Improve Emotion Regulation Research Articles

Comparison of effectiveness of acceptance and commitment-based group therapy and group schema therapy on emotion regulation difficulty and body mass index in obese people with emotional eating

Introduction: Today, obesity caused by emotional overeating has become a ubiquitous phenomenon with major side effects. Aim: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment-based group therapy and group schema therapy in emotion regulation difficulties and body mass index (BMI) of obese people with emotional eating. Method: In this quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest, control group, follow-up design, the population included all men and women, aged 21-50 years, who were referred to the nutrition and obesity clinics of Tehran, Iran, from September 2020 to December 2020. The study sample included 45 obese people with emotional eating, who were selected through convenience sampling among individuals visiting Mehrdadi and Behpouyan nutrition and obesity clinics and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. The data collection tools were the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (1986), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale by Gratz and Romer (2004), and BMI measurement. The collected data were analyzed using analysis of covariance and Bonferroni's post-hoc test in SPSS version 24. Results: Results from Covariance analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the scores of control and experimental groups. Compared to the control group, the experimental groups have improved emotion regulation and reduced body mass index. In addition to results indicated that acceptance and commitment-based group therapy and group schema therapy similarly improved emotion regulation and reduced the BMI of obese people with emotional overeating (P<0.05). Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment-based group therapy and group schema therapy were effective methods in improving emotion regulation difficulties and reducing the BMI of obese people with emotional eating. So it's suggested to use these methods in the treatment of obese people suffering from emotional overeating.

Evaluating an emotion coaching programme for parents of young adolescents attending Child Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in New Zealand: protocol for a multi-site feasibility trial including co-design with service users

BackgroundEarly adolescence is a time of increased vulnerability for the development of common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression (internalising outcomes). Current treatments such as cognitive-behavioural therapy and antidepressant medication are focused on the individual and have small effect sizes, particularly in real-world clinical settings such as the public Child Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Parents are an important and under-utilised resource in treating these conditions in young adolescents. Teaching parents how to respond to their young person’s emotions can improve emotion regulation and reduce internalising outcomes. One emotion-focused programme for parents of this age group is Tuning in to Teens (TINT). This is a structured, manualised skills group for parents only focused on teaching skills to coach young people through their emotional experiences. This study aims to investigate the impact of TINT in the clinical setting of publicly funded CAMHS in New Zealand.MethodsThe trial will evaluate the feasibility of a two-arm multi-site randomised control trial (RCT). Participants will be 10–14-year-olds referred to CAMHS in Wellington, New Zealand, with anxiety or depression, and their parents or guardians. Arm 1 will be parents attending and implementing TINT (in addition to the usual care received at CAMHS). Arm 2 will be usual care only. TINT groups will be facilitated by CAMHS clinicians who have been trained in the programme and will be delivered over 8 weekly sessions. Prior to the RCT, a co-design methodology will be used with service users to inform outcome measures used in the trial. A group of service users meeting the RCT criteria will be recruited to take part in workshops to help determine their priority outcomes. Measures based on the results of workshops will be included in the outcome measures. The primary feasibility outcomes will be the recruitment and retention of participants, acceptability of the intervention for service users and clinicians and acceptability of outcome measures.DiscussionThere is a need to improve outcomes for the treatment of adolescent anxiety and depression. TINT is a programme with the potential to enhance outcomes for those accessing mental health services by providing targeted support to parents of adolescents. This trial will inform whether a full RCT is feasible to evaluate TINT. Including service users in the design will increase its relevance of an evaluation in this setting.Trial registrationThe Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN): ACTRN12622000483752. Registered on 28 March 2022.

