Intrapersonal Emotion Regulation Research Articles

I rely on a little help from my friends: the effect of interpersonal and intrapersonal emotion regulation on the relationship between FOMO and problematic internet use

BackgroundThis study investigated the role of emotion regulation in relation to the links between fear of missing out (i.e., FOMO) and two components of problematic internet use: problematic social media use and doomscrolling.MethodsParticipants (N = 603, Mage = 30.41, SDage = 7.64; 49.1% male-identifying) completed measures of fear of missing out, intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation, and problematic social media use, and doomscrolling. A parallel mediation model was tested to examine the nature of the associations between fear of missing out, intrapersonal, and interpersonal emotion regulation, in accounting for variance in the outcome measures.ResultsAnalyses revealed that the effect of fear of missing out on problematic social media use was fully mediated by both intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation. In contrast, the effect on doomscrolling was fully mediated by intrapersonal emotion regulation only.ConclusionsFindings clarify the role of emotion regulation in explaining the relationship between fear of missing out and two types of problematic internet use, indicating a need to consider individual differences in emotion regulation in an evolving social media landscape.

Does interpersonal emotion regulation effort pay off?

Interpersonal emotion regulation shapes people's emotional and relational experiences. Yet, researchers know little about the regulation processes that influence these outcomes. Recent works in the intrapersonal emotion regulation space suggest that motivational strength, or effort, people invest in regulation might be the answer. We applied this motivated approach for the first time in the interpersonal space-looking at both intrinsic and extrinsic forms of interpersonal emotion regulation-in order to identify the potential emotional and relational outcomes of putting effort into regulating one's own emotions through others, and regulating others' emotions. In daily diary (N = 171) and experience sampling (N = 239) studies, we examined participants' interpersonal emotion regulation behaviors and socioemotional experiences in everyday social interactions over the course of 1 week. These methods allowed us to examine effort at both momentary and person levels. We found that people who habitually put in more intrinsic effort to feel better through others felt worse overall. People also felt worse on occasions when they put in more effort to extrinsically help others feel better, although at the person level extrinsic effort was associated with higher interaction quality. Together, our findings suggest that interpersonal emotion regulation success is not simply a matter of trying hard. This observation opens new research avenues to investigate the interplay of different factors that determine when, and for whom, investing effort in interpersonal emotion regulation pays off. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Difficulties in Interpersonal Regulation of Emotions Scale (DIRE): Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance across Gender and Two Chinese Youth Samples.

Effective interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) strategies have been found to be meaningful predictors for positive psychological functioning. The Difficulties in Interpersonal Regulation of Emotions Scale (DIRE) is a measure developed to assess maladaptive IER strategies. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of DIRE using two college student samples (Sample 1: n = 296; Sample 2: n = 419). The two-factor structure of DIRE (venting and excessive reassurance-seeking) was confirmed through an exploratory structure equation modeling approach. Our results demonstrated that the Chinese version of DIRE exhibits a similar factor structure (in both samples) as the original DIRE. Measurement invariance across gender and samples was also achieved. Latent mean analyses demonstrated that females more frequently reported excessive reassurance-seeking (in both samples) and venting (in Sample 1) than males. Furthermore, venting and excessive reassurance-seeking were significantly related to intrapersonal emotion regulation and well-being indicators. Although in Chinese culture DIRE performs somewhat differently from the original DIRE, the current findings suggest that DIRE is a reliable and valid scale with which to measure the IER strategies in Chinese culture and the use of this measure in clinical practice may allow for an accurate assessment of emotion regulation deficits in clients from other diverse cultures.

Traversing Emotional Spaces: Social Media Affordances and Emotion Regulation in Times of Physical Isolation

People’s emotional life is increasingly interwoven with social media. Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in China, this study investigated social media affordances enacted during people’s emotion regulation processes. By analyzing in-depth interviews with 27 Shanghai residents going through a 2-month lockdown, we identified intersections between social media affordances and different emotion regulation processes: selectivity and intrapersonal emotion regulation; visibility and emotional self-presentation; bandwidth and interpersonal emotion regulation; connectivity and collective emotion regulation. This study extended our knowledge of mediated emotion regulation processes and enriched our understanding of the dynamic relations between users, media technologies, and emotional and social contexts.

Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression Evoke Distinct Neural Connections during Interpersonal Emotion Regulation.

Interpersonal emotion regulation is the dynamic process where the regulator aims to change the target's emotional state, which is presumed to engage three neural systems: cognitive control (i.e., dorsal and ventral lateral PFC, etc.), empathy/social cognition (i.e., dorsal premotor regions, temporal-parietal junction, etc.), and affective response (i.e., insula, amygdala, etc.). This study aimed to identify the underlying neural correlate (especially the interpersonal one), of interpersonal emotion regulation based on two typical strategies (cognitive appraisal, expressive suppression). Thirty-four female dyads (friends) were randomly assigned into two strategy groups, with one assigned as the target and the other as the regulator to downregulate the target's negative emotions using two strategies. A functional near-infrared spectroscopy system was used to simultaneously measure participants' neural activity. Results showed that these two strategies could successfully downregulate the targets' negative emotions. Both strategies evoked intrapersonal and interpersonal neural couplings between the cognitive control, social cognition, and mirror neuron systems (e.g., PFC, temporal-parietal junction, premotor cortex, etc.), whereas cognitive reappraisal (vs expressive suppression) evoked a broader pattern. Further, cognitive reappraisal involved increased interpersonal brain synchronization between the prefrontal and temporal areas at the sharing stage, whereas expressive suppression evoked increased interpersonal brain synchronization associated with the PFC at the regulation stage. These findings indicate that intrapersonal and interpersonal neural couplings associated with regions within the abovementioned systems, possibly involving mental processes, such as cognitive control, mentalizing, and observing, underlie interpersonal emotion regulation based on cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT As significant as intrapersonal emotion regulation, interpersonal emotion regulation subserves parent-child, couple, and leader-follower relationships. Despite enormous growth in research on intrapersonal emotion regulation, the field lacks insight into the neural correlates underpinning interpersonal emotion regulation. This study aimed to probe the underlying neural correlates of interpersonal emotion regulation using a multibrain neuroimaging (i.e., hyperscanning) based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Results showed that both cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies successfully downregulated the target's negative emotions. More importantly, they evoked intrapersonal and interpersonal neural couplings associated with regions within the cognitive control, social cognition, and mirror neuron systems, possibly involving mental processes, such as cognitive control, mentalizing, and observing. These findings deepen our understanding of the neural correlates underpinning interpersonal emotion regulation.

A Spanish adaptation and validation of the Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

Intrapersonal Emotion Regulation is a widely studied and recognized term as an essential variable in people’s well-being, and their optimal psychosocial functioning. It has not been until recent years that Interpersonal Emotion Regulation (IER) has been taken into account in studies focused on emotional life and academic performance. The Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (IERQ) is one of the few self-report instruments designed for the evaluation of this construct. As far as we know, there is no tool that evaluates this variable in the Spanish language. The present study aims to adapt and validate the IERQ in the Spanish population (n = 289). Maintaining the internal structure of the original scale, it has been found that the Spanish version of the IERQ (IERQ-S) is a valid instrument for the evaluation of IER in the Spanish population.

Do people choose the same strategies to regulate other people's emotions as they choose to regulate their own?

