for 1 week at 33 weeks' gestation and at 2 and 6 weeks postpartum. Following each week, participants completed an emotional evaluation task, rating the valence and arousal of standardized images from the International Affective Picture System. We tested whether average prenatal (33 weeks) nighttime sleep duration predicted concurrent and future responsiveness to emotional images, quantified by participants' reaction times and arousal/valence ratings. Shorter prenatal sleep duration predicted faster reaction times, both concurrently and at 2 weeks postpartum (ps ≤ .05), as well as lower arousal ratings for negative images at 2 and 6 weeks postpartum (ps ≤ .043). In this small sample of birthing parents at risk for postpartum depression, shorter prenatal sleep duration predicted faster reactions to emotional stimuli and blunted arousal responses to negative images. Although preliminary, these findings justify further study of the role of prenatal sleep in postpartum emotional responses and how these factors may impact parent-infant outcomes.

Acupuncture Treatment for Emotional Problems in Women with Infertility: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in treating emotional problems in women with infertility. We searched for randomized controlled trials using acupuncture treatment for emotional problems in women with infertility using 11 databases from their inception to 30 June 2023. The control intervention included no treatment, sham acupuncture treatment, and conventional treatment. The primary outcome was emotion-related rating scales, and the secondary outcomes were total effectiveness rate, quality of life, clinical pregnancy rate, and adverse events. Twelve randomized controlled trials involving 1930 participants were included. A meta-analysis of these studies indicated that, as compared to the control treatment, acupuncture significantly improved the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Self-rating Anxiety Scale, Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale, and Self-rating Depression Scale scores, which were the primary emotion-related outcomes. Furthermore, the meta-analysis demonstrated that acupuncture treatment had a significant effect on the clinical pregnancy rate, which was the secondary outcome. No adverse events were reported in any of the studies. Our findings demonstrate the potential of acupuncture for treating emotional problems in women with infertility. However, well-designed and high-quality randomized clinical trials are required to confirm the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment. The protocol of the current study was registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42020166119).

A Review of Emotions in Human-Conversational Agent Interaction

Conversational agents (CA), powered by natural language processing, have become increasingly popular across multiple domains. However, these agents often fail to communicate effectively with users, leading to poor adoption and task outcomes. Emotions are a fundamental aspect of such interactions, influencing use and adoption of digital artifacts. Despite their salience, understanding of the role of emotions in human-CA collaboration remains fragmented. Motivated thus, we review empirical studies on emotions in human-CA interactions. We synthesize the findings from the reviewed studies in terms of antecedents, emotion-related outcomes, and their relationships in the form of a descriptive model. Based on the synthesis, we identify knowledge gaps and propose directions for future research. Our analysis provides insights into the role of emotions in human-CA interactions and contributes to research in this area.

"Online, the counselor can't see me cry": a systematic literature review on emotion and computer-mediated care.

Computer-mediated care is becoming increasingly popular, but little research has been done on it and its effects on emotion-related outcomes. This systematic literature review aims to create an overview that addresses the research question: "Is there a relationship between computer-mediated care and emotional expression, perception, and emotional and (long-term) emotion outcomes?" This systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and used five eligibility criteria, namely, (1) participants: adults seeking support; (2) intervention: eHealth; (3) diagnostic criteria: transdiagnostic concept of difficulty identifying, expressing, and/or regulating emotions (e.g., alexithymia); (4) comparator: either face-to-face care or no comparator; and (5) study design: quantitative studies or qualitative studies. Quality was assessed using the QualSyst tool. The analysis includes 25 research papers. Self-paced interventions appear to have a positive effect on emotion regulation. Videoconferencing interventions improved emotion regulation from before to after treatment but worsened emotion regulation compared with face-to-face treatment. The lack of variation in the modalities studied and the emotion measurements used make it difficult to draw responsible conclusions. Future research should examine how different modalities affect the real-time communication of emotions and how non-verbal cues influence this.

The Auxiliary Role of Virtual Reality in Enhancing the Effects of Disaster News on Empathy and Fear: The Mediating Role of Presence.

