Mood Repair Research Articles

Belief in a Just World and Emotional Intelligence in Subjective Well-Being of Cancer Patients.

The study of coping strategies has provided valuable insights about the process of helping cancer patients adapt to their disease. However, new approaches must be explored to increase the knowledge of this adjustment. In this study, we will analyze the relationship between patients' psychological well-being and quality of life and less well-studied constructs such as the belief in a just world (BJW) and emotional intelligence (EI). Sixty-eight cancer patients (35 men, 33 women; mean age 53.5 years; range: 20-86) were asked about their personal and general BJW, EI, Perception of Quality of Life, Anxiety, and Depression. Different multiple regression analyses showed that patients' personal BJW negatively predicted their anxiety (p < .05) and a trend to a better quality of life. In addition, patients with high scores in the Mood Repair subfactor of EI showed better quality of life (p < .05), and those with higher Attention to Feelings exhibited more Anxiety (p < .01) and a trend to more Depression. These results underline the need to take into consideration new factors, such as BJW and EI, in clinical interventions for cancer patients.

Relational Aggressiveness in Adolescence: Relations With Emotional Awareness and Self-Control

Involvement in relationally aggressive conduct is an important contributor to maladaptive functioning in both childhood and adulthood. Decreased emotional awareness and impairments of self-control are risk factors for relational aggressiveness, while emotional awareness can also be treated as an important prerequisite for proper self-control. The aim of the study was to examine the associations between dimensions of emotional awareness (attention to emotions and emotional clarity), self-control, and relational aggressiveness. Self-control was also examined as a mediating variable between emotional awareness and relational aggressiveness. Self-report measures of trait meta-mood, alexithymia, self-control, and relational aggressiveness were completed by 214 adolescents (129 females), aged 15–23. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed two factors of emotional awareness: (1) inattention to emotions (reflecting low attention to emotions and externally oriented thinking) and (2) a lack of emotional clarity (reflecting difficulties in identifying emotion, difficulties in describing emotion, and low clarity of emotion). Self-control and mood repair ability inversely correlated with proactive and reactive relational aggressiveness, whereas the clarity component of the meta-mood trait only inversely predicted reactive relational aggressiveness. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that direct relationships between inattention to emotions and relational aggressiveness, as well as between lack of emotional clarity and relational aggressiveness were non-significant. Nevertheless, a lack of emotional clarity was indirectly and significantly associated with relational aggressiveness through decreased self-control.

The Effectiveness of the Children’s Emotional Adjustment Scale (CEAS) in Screening for Mental Health Problems in Middle Childhood

The study examined the screening effectiveness of the Children’s Emotional Adjustment Scale (CEAS), a parent-reported scale that measures the emotional competence of children across four continuous factors (temper control, mood repair, anxiety control, social assertiveness) anchored in adaptive child behaviors, characteristics and skills that are vital to healthy social-emotional development and adjustment of children. Mothers of 1071 school students aged 6–12 years reported on their children’s emotional functioning on the CEAS. In addition, mothers answered the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, as well as the generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder subscales of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale—Parent Version, which served as indicators of mental health problems to be targeted in the analysis. Area under the curve estimates ranged from .56 to .94, and sensitivity and specificity rates were .59–.93, and .55–.83, respectively. Temper control evidenced the greatest accuracy relative to overall mental health problems, externalizing problem and depression problems. Mood repair was most accurate in detecting overall mental health problems, internalizing problems and depression problems. Anxiety control was most efficient in detecting anxiety problems and internalizing problems. Social assertiveness was most sensitive in identifying internalizing problems. The findings suggest that the CEAS may be of value in early population-based screening. The instrument provides developmentally appropriate and actionable information on the emotional competence of all mainstream children on broad factors underlying both healthy and unhealthy social-emotional development, which can inform preventive interventions and treatment of common mental health problems in school-aged children.

