Maladaptive Emotion Research Articles

Evaluating the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation and Pain Self-efficacy with Psychosocial Adjustment in Athletes with Chronic Pain Considering the Mediating Role of Mental Fatigue

Background: Pain is a pervasive and disabling barrier for the injured athlete threatening his/her ability to participate in sporting events and professional goals. However, psychological factors in the treatment process of chronic diseases are an important factor in involving the patient in treatment and making treatment decisions. Objectives: This research aimed to investigate the relationship between emotion regulation and pain self-efficacy with psychosocial adjustment in athletes with chronic pain, considering the mediating role of mental fatigue. Methods: The statistical population of this descriptive correlational study was all athletes with chronic pain referred to the Iranian Sports Medicine Federation. Using the convenience sampling method, a total of 200 injured athletes were selected as the sample size. For data collection, Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS), Pain Self-efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), Pain Fatigue Scale (PFS), and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-short) were used. Descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, and path analysis (structural model) were used to analyze data. Also, SPSS (v21) and AMOS (v23) software were used to analyze the data. Results: According to the results, pain self-efficacy (β = 0.18), adaptive emotion regulation (β = 0.27), and mental fatigue (β = -0.19) had a direct positive and significant impact on psychosocial adjustment. Also, the direct effect of pain self-efficacy (β = -0.19), maladaptive emotion regulation (β = 0.17), and adaptive emotion regulation (β = -0.12) on mental fatigue was significant. In addition, the indirect effect of pain self-efficacy and maladaptive emotions on psychosocial adjustment via mental fatigue was significant. Conclusions: Mental fatigue plays a good mediating role between pain self-efficacy and emotion regulation with psychosocial adjustment of athletes with chronic pain.

Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and trait anger as predictors of depression severity.

According to empirical evidence, trait anger and emotion regulation strategies are associated with depression severity. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of trait anger and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in explaining the variance of depressive symptoms severity. Two hundred three participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder completed measures of depression, trait anger, depressive rumination, anger rumination and experiential avoidance. Path analysis using Mplus was employed for data analysis. Trait anger and depressive rumination were significant predictors of the level of depressive symptomatology, while experiential avoidance and anger rumination did not predict the level of depressive symptoms severity. Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and trait anger seem to be associated with the level of depressive symptoms, and, as such, should also be investigated when working with depressive symptomatology.

Emotion Regulation Choice in Internet Addiction: Less Reappraisal, Lower Frontal Alpha Asymmetry.

Individuals with internet addiction (IA) show difficulties in emotion regulation. However, they could effectively employ emotion regulation strategies when instructed. We speculate that this discrepancy might be caused by maladaptive emotion regulation choices. Recent studies indicated that decreased activity of the left frontal cortex could be a neural marker of reappraisal use. To address this problem, individuals with IA (n = 17, IA group) and healthy individuals (n = 23, healthy control [HC] group) were required to choose an emotion regulation strategy between reappraisal and distraction to regulate their emotions varying in emotional intensity and valence. We also compared the resting state frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) of these 2 groups. The results replicated more choices of reappraisal in low- versus high-intensity emotional contexts across groups. More importantly, the IA group chose reappraisal less frequently compared with the HC group, irrespective of emotional intensity. Furthermore, we found individuals with IA have lower FAA than healthy controls, and FAA shows a positive correlation with the use of reappraisal. These findings suggest that IA alters individuals' patterns of emotion regulation choice and impairs frontal activities, causing difficulties in emotion regulation.

Depression and Social Anxiety Predict Internet Use Disorder Symptoms in Children and Adolescents at 12-Month Follow-Up: Results From a Longitudinal Study.

Trajectories of internalizing disorders and behavioral addictions are still largely unknown. Research shows that both disorders are highly comorbid. Previous longitudinal studies have focused on associations between internalizing disorders and behavioral addictions using screening instruments. Our aim was to develop and examine a theory-based model of trajectories, according to which internalizing disorders foster symptoms of Internet use disorders, mediated by a reward deprivation and maladaptive emotion regulation. We applied clinically relevant measures for depression and social anxiety in a prospective longitudinal study with a 12-month follow-up investigation. On the basis of an at-risk population of 476 students (mean age = 14.99 years, SD = 1.99), we investigated the predictive influence of clinically relevant depression and social anxiety at baseline (t1) on Internet use disorder symptoms at 12-month follow-up (t2) using multiple linear regression analyses. Our results showed that both clinically relevant depression and social anxiety significantly predicted symptom severity of Internet use disorders one year later after controlling for baseline symptoms of Internet use disorders, gender and age. These results remained robust after including both depression and social anxiety simultaneously in the model, indicating an independent influence of both predictors on Internet use disorder symptoms. The present study enhances knowledge going beyond a mere association between internalizing disorders and Internet use disorders. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating clinically relevant depression and social anxiety to predict future Internet use disorder symptoms at 12-month follow-up. In line with our model of trajectories, a significant temporal relationship between clinically relevant internalizing disorders and Internet use disorder symptoms at 12-month follow-up was confirmed. Further studies should investigate the mediating role of reward deprivation and maladaptive emotion regulation, as postulated in our model. One implication of these findings is that clinicians should pay particular attention to the increased risk of developing behavioral addictions for adolescents with depression and social anxiety.