How do people choose how to regulate others' emotional responses? We extended previous work on how the intensity of an emotional situation influences which strategies people choose to regulate their emotions (i.e., intrapersonal emotion regulation choice) to also consider the effect of intensity on which strategies people choose to regulate other people's emotions (i.e., interpersonal emotion regulation choice). Studies 1a and 1b found that the intensity of the emotional situation influenced whether participants chose distraction or reappraisal in both intrapersonal and interpersonal regulation contexts, but also that the effect of intensity differed between the contexts (participants choose reappraisal more frequently for others in intense situations than for themselves). However, this difference was stronger (or only found) when participants helped the other person to control their emotions first. Two further studies examined whether differences in perceived intensity (Study 2) and/or the anticipated effort or effectiveness of the strategies (Study 3) could explain the difference between intrapersonal and interpersonal contexts. Together, the findings suggest that the regulation strategies that people choose depend on the intensity of the emotional situation, the target of regulation, and whether people choose how to regulate their own emotions before choosing how to regulate another person's emotions, with preliminary evidence that differences between intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation choice may be associated with differences in the anticipated effort and effectiveness of regulation between these contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

You Do Not Have to Get through This Alone: Interpersonal Emotion Regulation and Psychosocial Resources during the COVID-19 Pandemic across Four Countries.

While experiencing the unpredictable events of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are likely to turn to people in order to regulate our emotions. In this research, we investigate how this interpersonal emotion regulation is connected to affective symptoms, above and beyond intrapersonal emotion regulation. Furthermore, we explore whether perceived psychosocial resources moderate these associations, i.e., if individuals reporting healthier social connections benefit differently from interpersonal emotion regulation. N = 1401 participants from the USA, UK, Germany, and Switzerland completed an online survey that included text samples. Affective symptoms (depression, adjustment disorder, fear of COVID-19) were examined based on self-reported as well as language-based indicators. As psychosocial resources, we examined social support, loneliness, attachment style, and trust. We defined latent variables for adaptive and maladaptive interpersonal emotion regulation and analyzed how they were associated with affective symptoms controlling for intrapersonal emotion regulation. Further, we analyzed how they interacted with psychosocial resources. Maladaptive interpersonal emotion regulation strategies were associated with affective symptoms. With lower psychosocial resources, the associations between interpersonal emotion regulation and depressive symptoms were more pronounced. The results highlight that maladaptive interpersonal emotion regulation is associated with worse mental health. These effects are not buffered by more psychosocial resources and are stronger for people with low psychosocial resources.

TeamSpiritous - A Retrospective Emotional Competence Development System for Video-Meetings

Video-meetings essentially determine remote work life. However, video-meetings experience challenges originating from human emotions. Therefore, emotional competence, the ability to perceive, understand, and regulate emotions, is of the highest relevance. With limited transfer capacity of emotional information and various communication challenges, developing emotional competence, however, is complex. To overcome this complexity, we present TeamSpiritous, an individual, retrospective emotional competence development system for video-meetings. TeamSpiritous allows to upload and analyze recorded video-meetings on emotional processes and provides support for individual development of emotional competence. We evaluated TeamSpiritous quantitatively and qualitatively in a six-week, longitudinal field study with 47 participants from China and Germany. Results of our study show that intra- and interpersonal emotional competence significantly increased over time for the whole sample. In particular, intrapersonal emotion regulation and interpersonal emotion perception and understanding improved. Since remote work video-meetings are often multicultural, we also investigated cultural differences and observed in our results that the effects of TeamSpiritous exist beyond cultural backgrounds (China, Germany). With our work, we contribute with the design of TeamSpiritous and understanding of its effects on emotional competence development.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia moderates the interpersonal consequences of brooding rumination.

Brooding rumination is an intrapersonal emotion regulation strategy associated with negative interpersonal consequences. Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a psychophysiological marker of self-regulatory capacity, may buffer the association between maladaptive emotion regulation and negative interpersonal behaviors. The current work examines the moderating effect of RSA on the association between brooding rumination and different negative interpersonal consequences. Across three convenience samples, individuals with lower RSA showed a stronger association between brooding rumination and more negative interpersonal behaviors as well as less perception of received instrumental social support (Study 1; n = 154), higher levels of interviewer-rated interpersonal stress (Study 2; n = 42) and a stronger indirect association between brooding rumination and depressive symptoms via daily interpersonal stress (Study 3; n = 222). These findings highlight the negative interpersonal consequences of brooding rumination, particularly among individuals with lower RSA.

