Negative Emotion Dysregulation Research Articles

The effect of training to target cognitive biases towards social rejection in eating disorders.

This study examined the effect of cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) training in Korean women with eating disorders (EDs). Sixty-three women with EDs participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group where they received six sessions of CBM-I training (n=31) in addition to treatment-as-usual or were put on a waiting list (n=32). Participants' interpretation and attention biases, emotion regulation, affect, and ED psychopathology were assessed at baseline, end-of-intervention (4weeks), and follow-up (8weeks). Participants who completed the CBM-I training displayed greater reductions in negative interpretation bias (Δη2 =0.107) and emotion dysregulation (Δη2 =0.085) with medium to large effect sizes compared to the control group, which were maintained from baseline to follow-up. Disengagement from negative faces and a focus on positive faces was found in the intervention group with a moderate effect size at the end-of-intervention (Δη2 =0.090). Both intervention and control groups showed improvements in ED psychopathology. Baseline neuroticism was positively correlated with CBM-I effect. The results suggest that modifying interpretation bias towards ambiguous social stimuli might be an effective adjuvant treatment to reduce negative expectations of social situations and improve emotion regulation in women with bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa.

Daily Levels and Dynamic Metrics of Affective-Cognitive Constructs Associate With Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviours in Adults After Psychiatric Hospitalization.

The period after psychiatric hospitalization is an extraordinarily high-risk period for suicidal thoughts and behaviours (STBs). Affective-cognitive constructs (ACCs) are salient risk factors for STBs, and intensive longitudinal metrics of these constructs may improve personalized risk detection and intervention. However, limited research has examined how within-person daily levels and between-person dynamic metrics of ACCs relate to STBs after hospital discharge. Adult psychiatric inpatients (N = 95) completed a 65-day ecological momentary assessment protocol after discharge as part of a 6-month follow-up period. Using dynamic structural equation models, we examined both within-person daily levels and between-person dynamic metrics (intensity, variability and inertia) of positive and negative affect, rumination, distress intolerance and emotion dysregulation as risk factors for STBs. Within-person lower daily levels of positive affect and higher daily levels of negative affect, rumination, distress intolerance and emotion dysregulation were risk factors for next-day suicidal ideation (SI). Same-day within-person higher rumination and negative affect were also risk factors for same-day SI. At the between-person level, higher overall positive affect was protective against active SI and suicidal behaviour over the 6-month follow-up, while greater variability of rumination and distress intolerance increased risk for active SI, suicidal behaviour and suicide attempt. The present study provides the most comprehensive examination to date of intensive longitudinal metrics of ACCs as risk factors for STBs. Results support the continued use of intensive longitudinal methods to improve STB risk detection. Interventions focusing on rumination and distress intolerance may specifically help to prevent suicidal crises during critical transitions in care.

Longitudinal examination of borderline personality disorder symptoms and drug use: The influence of negative and positive emotion dysregulation.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with greater substance use. Emotion dysregulation has been implicated in both BPD and substance use, yet there is limited research examining the role of emotion dysregulation in the BPD-substance use relation. We examined the independent and interactive associations of BPD symptoms and emotion dysregulation in reported drug use over 1year. Participants (N = 143) were over-recruited for BPD, assessed via interview, and completed measures of negative and positive emotion dysregulation. Drug use frequency was assessed with monthly surveys over a 1-year period. Results demonstrated interrelations among BPD symptoms and both negative and positive emotion dysregulation. However, when modeling BPD and emotion dysregulation together, only higher BPD symptoms were associated with more frequent drug use. Findings support the relation of BPD symptoms and emotion dysregulation but suggest that emotion dysregulation may not account for drug use frequency above and beyond BPD in community-recruited populations.

Borderline personality disorder and multidimensional impulsivity: The roles of positive and negative emotion dysregulation

BackgroundRisky, self-destructive impulsivity and emotion dysregulation are core features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet impulsivity is multidimensional and has rarely been comprehensively assessed in BPD. Impulsivity has been linked to negative emotion dysregulation, yet explorations of the role of positive emotion dysregulation have been neglected. The current study attempts to extend existing literature by identifying the pattern of associations of specific domains of impulsivity, using both self-report and behavioral measures in BPD, and the role of both negative and positive emotion dysregulation in this link. MethodsAdults with BPD (n = 48), subthreshold BPD (n = 37), and without BPD (n = 78) completed a diagnostic interview, self-report measures, and multiple behavioral tasks. We examined correlations between primary variables, then examined the role of negative and positive emotion dysregulation in the association between BPD and specific domains of impulsivity. ResultsNegative emotion dysregulation accounted for the link between BPD and negative urgency, (lack of) premeditation, and (lack of) perseverance, while positive emotion dysregulation accounted for the relation between BPD and sensation seeking. LimitationsKey limitations of this study include using a relatively homogeneous sample and using abbreviated versions of one behavioral task, among others discussed. ConclusionsThese findings locate the precise impulsivity impairments in BPD and highlight the differential roles of negative and positive emotion dysregulation. Understanding the impulsivity deficits associated with BPD will further explain the impulsive behaviors associated with this disorder, and the contexts in which they occur, which may streamline clinical treatments.