Emotion regulation in mild cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive decline

AbstractBackgroundOur previous research in emotional verbal memory in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and work from others suggest the hypothesis that emotion dysregulation is a signature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. Whether subjective cognitive decline (SCD), conceptualized as a possible preclinical stage of AD, is associated with emotion dysregulation is unknown. In the current study, we compared responses on the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and behavioural responses on a threat task amongst SCD, MCI, and cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults.MethodsThe sample included 146 older adults free of lifetime history of psychiatric illness/neurological conditions: 33 MCI [17F, age 72.3(SD7.6)] defined as subjective memory/other cognitive complaints, impaired neuropsychological (NP) test performance, and functional independence, 71 SCD [49F, age 71.1(SD6.3)] based on subjective memory decline with worry with normal NP performance, and 42 CU [27F, age 70.6(SD6.8)] based on absence of subjective memory decline and normal NP test scores. Participants completed the CERQ which assesses cognitive coping strategies in negative emotional situations. A subset (19 MCI, 43 SCD, 19 CU) completed a computerized task in which they rated a physical feature or threat level of faces with varying degrees of threat. Multivariate ANOVA was used to examine group differences, followed by Sidak‐adjusted post hoc comparisons.ResultsOn the CERQ, groups differed in use of catastrophizing [F(2, 142)=3.51, P=.032], with a trend for use of rumination (P=.07), attributable to greater use of both strategies in MCI compared to CU (P=.04). On the threat task, groups differed in response latencies to judging physical features of threatening faces relative to neutral [F(2, 78)=3.17, P=.048)]. Relative to CU, SCD participants were slower to make physical judgements of threatening faces compared to neutral (P=.026).ConclusionsOlder adults with SCD do not report greater use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies compared to CU. However, alterations in behavioural responses to threat versus neutral in SCD may represent deficits in regulating attention towards negative emotional information, similar to mood‐congruent cognitive biases observed in depression. These preliminary data highlight the need to increase our understanding of explicit and implicit emotional processing in older adults at risk for AD.

청소년의 복합외상이 비자살적 자해에 미치는 영향: 부적응적 인지 정서조절 전략과 생리적 스트레스의 이중매개효과

본 연구의 목적은 복합외상이 비자살적 자해에 미치는 영향에서 부적응적 인지 정서조절 전략과 생리적 스트레스의 이중매개효과를 검증하는 것이다. 이를 위해 전국의 중·고등학생을 대상으로 온·오프라인 설문조사를 실시하였고, 비자살적 자해를 한 번 이상 시도한 경험이 있다고 보고한 119명의 자료를 SPSS 23.0과 Hayes(2013)의 Process Macro로 상관분석, 경로분석, 부트스트래핑(Bootstrapping)을 통한 매개효과 검증을 실시하였다. 연구 결과, 청소년의 복합외상, 부적응적 인지 정서조절전략, 생리적 스트레스, 비자살적 자해는 모두 통계적으로 유의한 정적 상관관계를 보였고, 복합외상이 비자살적 자해에 미치는 영향에서 부적응적 인지 정서조절 전략과 생리적 스트레스는 순차적으로 매개하는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 청소년의 비자살적 자해에 영향을 미치는 생리·심리·사회적 위험요인을 복합적으로 살펴보는 것의 필요성과 생리적 스트레스를 완화하고 정서조절 능력을 높이는 치료적 개입방안을 제안하였다는 점에서 의의가 있다.