The Effectiveness of Emotional Schema Therapy on Improving Emotion Regulation and Reducing Neurotic Perfectionism Among University Students

The Effectiveness of Emotional Schema Therapy on Improving Emotion Regulation and Reducing Neurotic Perfectionism Among University Students

Emotion Dysregulation and Substance Use Risk and Protective Factors among Veterans in Residential Treatment

Background: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are frequent concerns among healthcare providers serving military personnel and Veterans, and SUDs are also associated with high healthcare utilization. Problematic substance use is consistently associated with deficits in emotion regulation, and changes in emotional regulatory processes may be important factors during treatment and recovery. Methods: The present study examined emotion regulation and substance use risk and protective factors among Veterans seeking residential treatment for SUD within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Data were collected from 138 Veterans at pre-treatment and post-treatment to examine if changes in emotion regulation were associated with post-treatment outcomes. Results: Results indicated difficulties with emotion dysregulation at discharge predicted substance use risk factors, but not substance use protective factors, after controlling for scores at intake. Emotion regulation significantly improved throughout the course of treatment. Facets of emotion dysregulation at post-treatment, specifically difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, lower emotional clarity, lower emotional awareness, and more impulse control difficulties, predicted future admission to withdrawal management services, but not future mental health engagement, mortality, or resumed use (positive urine drug screen). Conclusions: Emotion regulation skills may be valuable treatment components, as they are related to reduced substance use risk factors; however, the results of improved emotion regulation were mixed for other measures of treatment outcome.

The cognitive control mechanism of improving emotion regulation: A high-definition tDCS and ERP study

BackgroundCognitive reappraisal as a commonly used emotion regulation strategy includes reinterpretation and detachment and is associated with the activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, the neuroenhancement mechanisms of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over DLPFC that modulate cognitive reappraisal are not yet fully understood. This work aims to verify the causal role of DLPFC in different tactics of cognitive reappraisal and further explore the cognitive control mechanisms of emotion regulation. MethodsA single-blind, within-subjects, sham-controlled design was adopted. Twenty-nine healthy subjects underwent two sessions of offline high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) that were targeted at the right DLPFC. Participants completed the cognitive control (Flanker) and cognitive reappraisal task in each session. We quantified the efficacy of cognitive control using N2 and P3 of the evoked brain responses and cognitive reappraisal using the late positivity potential (LPP). ResultsAnodal HD-tDCS resulted in the decrease of LPP for reinterpretation and detachment. The cognitive control increased after stimulation, indicated by the increase of P3 and decrease of N2 amplitude. The increased cognitive control mediated the effect of HD-tDCS on modulating reinterpretation, but not for detachment. LimitationsThe single-blind design, absence of the lasting-effects measure, and the intrinsically limited focality of tDCS are limitations of this study. ConclusionsIncreasing the activity of DLPFC would facilitate emotion regulation and increase cognitive control. Cognitive control may be a significant potential mechanism for reinterpretation. Both tDCS and cognitive control interventions may be possible approaches to enhance emotion regulation.

Effectiveness of a transdiagnostic emotion regulation training in an at-risk sample: a randomized-controlled trial of group-based training versus self-help bibliotherapy.

Subclinical psychotic, depression, and anxiety symptoms form a transdiagnostic 'at-risk state' for the development of mental disorders. Emotion regulation has been identified as a transdiagnostic factor relevant to the formation of these symptoms that can be successfully addressed in clinical interventions. Here, we tested whether a group-based emotion regulation training would be effective in reducing distress and at preventing the transition to mental disorders in an at-risk sample. Participants with distressing subclinical psychotic, depression, or anxiety symptoms (n=138) were randomly allocated to either the 8-week group-based affect regulation training (ART; Springer, New York) or an 8-week self-help bibliotherapy (BT). They underwent biweekly measurements during the intervention, as well as at a six- and 12-month follow-up. In an exploratory analysis, we tested whether the ART would be superior to BT in preventing the transition to any mental disorder at 12-month follow-up. We also tested for differences in trajectories of psychopathology and emotion regulation (via questionnaires) and emotion regulation in daily life (via the experience-sampling method). Participants in the ART condition showed a greater improvement of emotion regulation in daily life than those with BT, but the ART was not superior over BT in preventing the transition to mental disorders. There were significant longitudinal reductions from pre- to post-intervention for general psychopathology and symptoms but no superiority of the ART over BT. Despite its efficacy in improving emotion regulation skills, the ART does not produce effects on psychopathology that justify its recommendation over self-help approaches.