Take my advice: Physiological measures reveal that intrinsic emotion regulation is more effective under external guidance

Research into emotion regulation (ER) has focused primarily on the intra-personal process through which we regulate our own emotions intrinsically. More recently, however, studies have begun to explore the inter-personal nature of intrinsic ER – that is, how we regulate our emotions under the guidance of others. Preliminary evidence suggests that ER might be more effective when implemented in an inter- compared with an intra-personal manner, but these findings are based almost exclusively on self-reported ratings that capture only the subjective experience of emotions. The current study therefore investigated whether this apparent superiority of inter-personal intrinsic ER could be replicated and extended to physiological measures of affective reactions – namely, various metrics of electrodermal activity. In a within-subjects design, a sufficiently powered sample (N = 146) were required to down-regulate their emotional reactions to negatively valenced images using an ER strategy they had chosen themselves intra-personally or one that had been recommended to them inter-personally. Physiological responses converged to demonstrate the greater effectiveness of inter- over intra-personal ER in decreasing negative affective reactions, despite subjective ratings suggesting that participants perceived the opposite to be true. The superiority of inter- over intra-personal ER in physiological recordings was unrelated to individuals' perceptions of their ability to regulate their own emotions, however, and so it remains to be seen if and how such benefits extend to clinical populations.

Occupational and Physical Therapists' Use of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Strategies During Patient Interactions: A Qualitative Study.

Occupational and physical therapists' use of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation strategies may play an important role in building therapeutic relationships, but little is known about how they use these strategies during patient interactions. To understand how therapists use intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation strategies during their patient interactions. This qualitative study consisted of two stages of data collection. In Stage 1, therapists were interviewed regarding how they use emotion regulation strategies in their therapeutic relationships. In Stage 2, patient-therapist dyads were observed during treatment sessions and then interviewed at the end of the therapeutic relationship. Inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation hospitals and clinics in the United Kingdom. In Stage 1, 13 occupational therapists and 9 physical therapists participated; in Stage 2, 14 patient-therapist dyads participated. A semistructured interview guide was used to ask therapists how they use emotion regulation strategies during patient interactions. Therapists used a wide range of interpersonal and intrapersonal emotion regulation strategies that can be categorized in prominent emotion regulation strategy taxonomies. They used these strategies both proactively, in anticipation of emotional events, and reactively, in response to emotional events. Their use helped them to build and maintain the therapeutic relationship and to protect themselves, feel better, and get their jobs done. The ability to regulate one's own and others' emotions is an essential part of therapists' work. In this study, therapists used a wide range of emotion regulation strategies to benefit themselves and their patients. What This Article Adds: This is the first study to identify the specific intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation strategies used by occupational and physical therapists during patient-therapist interactions. This study makes an important contribution to understanding therapists' use of proactive and reactive emotion regulation strategies to build and maintain therapeutic relationships.

A Qualitative Study on Patients’ Use of Emotion Regulation Strategies During Therapeutic Relationships

Introduction Emotion regulation may be an important tool that therapists and patients use to build and maintain therapeutic relationships. This exploratory study investigates how patients use intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation strategies during interactions with occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Methods A two-staged qualitative study was conducted. In the first stage 11 patients were interviewed regarding their use of emotion regulation during their therapeutic relationships. In the second stage, 14 patient/therapist dyads were observed during the course of the therapeutic relationship and then interviewed individually at the end of the relationship. Results Patients utilise the full range of intrapersonal emotion regulation strategies that can be categorised in Gross’s (1998) process model of emotion regulation including situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive reappraisal and response modulation. They used interpersonal emotion regulation strategies to a lesser extent, only reporting using strategies that fit into one of the four interpersonal emotion regulation strategies identified Williams’ (2007), altering the situation. Conclusions This study makes an important contribution to research on patients’ contribution to therapeutic relationship development/maintenance. It is the first study to explore patients use of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation in response to negative and positive emotions arising from interactions with therapists.