Affetmemenin Yordayıcıları Olarak Çocukluk Çağı Travmaları ve Bilişsel Duygu Düzenlemenin İncelenmesi

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictive powers of childhood trauma and cognitive emotion regulation on unforgiveness. The participants of the study consisted of 351 students studying at Pamukkale University at seven different faculties and colleges during the academic year of 2019-2020. Childhood Trauma Scale Short Version, Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory (TRIM-18), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and Personal Information Form developed by the researcher were utilized for data collection. For analysis of the data; SPSS 25.0 package program were used and correlation analysis, t-test analysis and multiple linear regression were used. Results show that, unforgiveness does not differ according to gender, perceived trauma experience and source of perceived trauma, childhood traumas and adaptive emotion regulation strategies differ according to the source of perceived trauma. Positive correlations were found between unforgiveness and childhood traumas, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Similarly, a positive correlation was found between childhood traumas and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Negative correlation was found between childhood traumas and adaptive emotion regulation strategies. There was no significant relationship between unforgiveness and emotion regulation strategies, similarly adaptive emotion regulation strategies and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Sub-dimensions of childhood traumas and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies explained about 13% of the variance in unforgiveness.

Epidemiology of Mental Disorder Symptoms in Students of University of Bojnord: The Role of Demographic Characteristics and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies

Background and aims: Mental health problems are considered as important public health issues. This study aimed, firstly, to investigate the epidemiology of mental disorders’ symptoms among the students of Bojnord University and examine the role of demographic characteristics in the prevalence of the given symptoms; and, secondly, to explore and compare the predictive role of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in identifying symptoms of different mental disorders. Methods: A total of 351 students from Bojnord University completing their 2018-2019 academic year were recruited using cluster sampling method and responded to Symptom Checklist-SCL90 and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage, as well as multiple regression analysis. Results: According to the findings from this epidemiological study, 33% of the students suffered from moderate symptoms of mental disorders, while 14% of them suffered from severe symptoms. Demographic characteristics of gender, marital status, and place of origin (i.e., being indigenous/non-indigenous) were not found to exert a significant effect on the prevalence of symptoms of mental disorders. The results of multiple regression analysis also indicated that cognitive emotion regulation strategies were capable of predicting all nine dimensions of mental disorder symptoms. In this regard, the maladaptive strategies were discovered to play a stronger role in predicting mental disorders compared to adaptive strategies. Conclusions: Mental disorders were very common among university students. No significant relationship was detected between the prevalence of mental disorders’ symptoms and gender, marital status, and place of origin. The study findings were also found to support the trans-diagnostic role of the emotion regulation in mental disorders.

Examining a brief self-compassion intervention for emotion regulation in individuals with exposure to trauma.

Research suggests that the overuse of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as avoidance, represents a vulnerability following trauma exposure. Conversely, self-compassion, which impacts emotion regulation through the acceptance of negative emotions, may be an adaptive strategy for managing posttraumatic stress (PTS). An experimental design was used to examine whether a single-session of self-compassion training improved self-compassion and decreased difficulties in emotion regulation, compared to muscle relaxation training, for trauma-exposed undergraduates. Findings replicated previous research among these three constructs (PTS, self-compassion, and difficulties with emotion regulation), with relationships found in the expected directions. However, there was not conclusive evidence to suggest that participating in a brief self-compassion intervention was more effective for reducing difficulties with emotion regulation than participating in a muscle relaxation training intervention. Results supported inverse associations between self-compassion and posttraumatic stress, as well as self-compassion and difficulties with emotion regulation. Future research is needed to investigate how self-compassion skills training can be best utilized to produce clinically significant and long-lasting changes in emotion regulation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Improved emotion regulation in depression following cognitive remediation: A randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveExecutive functions (EFs) play a key role in emotion regulation and, related to this, depression. Cognitive remediation (CR) targeting EFs, such as Goal Management Training (GMT) and computerized cognitive training (CCT), may reduce maladaptive emotion regulation. However, the clinical potential of GMT in the context of depression and emotion regulation remains to be tested. Hence, the primary aim of the present study was to compare effects of GMT with CCT on symptoms of emotion dysregulation. MethodThe paper reports the effects of a preregistered randomized controlled trial. Sixty-three participants (18–60yrs) with active or remitted depression and EF complaints were randomized to nine sessions of GMT (n = 35) or CCT (n = 28). All were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6-month follow-up. The Ruminative Response Scale and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale were employed to assess emotion regulation. ResultsBoth groups improved following the intervention on emotion regulation domains after controlling for intention-to-treat, including brooding rumination and on items reflecting non-accepting reactions to distress. Relative to CCT, the GMT-group demonstrated increased clarity of emotional responses in the per protocol analysis. ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate the potential of GMT and CCT in reducing maladaptive emotion regulation in depression.

Cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, and depressive and anxiety symptoms in later life: The moderating role of gender

Objectives Although socioemotional selectivity (SST) suggests that people experience more positive affect as they age, symptoms of anxiety and depression persist and are often greater in older women than men. Coping strategies may influence the extent to which older adults experience these symptoms. The purpose of the current study is to examine possible gender differences in the use of an adaptive (cognitive reappraisal (CR) and a maladaptive (emotive suppression (ES) emotion regulation strategy in relation to depressive and anxiety symptoms. Method Our study uses cross-sectional data drawn from a community sample of older adults (60+; n = 906). We used OLS regression and moderation analyses to test our study hypotheses. Results Gender moderated the association between CR in both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Women reported greater use of CR relative to men. Further, CR use was negatively related to symptoms of anxiety and depression in women, but not men. In contrast, men used ES more frequently than women, though older men and women’s use of ES was unrelated to anxiety or depressive symptoms. Conclusion Our findings provide initial evidence that greater CR use in older women is related to lower symptoms of both anxiety and depression relative to older men. Age-related increases in CR use (e.g. SST) among women may serve to decrease anxiety and depression symptoms. Findings suggest decreasing anxiety and depressive symptoms via CR may benefit older women more than older men. Future research is needed to identify the coping strategies that are most beneficial for men.

How COVID-19 stress related to schooling and online learning affects adolescent depression and Internet gaming disorder: Testing Conservation of Resources theory with sex difference.

Background and aimsThe COVID-19 pandemic poses a grim challenge to adolescents’ daily life, including schooling and learning, which has great impacts on their mental and behavioral health. This study aimed to test the roles of stress related to schooling and online learning during COVID-19 (COVID-19 stress) in depression and Internet gaming disorder (IGD) among adolescents and the potential mediators of social support, academic stress, and maladaptive emotion regulation based on the framework of Conservation of Resources theory. Sex differences in these associations were further examined.MethodsA school-based survey was conducted among Chinese adolescents in 13 secondary schools in Hong Kong (n = 3,136) from September to November 2020 (48.1% males; mean age = 13.6 years old) using stratified random sampling.ResultsThe prevalence of probable depression and IGD was 60% and 15%, respectively. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that the proposed model fit the data well (χ2/df = 7.77, CFI = 0.92, IFI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.05). COVID-19 stress was positively and indirectly associated with both depression and IGD through social support, academic stress, and maladaptive emotion regulation. Multi-group analyses identified that the associations between COVID-19 stress and academic stress, between academic stress and depression, and between social support and depression were stronger among females compared to males.Discussion and conclusionsFindings highlight the roles of academic stress, poor social support, maladaptive emotion regulation, and sex to understand how disruption and stress caused by COVID-19 increases adolescent depression and IGD. Psychosocial interventions based on these factors are highly warranted.

Emotional processing during the therapy for complicated grief

Objective: Prior research, mainly conducted on depression, observed that clients’ improved capability to process their emotions predicted better therapeutic outcomes. The current comparative study aimed to investigate whether emotional processing was related to therapeutic change in complicated grief. Method: We analyzed two contrasting cases (good or poor outcome) treated with grief constructivist therapy. In both cases we investigated the association of emotional processing (Experiencing Scale) to (1) therapeutic outcome (Inventory of Complicated Grief), and (2) change in the type of grief-related emotions (Emotions Episodes). Results: The session-by-session growth of clients’ emotional processing and the change of grief-related emotions were qualitatively explored throughout both cases. Compared with the poor outcome case, the good outcome case achieved more improvement in the ability to process emotions. Such improvement occurred alongside a deeper change in the type of grief-related emotions aroused, from maladaptive to more adaptive responses. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a higher emotional processing capability may be associated with the transformation of grief-related maladaptive emotions and with the improvement of complicated grief condition.