Improving emotion regulation in breast cancer patients in the early survivorship period: Efficacy of a brief ecologically boosted group intervention.

This study reports the short- and mid-term benefits of an eight-session emotion and self-regulation group intervention ecologically boosted through daily app-based prompts. The intervention was designed for breast cancer patients in the early survivorship period meeting criteria for clinical levels of psychological symptoms. Patients were randomly assigned to the immediate intervention arm (n=61; intervention received immediately) or to the delayed intervention arm (n=59; intervention received 5months later). Psychological symptoms, including anxiety, depressive symptoms, emotional distress, fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), worry, and intrusive thoughts were assessed through questionnaires. Emotion regulation was assessed in a dynamic emotion regulation task and in everyday life. Assessments were completed at baseline (T1), 5months (T2) and 10 months (T3) later. Treated patients reported lower levels of worry and intrusive thoughts. They improved their ability to down-regulate the intensity of their negative emotions when exposed to cancer-related triggers in the dynamic emotion regulation task. They reported fewer and less intense negative emotions and more positive emotions in their everyday life. Benefits were maintained 5months later, except for positive emotions in everyday life. The results showed that focusing on emotion regulation is a relevant approach in the treatment of psychological symptoms for breast cancer patients in the early survivorship period meeting criteria for clinical levels of psychological symptoms. The intervention led to changes in patients' dynamic and everyday life emotion regulation. Consolidation sessions may be needed to sustain benefits in positive emotions and to increase the effect sizes.

Causal Prediction of Corona Anxiety based on Emotional Resilience with the Mediation of Emotion Regulation in College Students

Aim: Emotional resilience is a multidimensional structure that explains why people who face difficult and stressful situations can act positively. The aim of this study was to predict corona anxiety based on emotional resilience with the mediation of emotion regulation in college students.
 Methods: This was a descriptive study using structural equation modeling method and its statistical population consisted of all students studying at Mohaghegh Ardabili University in the first semester of 1400 Persian calendar. A total of 250 individuals were selected through convenient sampling method who answered the online questionnaires on emotional resilience, emotion regulation and corona anxiety. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling.
 Findings: The results of the correlation coefficients showed that the anxiety of Corona has a negative and significant relationship with the total score of emotional resilience and emotion regulation, and also the emotion regulation has a positive and significant relationship with the total score of emotional resilience (p<0.001). The fit indices of the model also confirmed the path of emotional resilience on Corona anxiety with the mediation of emotion regulation.
 Conclusion: From a practical point of view, based on the results, it can be said that the adaptation strategies training program is a suitable solution for improving emotion regulation, increasing resilience and reducing students' anxiety.

Mechanisms of mindfulness in patients with migraine: Results of a qualitative study.

To understand the mechanisms of mindfulness' impact on migraine. Promising mindfulness research demonstrates potential benefit in migraine, but no data-driven model exists from the lived experiences of patients that explains the mechanisms of mindfulness in migraine. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with adults with migraine who participated in two mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) clinical trials (n=43). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and summarized into a framework matrix with development of a master codebook. Constructivist grounded theory approach was used to identify themes/subthemes. Participants who learned mindfulness techniques through MBSR experienced altered pain perception, altered response to migraine attacks and disease, increased awareness of external and internal experiences, improved overall well-being, and group benefits. Mindfulness resulted in earlier stress-body awareness and increased interoceptive awareness resulting in earlier attack recognition, leading to earlier and more effective management. Interictal factors of self-blame, guilt, and stigma decreased while migraine acceptance, hope, empowerment, self-efficacy, and self-compassion increased. Improved emotion regulation resulted in decreased fear of migraine, pain catastrophizing, anticipatory anxiety, and pain reactivity. Although taught as prevention, mindfulness was used both acutely and prophylactically. We created a conceptual model hypothesizing that MBSR skills led to an infusion of mindfulness in daily life, resulting in altered pain perception and experience, ultimately leading to improvement in overall well-being, which may positively feed back to the infusion of mindfulness in daily life. The therapeutic benefit of learning mindfulness in a group setting may moderate these effects. This study identified several new potential mechanisms of mindfulness' effect on migraine. After learning MBSR skills, participants reported altered pain and migraine perception and experiences. Increased stress-body and interoceptive awareness resulted in earlier migraine awareness and treatment. Mindfulness may target important interictal factors that affect disease burden such as fear of migraine, pain catastrophizing, and anticipatory anxiety. This is the first data-driven study to help elucidate the mechanisms of mindfulness on migraine from patient voices and can help direct future research endeavors.