Playing for the thrill and skill. Quiz games as means for mood and competence repair

ABSTRACTRecent studies have found that digital games can be used to improve the players’ mood, especially after emotionally unpleasant experiences. We introduce competence repair as an extension of previous work on mood repair. To investigate the effects of digital games on both mood and competence repair, we conducted 3 studies using quiz games. In the quasi-experimental Study 1 (N = 143), we manipulated the necessity for repair via a false feedback task (positive vs. negative), and looked at the impact of in-game success (victory vs. defeat). In the experimental Studies 2 (N = 91) and 3 (N = 109), we aimed at conceptually replicating and extending the findings on the impact of in-game success by varying participants’ success over a series of 4 matches (Study 2: close game outcomes, Study 3: clear victory/defeat). The results of these studies indicate that the efficacy of digital games for mood repair, as well as competence repair, depends on the necessity for repair, as well as success in the game. However, competence repair occurred even after participants were defeated repeatedly in a series of close matches. These results are discussed in light of the potential of digital games for fulfilling (previously thwarted) psychological needs.

Emotional Intelligence and Self-Perception in Adolescents.

Emotional intelligence includes self-perception regarding attention to feelings, clarity of feelings and mood repair. The aim of this work is to study the relationship between emotional intelligence, self-concept, and self-esteem. The sample included 137 adolescents from Buenos Aires City, that attended middle school, with a mean age of 13.12 years old (SD = 1.79). Correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were performed. Results showed significant positive correlations between self-esteem and clarity of feelings on the complete sample and the female subsample, and between mood repair and self-esteem on the male subsample. The linear regression analyses showed results on the same line. It´s concluded that positive self-evaluation regarding emotions, emotion comprehension and recovery can minimize the effect of negative experiences.

Dispositional self-compassion and responses to mood challenge in people at risk for depressive relapse/recurrence.

This paper explores the relationship between dispositional self‐compassion and cognitive emotion regulation capacities in individuals with a history of depression. Study 1 (n = 403) established that self‐compassion was associated with increased use of positive and decreased use of negative strategies, with small to medium sized correlations. Study 2 (n = 68) was an experimental study examining the association between dispositional self‐compassion, use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and changes in mood and self‐devaluation in participants exposed to a negative mood induction followed by mood repair (mindfulness, rumination, silence). Individuals with higher levels of dispositional self‐compassion showed greater mood recovery after mood induction, and less self‐devaluation across the experimental procedure, independent of their mood‐repair condition or habitual forms of cognitive emotion regulation. These results suggest that self‐compassion is associated with more adaptive responses to mood challenges in individuals with a history of recurrent depression.

Is retrieving positive self-concordant specific memory beneficial to mood repair? The moderation effect of depressive symptoms

The present study examined whether positive specific memory recall improves mood more than overgeneral memory recall. Moreover, this study examined the mood contrast effect in subclinically depressed participants. The mood contrast effect refers to when people ruminate on discrepancies between the current self and a past ideal self by recall of positive self-discrepant (low self-concordant) memories and thereby, fall into a negative mood. Undergraduate students (N = 161) underwent a negative mood induction, and then concentrated on positive specific memory recall, positive overgeneral memory recall, or distraction. Results showed that there were no group differences in mood repair. Nevertheless, recalled memory self-concordance was associated with sad mood repair in the specific memory group, and moreover, this effect was not significant in people high in depressive symptoms. We discussed the results of mood repair effect from the perspective of baseline negative mood in subclinical depression.

Emotional Intelligence Profiles in College Students and Their Fathers\u2019 and Mothers\u2019 Parenting Practices

The present study has two objectives: first, to analyze whether the dimensions that make up emotional intelligence (attention, clarity, and repair) give rise to different profiles of university students, and secondly, to determine whether these different profiles are differentially associated with the parenting practices that students report with regard to their fathers and mothers. Results obtained indicate the existence of different profiles of college students. The profile that corresponds to adequate emotional skills presents a lower score in attention, but higher scores in clarity, and especially in mood repair. The other two profiles are inadequate, in the first case because a higher score in emotional attention is accompanied by low scores in mood repair, and in the second case because low scores are presented in all three dimensions. Likewise, we verified the existence of significant differences in the educational practices of parents, the adequate profile is characterized by greater use of parenting dimensions considered to be positive, and at the same time, lower scores on dimensions considered to be negative. One of the dysfunctional profiles is associated with higher scores in positive practices, and is also associated with higher scores in practices considered to produce a negative effect. The second dysfunctional profile is associated with higher scores on the dimensions considered to be negative and lower scores on positive dimensions.