Interpersonal emotion regulation strategy choice in younger and older adults

ABSTRACT When managing their emotions, individuals often recruit the help of others; however, most emotion regulation research has focused on self-regulation. Theories of emotion and aging suggest younger and older adults differ in the emotion regulation strategies they use when regulating their own emotions. If how individuals regulate their own emotions and the emotions of others are related, these theorised age differences may also emerge for interpersonal emotion regulation. In two studies, younger and older adults’ intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation strategy choices were examined via self-report and behavioural assessments of regulating the emotions of another participant (Study 1; N = 80) and of a virtual human (Study 2; N = 100). Across both studies, younger adults reported greater intrapersonal suppression but not greater reappraisal. Younger and older adults were generally similar (supported by Bayesian analyses) for both self-reported and behavioural interpersonal emotion regulation strategies. Behavioural interpersonal emotion regulation was not related to self-reported intra- and interpersonal preferences. These results suggest interpersonal emotion regulation in ageing may show distinct patterns from theorised age differences in intrapersonal emotion regulation.

Associations of interpersonal and intrapersonal emotion regulation strategies to suicidal ideation and suicide attempts

BackgroundDespite research and theory linking emotion regulation (ER) difficulties to suicidal thoughts and behaviors, limited research has examined the relations of specific ER strategies to suicide risk outcomes, and almost no research has examined interpersonal ER strategies in particular. Thus, this study sought to examine associations of specific interpersonal (venting, reassurance-seeking) and intrapersonal (avoidance, acceptance) ER strategies to suicidal ideation and suicide attempt history. MethodsA community sample of adults (N = 363) completed an online study, including measures of perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, past 3-month suicidal ideation, lifetime suicide attempts, and a scenario-based measure assessing the use of both interpersonal (venting, reassurance-seeking) and intrapersonal (avoidance, acceptance) ER strategies. ResultsWhen controlling for theoretically-relevant clinical and demographic covariates (and all other ER strategies), greater venting was uniquely associated with greater perceived burdensomeness. Greater avoidance was uniquely associated with greater thwarted belongingness, greater perceived burdensomeness, and a lifetime history of suicide attempts. ConclusionResults highlight the relevance of two specific ER strategies (venting and avoidance) that warrant further examination as potential treatment targets aimed at mitigating suicide risk. Limitations include examining only a subset of potential interpersonal and intrapersonal ER strategies, as well as the sole use of self-report measures.

Cheering my friends up: The unique role of Interpersonal emotion regulation strategies in social competence

A systematic investigation has been lacking regarding children’s deliberate regulation of others’ emotions which is labeled interpersonal emotion regulation (ER). Based on a theoretically derived model of Interpersonal Affect Classification, we examined children’s interpersonal ER strategy use in the peer group. Participants were 398 fourth and fifth grade children from the Midwestern United States. Children rated themselves regarding their use of intrapersonal and interpersonal ER strategies as well as attention to friends’ emotions. Teacher-report and peer nominations were used to assess social competence regarding prosocial behavior and emotion sharing. Awareness of and attention to friends’ emotions were positively and more strongly associated with interpersonal ER than intrapersonal ER. Children reported affective engagement most strongly followed by humor, cognitive engagement, and attention to improve friends’ feelings. Among the four interpersonal ER strategies, only affective engagement was uniquely associated with social competence; intrapersonal ER was not associated with social competence. The findings support the significance of broadening the focus of ER to the interpersonal domain to promote the development of children’s ER and social competence.