Posterior cingulate cortex targeted real-time fMRI neurofeedback recalibrates functional connectivity with the amygdala, posterior insula, and default-mode network in PTSD.

Alterations within large-scale brain networks-namely, the default mode (DMN) and salience networks (SN)-are present among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous real-timefunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalographyneurofeedback studies suggest that regulating posterior cingulate cortex (PCC; the primary hub of the posterior DMN) activity may reduce PTSD symptoms and recalibrate altered network dynamics. However, PCC connectivity to the DMN and SN during PCC-targeted fMRI neurofeedback remains unexamined and may help to elucidate neurophysiological mechanisms through which these symptom improvements may occur. Using a trauma/emotion provocation paradigm, we investigated psychophysiological interactions over a single session of neurofeedback among PTSD (n=14) and healthy control (n=15) participants. We compared PCC functional connectivity between regulate (in which participants downregulated PCC activity) and view (in which participants did not exert regulatory control) conditions across the whole-brain as well as in a priori specified regions-of-interest. During regulate as compared to view conditions, only the PTSD group showed significant PCC connectivity with anterior DMN (dmPFC, vmPFC) and SN (posterior insula) regions, whereas both groups displayed PCC connectivity with other posterior DMN areas (precuneus/cuneus). Additionally, as compared with controls, the PTSD group showed significantly greater PCC connectivity with the SN (amygdala) during regulate as compared to view conditions. Moreover, linear regression analyses revealed that during regulate as compared to view conditions, PCC connectivity to DMN and SN regions was positively correlated to psychiatric symptoms across all participants. In summary,observations of PCC connectivity to the DMN and SN provide emerging evidence ofneural mechanisms underlying PCC-targeted fMRI neurofeedback among individuals with PTSD. This supports the use of PCC-targeted neurofeedback as a means by which to recalibrate PTSD-associated alterations in neural connectivity within the DMN and SN, which together, may help to facilitate improved emotion regulation abilities in PTSD.

Treatment of Comorbid Disorders, Syndromes, and Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Related to Childhood Maltreatment with STAIR-NT

Abstract: Background: Early interpersonal traumatic events, such as childhood maltreatment, increase the risk of developing complex posttraumatic stress symptoms. The biphasic treatment program STAIR-NT (Skills Training for Affective and Interpersonal Regulation with Narrative Therapy), developed specifically for this patient group, combines interventions to improve emotion regulation and interpersonal skills with narrative therapy. Objective: Many affected patients with PTSD after childhood maltreatment also suffer from various comorbid mental disorders and symptoms that can affect and impede the course and outcome of treatment with STAIR-NT. Method: Based on experience from a current treatment study, we provide recommendations for integrating treatment of comorbid mental symptoms into STAIR-NT. Results / Conclusion: Training affective and interpersonal regulation skills in the first treatment phase offers various interventions to efficiently adapt transdiagnostic mechanisms such as emotion dysregulation. In cases of severe comorbid mental disorders or symptoms, adding disorder-specific interventions to STAIR-NT may be indicated.

The Inter-Relationship of Emotion Regulation, Self-Compassion, and Mental Health in Autistic Adults.