Teachers’ Affective Well-being and Teaching Experience: The Protective Role of Perceived Emotional Intelligence

Teaching is a highly emotional and demanding profession. Developing emotional well-being among teachers will benefit not only the teachers themselves, but also their students. Previous studies have shown the protective role of emotional intelligence (EI) as well as inconsistencies in the years of teaching experience variable on positive and negative work-specific variables. The aim of the present study was to analyze how EI and years of teaching experience are related to affective well-being in teachers. Further, we analyze the moderator role of perceived EI on the link between level of teaching experience and affective well-being. For these purpose, 524 teachers from different Spanish public schools took part in the study. They first completed the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) for measuring perceived EI, which evaluates three scales: Attention to one’s Feelings (Attention), Emotional Clarity (Clarity), and Mood Repair (Repair). Secondly, they completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) for affective well-being, which measures Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA). Finally, teachers indicated their years of teaching experience. The results revealed that teaching experience and attention variables are counterproductive in determining lower PA and higher NA, respectively. Clarity and Repair appeared to be a significant determinant of PA and NA, with higher Clarity and Repair determining higher PA and lower NA. Moderator analyses showed how teaching experience significantly decreased PA in teachers who had average or low levels of Repair, but not for those with higher levels of this variable, emphasizing the important role of Repair as a protector of affective well-being in teachers. Limitations and future areas for research are discussed.

Procrastination: Relations with Mood, Self-Efficacy, Perceived Control and Task Demands

Procrastination is widely recognized as a motivational problem, but its nature is still not entirely understood, especially in the work domain. Procrastination in the execution of everyday work tasks could be motivated by both mood repair and predictor of poor mood. It could also be related to task characteristics, like averseness or demands. The aim of this study is to examine the relation between procrastination, levels of self-efficacy, perceived job demands and control, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. This study was conducted on a sample of 70 teaching assistants, the employees of a small university. The data was collected using Avoidance reactions to a deadline scale, DASS, Self-efficacy scale and Job demand-control scale. Correlation results indicated that self-efficacy and perceived job control were negatively, and job demand positively related to proneness to procrastination. Furthermore, individuals with more symptoms of anxiety and depression tended to procrastinate more. Perceived job control is the single relevant predictor of delaying job-related tasks and activities. The findings clearly suggest that job control deserves additional attention when it comes to the prediction of workplace procrastination. Keywords: procrastination, job control, job demands, self-efficacy, affect

Mood regulation, customer participation, and customer value creation in hospitality services

Purpose Customers play a key role in value creation. Not surprisingly, research has investigated customers’ motivations to engage in the creation of value. Thus, this study aims to assess the link between mood-regulatory processes and customer participation in value creation. Design/methodology/approach This study develops a model that relates mood-regulatory processes to customer participation and customer value creation, and tests it with a sample of 419 hotel customers, using partial least squares estimation. Findings It is found that mood clarity relates directly with customer relational value; mood monitoring relates directly with customer participation as well as directly and indirectly with customer economic and relational value; and mood repair relates directly with customer participation and customer economic value, as well as indirectly with customer economic and relational value. Research limitations/implications This is a cross-sectional study limited only to hotels in Iran. This is the first study to evaluate the relationship between mood regulation with customer participation and value creation. Hospitality service organizations interested in promoting customer participation may consider mood as a segmentation criterion. Originality/value Value creation theory was applied to identify the relationship among customer mood regulation, participation, economic value and relational value, as it is first attempted in the hospitality studies.

Emotional responding in NSSI: examinations of appraisals of positive and negative emotional stimuli, with and without acute stress

ABSTRACTNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is commonly used by young adults to regulate emotional responses. Yet, experimental examination of how people who self-injure appraise and respond to emotional stimuli is limited. We examined appraisals of, and responses to, emotive images in young adults who did and did not self-injure, and assessed whether these were impacted by exposure to a stressor. Study 1 (N = 51) examined whether participants differed in their appraisals of emotional images. Study 2 (N = 78) assessed whether appraisals of images changed after exposure to the Trier Social Stress Test. Ratings of emotional valence and arousal were collected in both studies; skin conductance was measured as an indicator of physiological arousal in Study 2. In Study 1 participants reporting NSSI rated positively valenced images as less pleasant than participants not reporting NSSI. In Study 2, after acute stress, participants reporting NSSI displayed dampened physiological reactions to positive images whereas participants who did not self-injure displayed heightened physiological reactions to these and rated them as more pleasant. Individuals who self-injure seem less able to engage in strategic mood repair after exposure to stress compared to people who do not self-injure.