Examining emotion regulation in binge-eating disorder

BackgroundInefficient mechanisms of emotional regulation appear essential in understanding the development and maintenance of binge-eating disorder (BED). Previous research focused mainly on a very limited emotion regulation strategies in BED, such as rumination, suppression, and positive reappraisal. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess a wider range of emotional regulation strategies (i.e. acceptance, refocusing on planning, positive refocusing, positive reappraisal, putting into perspective, self-blame, other-blame, rumination, and catastrophizing), as well as associations between those strategies and binge-eating-related beliefs (negative, positive, and permissive), and clinical variables (eating disorders symptoms, both anxiety, depressive symptoms, and alexithymia).MethodsWomen diagnosed with BED (n = 35) according to the DSM-5 criteria and healthy women (n = 41) aged 22–60 years were assessed using: the Eating Attitudes Test-26, the Eating Beliefs Questionnaire-18, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Statistical analyses included: Student t - tests or Mann–Whitney U tests for testing group differences between BED and HC group, and Pearson’s r coefficient or Spearman’s rho for exploring associations between the emotion regulation difficulties and strategies, and clinical variables and binge-eating-related beliefs in both groups.ResultsThe BED group presented with a significantly higher level of emotion regulation difficulties such as: nonacceptance of emotional responses, lack of emotional clarity, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, impulse control difficulties, and limited access to emotion regulation strategies compared to the healthy controls. Moreover, patients with BED were significantly more likely to use maladaptive strategies (rumination and self-blame) and less likely to use adaptive strategies (positive refocusing and putting into perspective). In the clinical group, various difficulties in emotion regulation difficulties occurred to be positively correlated with the level of alexithymia, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Regarding emotion regulation strategies, self-blame and catastrophizing were positively related to anxiety symptoms, but solely catastrophizing was related to the severity of eating disorder psychopathology.ConclusionsOur results indicate an essential and still insufficiently understood role of emotional dysregulation in BED. An especially important construct in this context seems to be alexithymia, which was strongly related to the majority of emotion regulation difficulties. Therefore, it might be beneficial to pay special attention to this construct when planning therapeutic interventions, as well as to the maladaptive emotion regulation strategies self-blame and catastrophizing, which were significantly related to BED psychopathology.

Exploring the impact of a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy-based intervention on a group of Malaysian adolescents with problematic drug use and emotional problems

IntroductionAdolescents with problematic substance use frequently have anxiety and depression and tend to have “unhealthy” lifestyle such as having poor dietary patterns and physical inactivity. The overall aim of the present study was to explore the impact of a Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-based Intervention (“Super Skills for Life” – adolescent version; SSL-A) on emotional problems among adolescents with problematic substance use and to identify demographic factors which influence the intervention outcomes. MethodA total of 108 adolescents (M = 16.30 years, SD = 1.6) with problematic substance use who showed high levels of anxiety and depression participated in this study. They completed a set of questionnaires to measure substance use, mental health problems, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, loneliness, and lifestyle and habits at pre- and post-intervention. ResultsThe adolescents reported less emotional symptoms and more prosocial behavior after the intervention. These adolescents were also consumed less substance and used less maladaptive emotion regulation strategies after participating in SSL-A. Females compared to males showed more treatment gains (i.e., reduction in loneliness and improvement in psychological health and self-esteem) after the intervention. ConclusionThis study provides empirical evidence for the utility of the SSL-A in reducing emotional problems and substance use among adolescents with problematic substance use.

Cognitive training improves emotion regulation in Chinese preschool children.

The ability to regulate emotion effectively plays a key role in child psychosocial development and mental health. The current study examines the effect of cognitive training for executive function on emotion regulation in Chinese preschool children, and further investigate the underlying mediating mechanisms. A cluster randomized control trial design with pre-test and post-test was conducted in 61 preschool children aged 3-6 years in China. The intervention group consisted of 30 children who received eight cognitive training sessions on executive function, while the control group consisted of 31 children who did not receive any psychological training. Children's executive function was measured individually via five laboratory tasks both in the pre-test and post-test. Adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies were coded in emotion-elicit contexts. Intervention group outperformed control group in working memory and inhibitory control. Children in the intervention group exhibited increased use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies and decreased use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies than children in the control group. Mediation analyses indicated that there were significantly indirect effects of Intervention Condition on the gain scores of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies through the gain score of inhibitory control. Executive function training effectively promotes working memory, inhibitory control and the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies, and reduces the use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. In addition, executive function training improves the use of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies through the enhancement of inhibitory control capacity.

Automatic thoughts: Understanding the precursors of self-concealment within the psychological flexibility framework

Within the framework of psychological flexibility, self-concealment is a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy that functions to attenuate negative thoughts and feelings. While research in this area has linked self-concealment to poor physical and psychological health, the antecedents of concealment behavior remain poorly understood. Using a cross-sectional design, this study tested whether negative automatic thoughts mediated the relationship between psychological maltreatment in childhood and self-concealment. It was hypothesized that psychological maltreatment would predict more negative automatic thoughts, which in turn would predict more self-concealment. Results showed psychological maltreatment was positively associated with negative automatic thoughts. Moreover, negative automatic thoughts were positively correlated with self-concealment, indicating that negative automatic thoughts statistically mediated the relationship between psychological maltreatment and self-concealment. This study provides preliminary evidence suggesting negative automatic thoughts may explain the relationship between psychological maltreatment and self-concealment.