Emotion regulation is one of the key factors that influence mental health outcomes in autistic and nonautistic populations. Recent research has also identified self-compassion as a negative correlate of depression and positive correlate of psychological well-being in autistic adults. Empirical evidence from the general population supports the notion that being kind and compassionate toward oneself during stressful and difficult moments can help with one's ability to regulate negative emotions, which then has flow-on effects on mental health outcomes. However, the inter-relationship between self-compassion, emotion regulation, and mental health has not been examined in autistic samples. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if emotion regulation mediates the relationship between self-compassion and anxiety or depression in a sample of autistic adults. Participants were 153 adults (meanage = 35.70, standard deviationage = 12.62) who had either self-reported a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or self-identified as autistic. They completed an online survey capturing self-compassion, emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression. We hypothesized that emotion regulation would mediate the relationship between self-compassion and anxiety or depression, and self-compassion would not mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and anxiety or depression. As predicted, only emotion regulation mediated the relationship between self-compassion and mental health outcomes. Self-compassion did not mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and mental health outcomes. This study provides preliminary evidence for the role that self-compassion plays in improving emotion regulation and mental health in autistic adults. If this mechanism of emotion regulation mediating the relationship between self-compassion and mental health is consistently found in future studies, then it would be helpful for future research to examine the clinical benefits of including a self-compassion component in emotion regulation interventions to improve mental health outcomes of autistic adults.

Is emotional support the key to improving emotion regulation? A machine learning approach.

According to the emotion regulation process, situation selection comprises actions that increase or decrease the likelihood of being in contexts that foster a certain type of emotion, positive or negative. This concept is complemented by the social basis theory, which starts with the assumption that the primary ecology of humans is characterized by its social components. Thus, reduced access to social relationships increases cognitive and physiological effort, which leads to a decrease in well-being. In order to make a joint assessment of both concepts, the study used supervised machine learning models to analyze the associations between selected variables of social support, emotion regulation, coping, and several psychological symptoms (somatization, obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism). For this purpose, an Argentine sample (N = 812, M age = 44.35, female = 435) was collected through the Internet, nested cross-validations were performed with 8 different learning algorithms and Shapley values were computed for the predictive models that minimized the test errors. The results showed that adaptive strategies have considerable effects on maladaptive strategies, but they do not have significant effects on symptoms. Contrariwise, social support variables have significant effects on symptoms, while they do not have major effects on maladaptive strategies. It is concluded that the main function of regulatory flexibility does not appear to be a better adaptation to situations, but rather the maintenance of adequate levels of social support, i.e. emotional support received, perception of available emotional support, and perceived comprehension. Further implications are discussed, and a hypothetical model proposed.

At the heart of change: Differences in young offenders' HRV patterns after the delivery of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP program.

Literature has pointed the need for intervention programs specifically tailored to target the treatment needs of young offenders, as well as the need to test the efficacy of such programs through physiological indexes of emotion regulation (e.g., heart rate variability; HRV), complementing self-reports typically used as outcome measures. The PSYCHOPATHY.COMP is a 20-session individual intervention program based on Compassion Focused Therapy aiming to reduce psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior among young offenders through the development of a compassionate motivation, while stimulating the soothing system as a strategy to improve emotion regulation. Previous research with young offenders has shown decreases in vagally mediated HRV (vmHRV) when the soothing system is activated. This physiological pattern seems to mirror threat-like responses that contrast with relaxed states. To test the efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP, a clinical trial was implemented encompassing a treatment (n = 56) and a control group (n = 53). Treatment participants attended the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP, while controls received the Treatment As Usual (TAU) delivered in Portuguese juvenile detention facilities. HRV data was collected throughout a standardized procedure (encompassing resting, reactivity and recovery phases) specifically designed to trigger the soothing system. Participants were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 6-months follow-up. Although treatment participants continued to process the soothing system as unpleasant (with decreased vmHRV), they seem to become able to adaptively recover from the stimuli without avoiding it or resorting to maladaptive coping strategies. The physiological pattern was in line with participants' decreases in difficulties in emotion regulation across the assessment periods. In contrast, controls seemed to have actively employed coping strategies associated with increases in vmHRV not only when the soothing system was triggered, but also when recovering from the stimuli. Congruently, for controls, increases in difficulties in emotion regulation were found, with increases in the lack of emotional clarity across the assessment periods. Findings offer new evidence for the efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP program in improving emotion regulation in young offenders, assessed through both self-report and physiological measures. Additionally, findings support the assessment of the autonomic balance as a treatment efficacy index in future research, targeting the rehabilitation of these youth. ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT03971682.