This study conducted a two-condition between-subjects laboratory experiment (N = 147) to examine the effects of textual disaster news combined with a 360° video in different modes (virtual reality [VR] vs. two dimensional screen) on cognitive/affective empathy and fear. Additionally, the mediating role of presence (social and spatial presence) was considered. Results indicated that the news article presented through an immersive VR mode directly led to greater levels of presence and cognitive empathy but not affective empathy and fear. The effects on social presence further resulted in greater cognitive and affective empathy, not fear. Meanwhile, spatial presence enhanced by VR led to greater levels of emotions (affective empathy and fear) but not cognitive empathy. These findings suggest the dynamic mechanisms of how an immersive VR modality can function as a complementary tool for traditional news to improve audience engagement, which centers on emotion-related outcomes in tandem with cognitive responses.

When embeddedness hurts: the moderating effects of job embeddedness on the relationships between work-to-family conflict and voluntary turnover, emotional exhaustion, guilt, and hostility

Theory and research have focused mainly on negative aspects of work-to-family conflict (WFC) and positive aspects of job embeddedness on a range of outcomes. However, due to the lack of research integrating these constructs, less is known what happens when working parents high on embeddedness face WFC. This study uses the conservation of resources theory to examine moderating effects of on-the-job embeddedness between the relationships of WFC and four outcomes: voluntary turnover, emotional exhaustion, guilt, and hostility. Data were derived from 724 working mothers in Japan at three points in time over a 14‐month time period. Results show that while respondents high on on-the-job embeddedness facing WFC had lower voluntary turnover, they reported more emotional exhaustion, guilt, and hostility. The findings contribute to the literature by linking WFC to specific emotion-related outcomes and by providing evidence of the “dark side” of job embeddedness.

Emotion-related socialization in the classroom: Considering the roles of teachers, peers, and the classroom context.

The goal of this study was to apply aspects of the heuristic model advanced by Eisenberg, Cumberland, and Spinrad (1998) to the study of socialization that takes place in preschool and elementary school classrooms. Investigating socialization in this context is important given the number of hours students spend in school, the emotional nature of social interactions that take place involving teachers and students, and the emotions students often experience in the context of academic work. Guided by Eisenberg, Cumberland, et al.'s (1998) call to consider complex socialization pathways, we focus our discussion on ways teachers, peers, and the classroom context can shape students' emotion-related outcomes (e.g., self-regulation, adjustment) and academic-related outcomes (e.g., school engagement, achievement) indirectly and differentially (e.g., as a function of student or classroom characteristics). Our illustrative review of the intervention literature demonstrates that the proposed classroom-based socialization processes have clear applied implications, and efforts to improve socialization in the classroom can promote students' emotional and academic competence. We conclude our discussion by outlining areas that require additional study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction to the special issue: Socialization of emotion and self-regulation: Understanding processes and application.

Over 20 years ago, Eisenberg, Cumberland, and Spinrad (1998; Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Cumberland, 1998) published a landmark article focusing on the socialization of children's emotion and self-regulation, including emotion regulation. In this special issue, our goal was to compile current evidence delineating the impact of emotion-related socialization behaviors (ERSBs) on children's emotion, self-regulation, and developmental outcomes. The work in this issue highlights the processes involved in predicting both parents' ERSBs as well as children's developmental outcomes. Researchers have moved beyond testing individual "pieces" of the socialization of emotion model and now use innovative and sophisticated methods for testing larger models, allowing for more causal interpretations. Special issue contributors focused on longitudinal studies including ERSBs, reviews of the literature extending the original model, and the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve the emotional lives of children and their families. We focus on some of the major themes of the special issue and conclude with recommendations for policies and programs to promote youths' effective emotion-related outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of Duration and Midpoint of Sleep on Corticolimbic Circuitry in Youth