Subtyping youngsters with obesity: A theory-based cluster analysis

Psychological mechanisms play a crucial role in explaining weight gain. Aim of the present study was to identify subtypes in youngsters with obesity in line with these mechanisms. Defining homogeneous clusters within this heterogeneous group provides relevant information for personalized treatments.Data were collected in N = 572 participants (51% boys, aged 7–19) with extreme obesity (%BMI M = 187.8; SD = 30.9) recruited in an inpatient treatment centre. Based on psychological models of overweight/obesity, the Affect Regulation Model, the Reward Deficiency Model and The Dual Pathway Model, cluster variables were selected assessing emotional eating, reward reactivity and regulative capacities. Youngsters reported on emotional eating (DEBQ Emotional Eating) and reward sensitivity (BAS), while parents reported on children's regulative Executive Functions (BRIEF). Characteristics of the different clusters were examined concerning weight variables (pre and post treatment) and variables indexing problematic eating (DEBQ External Eating, Ch-EDE), affect regulation (FEEL-KJ) and depressive symptoms (CDI). Hierarchical cluster analyses supported the presence of three clusters, further evaluated by K-means cluster analyses. The cluster solutions differed according to age and sex (boys 7–13, boys 14–19, girls 7–13, girls 14–19). In all four age and gender subsamples, an “Emotional Eating” cluster displaying a vulnerable profile (high depression, maladaptive emotion regulation, problematic eating) and a “Reward Deficiency” cluster displaying a more resilient profile were detected. In girls 7–13, a “Weak Executive Functioning” indicative of insufficient self-regulative capacities, showed moderate to high emotional problems and problematic eating. In the other subgroups, the “Mean Level Functioning” cluster also showed elevated emotional problems and problematic eating. Given that different clusters can be identified, and given that these clusters have different profiles on emotional problems and problematic eating, subtyping youngsters with severe obesity is indicated, setting the stage for personalized treatments.

Cybervictimization and well-being among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating roles of emotional self-efficacy and emotion regulation

Cybervictimization has been linked to adverse psychological consequences but little is known about the mechanisms linking cybervictimization to lower well-being. We conducted two studies to examine emotional self-efficacy and distinct emotion regulation strategies as potential mediators in the relationship between cybervictimization and lower well-being among German adolescents during the school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. In Study 1, 107 adolescents (Mage = 15.76) reported their cybervictimization frequency, emotional self-efficacy beliefs, and aspects of well-being (i.e., self-esteem, perceived social support, and subjective well-being during the COVID-19 related school closures). Emotional self-efficacy mediated the link between cybervictimization and all well-being measures. Specifically, cybervictimization was related to lower well-being through lower self-efficacy for managing negative emotions. For further examination, in Study 2, 205 adolescents (Mage = 15.45) were asked to report their cybervictimization experiences, use of specific emotion regulation strategies (rumination, reappraisal, and suppression), and well-being (i.e., self-esteem and life satisfaction). Cybervictimization was related to lower well-being through more rumination, but not through reappraisal or suppression. Taken together, our findings suggest that cybervictims may have lower emotional self-efficacy beliefs and engage in more rumination, a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy. These deficits in adolescents’ beliefs and capabilities for effectively managing negative emotions may be accountable for the adverse psychological consequences of cybervictimization. Notably, exploratory analyses suggest that cybervictimization frequency did not increase among adolescents during the lockdown (e.g., homeschooling, social distancing) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effectiveness of life skills training on emotion regulation strategies and sports self-efficacy of children / adolescent athletes

The aim of this study was the effectiveness of life skills training on emotion regulation strategies and sports self-efficacy of children / adolescent athletes. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all student-athletes in Rasht in the academic year 2009-2010, from which 30 people were selected by available sampling and randomly replaced in two experimental groups (15 people) and control (15 people). They answered the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnowski et al.2005) and the Sports Self-Efficacy Scale (Kerel et al. 2007). The participants in the experimental group received 8 sessions of life skills program. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The results showed that life skills training had an effect on emotion regulation strategies and sports self-efficacy of students in disadvantaged areas. They had more and less maladaptive emotion regulation. It seems that the use of life skills training increases athletic self-efficacy and adaptive emotion regulation, as well as decreases maladaptive emotion regulation in athlete students.