Are there age differences in attention to emotional images following a sad mood induction? Evidence from a free-viewing eye-tracking paradigm

ABSTRACTTwo experiments examined age differences in the effect of a sad mood induction (MI) on attention to emotional images. Younger and older adults viewed sets of four images while their eye gaze was tracked throughout an 8-s presentation. Images were viewed before and after a sad MI to assess the effect of a sad mood on attention to positive and negative scenes. Younger and older adults exhibited positively biased attention after the sad MI, significantly increasing their attention to positive images, with no evidence of an age difference in either experiment. A test of participants’ recognition memory for the images indicated that the sad MI reduced memory accuracy for sad images for younger and older adults. The results suggest that heightened attention to positive images following a sad MI reflects an affect regulation strategy related to mood repair. The implications for theories of the positivity effect are discussed.

Childhood adversity predicts reduced physiological flexibility during the processing of negative affect among adolescents with major depression histories

BackgroundAdversity during early development has been shown to have enduring negative physiological consequences. In turn, atypical physiological functioning has been associated with maladaptive processing of negative affect, including its regulation. The present study therefore explored whether exposure to adverse life events in childhood predicted maladaptive (less flexible) parasympathetic nervous system functioning during the processing of negative affect among adolescents with depression histories. MethodsAn initially clinic-referred, pediatric sample (N=189) was assessed at two time points. At Time 1, when subjects were 10.17years old (SD=1.42), on average, and were depressed, parents reported on adverse life events the offspring experienced up to that point. At Time 2, when subjects were 17.18years old (SD=1.28), and were remitted from depression, parents again reported on adverse life events in their offspring's lives for the interim period. At time 2, subjects' parasympathetic nervous system functioning (quantified as respiratory sinus arrhythmia) also was assessed at rest, during sad mood induction, and during instructed mood repair. ResultsExtent of adverse life events experienced by T1 (but not events occurring between T1 and T2) predicted less flexible RSA functioning 7years later during the processing of negative affect. Adolescents with more extensive early life adversities exhibited less vagal withdrawal following negative mood induction and tended to show less physiological recovery following mood repair. ConclusionsEarly adversities appear to be associated with less flexible physiological regulatory control during negative affect experience, when measured later in development. Stress-related autonomic dysfunction in vulnerable youths may contribute to the unfavorable clinical prognosis associated with juvenile-onset depression.

Positive memory enhancement training for individuals with major depressive disorder

When in a negative mood state, individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) may have difficulties recalling positive autobiographical memories in a manner that repairs that negative mood. Using cognitive bias modification techniques, investigators have successfully altered different aspects of cognition among individuals with MDD. However, little has been done to investigate the modification of positive autobiographical memory recall. This study examined the impact of a novel positive memory enhancement training (PMET) on the memories and subjective affective experiences of individuals with MDD (N = 27). Across a series of trials, participants first recalled a sad memory to elicit a negative mood state. They then recalled a happy memory and completed procedures to elicit a vivid, here-and-now quality of the memory. PMET procedures were hypothesized to promote mood repair via the recall of increasingly vivid and specific positive memories. PMET participants demonstrated improved memory specificity and greater perceived ability to “relive” positive memories. The procedures also repaired mood; PMET participants’ affect following recall of positive memories did not differ from control participants’ affect following recall of neutral memories. Results provide preliminary support for PMET as a method to improve the quality of positive memories and facilitate emotion regulation in MDD.

Multidimensional perfectionism and counterfactual thinking: Some think upward, others downward

Perfectionism is a personality disposition that can be expected to explain individual differences in counterfactual thinking. Yet, research on perfectionism and counterfactual thinking is very limited, and findings are mixed. The present study (N=175 university students) investigated the relationships between perfectionism and counterfactual thinking after imagining a negative outcome (i.e., receiving a bad grade). Self-oriented perfectionism showed positive relationships with upward counterfactuals (imagining better outcomes) and negative relationships with downward counterfactuals (imagining worse outcomes). In contrast, socially prescribed perfectionism showed positive relationships with downward counterfactuals. The findings suggest that counterfactual thinking in self-oriented perfectionism aims at self-improvement and motivates for future better outcomes—at the cost of increased negative affect—whereas counterfactual thinking in socially prescribed perfectionism aims at mood repair.