The Effectiveness of Play Therapy on Improving Emotion Regulation and Social Adjustment of Students Addicted to Online Games

Background and Aim: Using online games has many negative emotional and social consequences. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of play therapy on improving emotion regulation and social adjustment of students addicted to online games. Methods: This study in terms of purpose was applied and in terms of implementation method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test and follow-up design with a control group. The research population was the fifth grade students of district 2 of Sari city in the 2021-22 academic years. The sample size based on G Power software for each group was determined 15 people, who this number was selected by purposive sampling method and by random method replaced into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group 8 sessions of 90 minute underwent the play therapy, and during this time the control group did not receive any education. The data were collected with addiction to online games questionnaire (Wang & Chang, 2002), emotion regulation questionnaire for children and adolescents (Gullone and Taffe, 2012) and children's social adjustment scale (Dokhanchi, 1998) and were analyzed by methods of variance analysis by repeated measurement and Bonferroni post hoc test in SPSS-26 software. Results: The findings showed that the play therapy improved the emotion regulation (reappraisal and suppression) and social adjustment of students addicted to online games, and the results remained in the follow-up phase (P<0.001). Conclusion: The results indicated the effectiveness of play therapy and its durability on improving emotion regulation and social adjustment of students addicted to online games. Therefore, specialists and therapists can use play therapy along with other treatment methods to improve psychological characteristics, especially to improve emotion regulation and social adjustment.

Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy upon distress, emotion regulation, and self-compassion in patients with cardiovascular disease: a randomized clinical trial.

Cardiovascular patients experience various psychological problems due to the conditions caused by their disease, which make it worse if left untreated. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on distress, emotion regulation, and self-compassion in patients with cardiovascular disease. This study was a randomized clinical trial with pre-test, post-test and two-month and four-month follow-up periods accompanying a control group. At four stages, patients filled out questionnaires on depression, anxiety, stress (DASS-21), emotion regulation (ERQ), and self-compassion (SCS). The experimental group underwent a treatment protocol based on acceptance and commitment therapy. Data were then analyzed using SPSS-25 with repeated measures analysis of variance. Act significantly reduced depression, anxiety, and stress, enhanced self-compassion, and improved emotion regulation in cardiac patients. Between-subjects (Group) partial etas for depression, anxiety, stress, reappraisal, suppression, and self-compassion were 0.61, 0.64, 0.66, 0.62, 0.66, and 0.65, respectively. Treatment efficacy was maintained during the 2- and 6-month follow-up visits. The results of this study suggest that treating cardiac patients' psychological problems in a way focused on acceptance and commitment therapy may have an impact on how well they respond to their treatment.

Biofeedback and Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder.

Empirically validated treatments for borderline personality disorder rely on fostering self-awareness of one's internal experience for treatment success, yet these treatments do not include objective tools to assess self-awareness. Integrating biofeedback into empirically supported treatments provides a way to objectively measure physiological correlates of emotional states, thereby enhancing accurate self-assessment. By using biofeedback, individuals with borderline personality disorder may gain skills to increase self-awareness, improve emotion regulation, and enhance behavioral control. The authors propose that biofeedback can be used to objectively measure fluctuating emotional intensity, thereby facilitating structured self-assessment of emotions and enabling more effective use of interventions for emotion regulation; can be delivered by trained mental health professionals; and may even be considered as a stand-alone intervention replacing alternative, more costly, treatments.