Emotion regulation deficits and depression-related maladaptive interpersonal behaviours

ABSTRACT Coyne’s interpersonal theory of depression posits that those with depressive symptoms engage in maladaptive interpersonal behaviours that, although intended to assuage distress, push away social supports and increase depressive symptoms (Coyne, 1976). Excessive reassurance seeking, negative feedback seeking, and conversational self-focus are three behaviours implicated in Coyne’s theory, yet their correlates- apart from depressive symptoms- are poorly understood. The current study considered the potential role of intrapersonal emotion regulation deficits as an additional vulnerability factor for these behaviours. Mediation models further tested whether linkages between emotion regulation deficits and maladaptive interpersonal behaviours helped to explain short-term increases in depressive symptoms, as further suggested by theory. Older adolescents (N = 291, M age = 18.9) completed self-report measures of emotion regulation deficits, depressive symptoms, and the three maladaptive interpersonal behaviours during an initial lab visit and again four weeks later. A series of multiple regression models suggested that emotion regulation difficulties are uniquely associated with each of the behaviours over and above the impact of depressive symptoms. Mediation analyses suggested that only excessive reassurance seeking mediated the association between initial emotion regulation deficits and increased depressive symptoms over time. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Comparing Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Emotion Regulation Models in Explaining Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in College Students

Objectives: Emotion regulation is an important transdiagnostic construct and one of the main and underlying dimensions in emotional disorders. This study aims to compare interpersonal and intrapersonal models of emotion regulation in explaining depression and anxiety symptoms in college students. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Participants were 517 students of public universities in Tehran, Iran who were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling method. They completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and short form of Symptom Checklist (SCL-25). Results: Intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation models had a significant role in explaining depression and anxiety symptoms, where the intrapersonal emotion regulation model had a significant and stronger effect in predicting depression and anxiety symptoms (P<0.01). Conclusion: Both intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation models have a role in explaining depression and anxiety symptoms and can be effective in predicting and treating emotional disorders.

As Strong as We Are United: Effects of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Emotion Regulation on Quality of Life in Women With Breast Cancer.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer often experience unpleasant emotions, resulting in higher levels of emotional burden and decreased levels of wellbeing and quality of life. The present correlational and cross-sectional study aims to compare the implementation of two regulatory levels, intrapersonal and interpersonal (as social sharing of emotions), and two types of strategies, antecedent-focused and response-focused, and explore their impact on breast cancer patients’ perception of quality of life. Sixty-eight women previously diagnosed with the disease participated in this study, with a mean age of 63years old (SD=11.58). Data were collected through a self-report questionnaire to assess emotional experience, intrapersonal regulation, social sharing of emotions, and breast cancer-related wellbeing and quality of life. Data yielded that most of the participants regulated their negative emotions within social interactions and made more use of antecedent-focused strategies to cognitively reformulate the emotional episode. Social and family wellbeing were positively associated with antecedent-focused strategies, as well as intrapersonal and interpersonal regulatory levels. Moreover, the occurrence of sharing episodes and social interactions played an important and beneficial role on patients’ perceived quality of life. These findings reinforce the importance of promoting an adaptive intrapersonal regulation among breast cancer patients. Results also suggest that social sharing of emotions is an efficient process to help them to better cope with the psychological and emotional burden of the disease, thus positively influencing the way they perceive their social and family wellbeing, as well as their quality of life.

Exploring the Relationship Between Interpersonal Emotion Regulation and Social Anxiety Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Negative Mood Regulation Expectancies.

BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the relationship between interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) and social anxiety symptoms and the mediating role of negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE). We hypothesised that IER is positively associated with social anxiety symptoms, controlling for depression and intrapersonal emotion regulation strategies of suppression and reappraisal, and NMRE mediate this relationship.MethodsStudy 1 was conducted with a student sample (N = 400) and Study 2 included a community sample with 271 participants.ResultsStudy 1 showed that, of four IER strategies, soothing and social modeling were positively, and perspective-taking was negatively related to social anxiety symptoms controlling for depression, suppression and reappraisal. Study 2 replicated these findings and extended them by showing the mediated relationship between the two IER strategies (i.e. enhancing positive affect and soothing) and social anxiety symptoms through NMRE.ConclusionsThe results contribute to the limited research on IER by portraying its relationship with social anxiety symptoms and revealing the mediating role of NMRE in this relationship.