Feeling happy when feeling down: The effectiveness of positive mental imagery in dysphoria

Background and objectivesMental imagery can evoke strong emotional responses, but imagery perspective can influence the response, with observer perspective reducing emotionality. This is important provided that positive imagery can be an effective mood repair strategy in healthy individuals. However, (sub-clinical) depressed individuals tend to spontaneously adopt an observer perspective. We investigated whether positive imagery would result in a similar emotional response in dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals when instructed and trained to use field perspective imagery. Additionally, we compared the emotional response in dysphoric individuals who received instructions to dysphoric individuals who received no instructions on processing mode during positive memory recall. MethodsDysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals completed a mood induction procedure imagining positive or neutral memories. They received instructions and practice in the use of field perspective imagery. An additional control group of dysphoric individuals recalled positive memories without receiving instructions on processing mode. ResultsDysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals who received instructions on field perspective imagery reported similar use of field and observer perspective imagery, and a similar positive emotional response. Dysphoric individuals who did not receive specific instructions, as compared to those who did, reported greater use of observer perspective and lower levels of positive affect afterwards. LimitationsA dysphoric sample limits generalization to clinically depressed individuals, although these individuals are at risk for developing depression. However, mental imagery used in relapse prevention is likely targeting sub-clinical populations. ConclusionsProviding practice in field perspective imagery could potentially improve the effectiveness of positive memory recall as a mood repair strategy in (sub-clinically) depressed individuals, and may therefore have important therapeutic benefits.

Coloring Versus Drawing: Effects of Cognitive Demand on Mood Repair, Flow, and Enjoyment

We examined whether using drawing to distract, by either coloring a design or drawing a design, improves mood more than drawing to express feelings. We manipulated levels of cognitive demand in the first 2 conditions by asking participants to color a design (low cognitive demand) or draw a design (high cognitive demand). After a sad mood induction, we randomly assigned 70 participants to coloring, drawing, or drawing to express thoughts and feelings. Affect was measured before and after the mood induction and after drawing. Participants also reported on their level of enjoyment and flow when drawing. Both distraction conditions, regardless of level of cognitive demand, improved affect. Whereas those in both the coloring and drawing conditions enjoyed the activity more than the drawing to express condition, only the coloring condition resulted in greater states of flow.

Combating the sting of rejection with the pleasure of revenge: A new look at how emotion shapes aggression.

How does emotion explain the relationship between social rejection and aggression? Rejection reliably damages mood, leaving individuals motivated to repair their negatively valenced affective state. Retaliatory aggression is often a pleasant experience. Rejected individuals may then harness revenge's associated positive affect to repair their mood. Across 6 studies (total N = 1,516), we tested the prediction that the rejection-aggression link is motivated by expected and actual mood repair. Further, we predicted that this mood repair would occur through the positive affect of retaliatory aggression. Supporting these predictions, naturally occurring (Studies 1 and 2) and experimentally manipulated (Studies 3 and 4) motives to repair mood via aggression moderated the rejection-aggression link. These effects were mediated by sadistic impulses toward finding aggression pleasant (Studies 2 and 4). Suggesting the occurrence of actual mood repair, rejected participants' affective states were equivalent to their accepted counterparts after an act of aggression (Studies 5 and 6). This mood repair occurred through a dynamic interplay between preaggression affect and aggression itself, and was driven by increases in positive affect (Studies 5 and 6). Together, these findings suggest that the rejection-aggression link is driven, in part, by the desire to return to affective homeostasis. Additionally, these findings implicate aggression's rewarding nature as an incentive for rejected individuals' violent tendencies. (PsycINFO Database Record

Why Does Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Improve Mood? A Preliminary Test of Three Hypotheses

People who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) often state that it helps them feel better. We tested three hypotheses through which this mood modification might occur. Following a negative mood induction, adults reporting past year NSSI were randomized into a control (i.e., sitting alone quietly), mild distraction, or pain condition. All participants completed mood ratings at regular intervals. No mood repair occurred in the control condition. However, distraction improved mood both during and after the activity. Participants who self-administered pain reported no overall mood change, suggesting that contrary to popular NSSI theories, pain likely does not improve mood via distraction. However, as predicted, level of self-criticism moderated mood change during pain. Participants high on self-criticism felt significantly better during pain and participants low on self-criticism felt significantly worse during pain. Findings shed light on how NSSI improves mood by clarifying the circumstances under which different affect regulation processes may operate.