Introduction Adequate sleep is essential for cognitive and emotion-related functioning, and 9 to 12 hr of sleep is recommended for children ages 6 to 12 years and 8 to 10 hr for children ages 13 to 18 years. However, national survey data indicate that older youth sleep for fewer hours and fall asleep later than younger youth. This shift in sleep duration and timing corresponds with a sharp increase in onset of emotion-related problems (e.g., anxiety, depression) during adolescence. Given that both sleep duration and timing have been linked to emotion-related outcomes, the present study tests the effects of sleep duration and timing, and their interaction, on resting-state functional connectivity (RS-FC) of corticolimbic emotion-related neural circuitry in children and adolescents. Methods A total of 63 children and adolescents (6–17 years, 34 females) completed a weekend overnight sleep journal and a 10-min resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan the next day (Sunday). Whole-brain RS-FC of the amygdala was computed, and the effects of sleep duration, timing (i.e., midpoint of sleep), and their interaction were explored using regression analyses. Results Overall, we found that older youth tended to sleep later and for fewer hours than younger youth. Controlling for age, shorter sleep duration was associated with lower RS-FC between the amygdala and regions implicated in emotion regulation, including ventral anterior cingulate cortex, precentral gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus. Interestingly, midpoint of sleep was associated with altered connectivity in a distinct set of brain regions involved in interoception and sensory processing, including insula, supramarginal gyrus, and postcentral gyrus. Our data also indicate widespread interactive effects of sleep duration and midpoint on brain regions implicated in emotion regulation, sensory processing, and motor control. Conclusion These results suggest that both sleep duration and midpoint of sleep are associated with next-day RS-FC within corticolimbic emotion-related neural circuitry in children and adolescents. The observed interactive effects of sleep duration and timing on RS-FC may reflect how homeostatic and circadian process interact in the brain and explain the complex patterns observed with respect to emotional health when considering sleep duration and timing. Sleep-related changes in corticolimbic circuitry may contribute to the onset of emotion-related problems during adolescence.

Maternal Emotion Socialization and Child Outcomes among African Americans and European Americans

Mothers’ emotion socialization practices are very important for children’s later outcomes; however, we know very little about how these practices may lead to different outcomes for European American (EA) and African American (AA) children. In the current study, maternal emotion socialization practices were investigated in relation to child emotion-related outcomes in 122 pairs of mothers and preschool-age children, and differences in associations were examined for EA and AA families. Mothers were assessed for their expressions of positive emotion with their child and their responses to their child’s negative emotions, including support of sadness/fear and magnification of anger, when children were 3. Children were assessed for their expression of positive emotion with their mother and their internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors when they were 4. When ethnicity was included as a moderator, results revealed that when AA mothers expressed more positive emotion, their children were also more positive 1 year later. Additionally, as AA mothers provided greater support for their children’s sadness/fear, these children tended to have fewer later internalizing problems. Finally, when AA mothers responded with more magnification of their children’s anger, these children tended to have greater internalizing and externalizing problems 1 year later. These associations were not found for EA families. Results highlighted differential effects based on the type of support provided by mothers and the role that mothers played in encouraging or suppressing their child’s expressions. The overall findings highlight the need to consider maternal emotion socialization from a culturally-informed perspective.

Factor structure of the Emotions as a Child Scale in late adolescence and emerging adulthood.

Although the Emotions as a Child Scale (EAC) has been widely used in research with children and adolescents, no peer-reviewed studies have examined its factor structure using factor analytic methods. Likewise, the measurement equivalence of the scale across gender and race/ethnicity has never been investigated. To address these gaps, this study examines the factor structure of the scale in late adolescence and emerging adulthood, compares it to previous theory-driven models, and evaluates its measurement invariance across gender and 2 racial/ethnic groups. Participants were 1,087 individuals participating in a larger community-based study of adolescent health (M = 19.35 years, SD = 1.19). Results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggest that a 2-factor model from a shortened version of the scale (3 items were eliminated from each emotion scale), involving supportive and unsupportive socialization strategies, is a good alternative model to the original 5-factor structure for researchers interested in broader conceptualization of emotion socialization strategies. This 2-factor model of the shortened scale showed stronger measurement invariance across gender than racial/ethnic groups. Future studies addressing racial/ethnic differences with this measure should compare the results with and without imposing corresponding invariance constraints on noninvariant items. Findings of this study should be replicated in other age and racial/ethnic groups, and examine the predictive utility of the abbreviated 2-factor model for emotion-related outcomes across development. (PsycINFO Database Record

Living large: Affect amplification in visual perception predicts emotional reactivity to events in daily life

It was hypothesised that affect-amplifying individuals would be more reactive to affective events in daily life. Affect amplification was quantified in terms of overestimating the font size of positive and negative, relative to neutral, words in a basic perception task. Subsequently, the same (N=70) individuals completed a daily diary protocol in which they reported on levels of daily stressors, provocations, and social support as well as six emotion-related outcomes for 14 consecutive days. Individual differences in affect amplification moderated reactivity to daily affective events in all such analyses. For example, daily stressor levels predicted cognitive failures at high, but not low, levels of affect amplification. Affect amplification, then, appears to have widespread utility in understanding individual differences in emotional reactivity.