Effectiveness of DBT skills training in outpatient men: A naturalistic study.

A plethora of research highlights the effectiveness of dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) in improving emotion regulation and psychological functioning transdiagnostically. However, the majority of this research has focused on women, and the limited existing research on men has concentrated on high acuity patients in forensic and inpatient settings. The present study examined the effectiveness of DBT skills groups in reducing emotion regulation difficulties in a transdiagnostic sample of adult men in a university-based clinical outpatient setting using a naturalistic design. Sixteen adult male patients completed self-report measures examining emotion regulation difficulties (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale) at intake and following one 12-week module of DBT skills group. Men showed a significant reduction in overall difficulty regulating emotions with a moderate effect size (d = 0.63, p < .05) following one module of DBT skills group, which were accounted for primarily by improvements on the impulse control difficulties subscale (d = 1.06, p < .01). In comparison, women (N = 82) showed significant improvements in global emotion regulation difficulties (d = 0.71, p < .01), with marked improvement across all six subscales. Implications of findings for the application of DBT for men in outpatient settings is discussed, limitations reviewed, and areas for future research suggested. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Compas-Y: A mixed methods pilot evaluation of a mobile self-compassion training for people with newly diagnosed cancer.

Compas-Y is a compassionate mind training app that was co-designed to be fully adapted to mobile technology and to people with newly diagnosed cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the use, appreciation and impact of the app. Seventy-one people with cancer who created an app account were included (38% breast cancer, 72% diagnosed <4 months ago, 76% received chemotherapy). Participants had very high baseline scores of self-compassion. In a convergent mixed methods design, back-end log-data (n = 71), pre-post surveys (n = 34) and semi-structured interviews (n = 23) collected for >8 weeks and were concurrently analysed using joint displays. About half of the participants (45%) used 4 of the 6 modules. Compas-Y was highly appreciated, with all content considered relevant and a source of support. Experienced benefits related to improved mental health. Particularly, we found significant changes in anxiety, but not in depression or well-being. In the interviews, people reported experiencing more rest and more positive emotions due to using the app. Process benefits included significant reductions in self-criticism (inadequate self and self-blame), but not self-compassion. In the interviews, people reported improved self-compassion and less self-criticism, more self-awareness, recognition and support, and improved emotion regulation and coping. The surveys did not capture the full range of outcomes that participants reported in the interviews. Compas-Y is a highly appreciated mobile intervention that supported users in aspects of their mental health. Findings are discussed in terms of reach and adherence, app functionalities, co-design and tailoring of cancer-related and compassion-based eHealth.

Effectiveness of Quality of Life Therapy on Improving Psychological Capital and Emotion Regulation of Mothers of Patients with Neurological and Mental Disorders

The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of quality of life therapy training in improving psychological capital and emotion regulation among mothers of patients with neurological and mental disorders in Isfahan city. The statistical population consisted of all mothers of patients with neurological and mental disorders who had files at the Nooralmahdi Rehabilitation Center in Isfahan. The sample of this study included 30 mothers of patients with neurological and mental disorders who met the research entry criteria and were then randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group. While the control group was on the waiting list, the experimental group received the quality of life therapy package in 8 sessions of 90 minutes each. The research tools were the Luthans Psychological Capital Questionnaire (2007) and the Garnefski Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (2001). Both groups were assessed in two stages, pre-test and post-test. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multivariate analysis of covariance) were used for data analysis and examination. The results indicated that psychological capital and its dimensions significantly improved, but emotion regulation did not change in either the adaptive or maladaptive dimensions. According to the findings of this study, it can be said that quality of life therapy training is effective for improving the psychological capital of mothers of patients with neurological and mental disorders, but other complementary psychological interventions are needed to improve emotion regulation in both adaptive and maladaptive dimensions.