0149 Emotion Dysregulation and Sleep Disturbances in Trauma-Exposed College Students

Abstract Introduction Trauma-exposed individuals are at risk of developing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has been linked to both sleep disturbances and sleep-related daytime impairment. A growing body of literature suggests affective processes, such as negative and positive emotion regulation, may influence associations between PTSD and sleep. Therefore, our study aimed to examine if there was a direct effect of negative and positive emotion dysregulation on sleep disturbances and sleep-related impairment above the influence of PTSD symptoms. Methods Participants were 460 trauma-exposed college students (69.8% female; 62.0% White; Mage = 20.13 ± 2.94) recruited from the University of North Texas. Trauma exposure was assessed with the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5. Participants completed demographic questionnaires, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (excluding sleep-related questions), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation – Positive (DERS-P), the PROMIS Sleep Disturbance (PROMIS-SD), and Sleep-Related Impairment (PROMIS-SRI) Short Forms. Multiple regression models with robust standard errors were conducted to examine associations between both positive and negative emotion dysregulation on sleep disturbances and sleep-related impairment, covarying for PTSD symptoms, age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Results Greater negative emotion dysregulation was associated with greater sleep disturbances (b = 0.06, SE = 0.03, p = .015, ηp2 = 0.01) above the influence of positive emotion dysregulation, PTSD symptoms, age, gender, race, and ethnicity (R2 = 0.28). Greater negative emotion dysregulation was also associated with greater sleep-related impairments (b = 0.20, SE = 0.03, p < .001, ηp2 = 0.08) above the influence of the same covariates (R2 = 0.31). Positive emotion dysregulation was not associated with sleep disturbances or sleep-related impairments. Conclusion Results suggest that more difficulty regulating negative emotions is linked to disturbed sleep among trauma-exposed individuals. Additional experimental work is needed to understand if regulating negative emotions via cognitive-behavioral strategies (e.g., mindfulness, cognitive restructuring) can lead to downstream improvements in sleep. Support (if any)

Micro-Longitudinal Examination of Emotion Dysregulation and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms among Community Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Modeling Reciprocal Relationships Using Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling

Research examining emotion dysregulation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. However, past investigations have almost exclusively relied on cross-sectional designs and have neglected to consider the potential role of dysregulation stemming from positive emotions. The current study utilized rigorous methodology (experience sampling) and statistics (dynamic structural equation modeling) to explicate daily reciprocal associations between negative and positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms. Participants were 145 community women (M age = 40.66, 40.7% white) experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and using substances who participated in a baseline interview and then completed surveys three times a day for 30 days. Results at the between-person level showed that women who reported higher negative and positive emotion dysregulation also reported more PTSD symptoms. At the within-person level, findings supported a significant contemporaneous effect between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms. Further, there was a significant cross-lagged effect from negative emotion dysregulation to next-interval PTSD symptoms. Results suggest that positive emotion dysregulation co-occurs with PTSD symptoms and that negative emotion dysregulation predicts PTSD symptoms. Findings provide additional support for the utility of addressing both negative and positive emotion dysregulation in the treatment of PTSD among women experiencing IPV.

A daily diary study of minority stressors, suicidal ideation, nonsuicidal self-injury ideation, and affective mechanisms among sexual and gender minority youth.

Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) are at greater risk than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Unique stressors (i.e., minority stressors) specific to SGMY's stigmatized identities such as discrimination or concealment of one's identity are posited to explain these disparities. However, there is limited research examining the associations among minority stressors, affective mediating processes, and STB and NSSI in SGMY's daily lives. We conducted a 28-day daily diary study to test the mediating effects of daily negative and positive affect and emotion dysregulation between minority stressors and STB and NSSI among SGMY who were recruited from clinical and community settings. Participants were 92 SGMY, aged 12-19 years old (M = 16.45; SD = 1.81; 64% cisgender; 69% White). Results indicated that on days SGMY experienced external and internalized minority stressors, they reported greater intensity of suicidal and nonsuicidal self-injurious ideation and affective distress (i.e., greater negative affect, lower positive affect, and more emotion dysregulation). Greater affective reactivity processes were associated with greater suicidal and nonsuicidal self-injurious ideation intensity on the same day. Most of the within-person associations between external and internalized minority stressors and ideation intensity were mediated by heightened negative affect and emotion dysregulation but not lower positive affect. Our results provide the first evidence of these associations among SGMY, advance the minority stress model, and have implications for clinical interventions as we identified modifiable affective mechanisms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Emotion Dysregulation in the Association Between Substance Use Stigma and Depressive Symptoms Among Trauma-Exposed, Substance-Using Individuals.

Despite the well-documented association between experiences of substance use stigma and adverse mental health outcomes, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this association. Utilizing a community sample of substance-using adults who have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, the current study examined the role of dysregulation stemming from both negative and positive emotions in the relation between substance use stigma and depressive symptoms. Community participants (N = 320, 46.9% women) completed self-report measures of substance-use-related stigma experiences, negative and positive emotion dysregulation, and depressive symptoms. Results showed that, adjusting for gender and substance use severity, substance use stigma was positively associated with emotion dysregulation, which in turn related to depressive symptoms. Substance use stigma was also found to be indirectly associated with depressive symptoms through emotion dysregulation, suggesting that emotion dysregulation accounted for the significant association between substance use stigma and depressive symptoms. These findings provide initial support for the role of emotion dysregulation as a mechanism through which stigma operates to undermine the mental health of substance-using, trauma-exposed individuals. Results underscore the potential utility of targeting emotion dysregulation in intervention efforts that are designed to facilitate stigma coping among individuals who use alcohol and/or drugs.

Abnormal global signal topography of self modulates emotion dysregulation in major depressive disorder

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a complex mental disorder featured by an increased focus on the self and emotion dysregulation whose interaction remains unclear, though. At the same time, various studies observed abnormal representation of global fMRI brain activity in specifically those regions, e.g., cortical midline structure (CMS) in MDD that are associated with the self. Are the self and its impact on emotion regulation related to global brain activity unevenly represented in CMS relative to non-CMS? Addressing this yet open question is the main goal of our study. We here investigate post-acute treatment responder MDD and healthy controls in fMRI during an emotion task involving both attention and reappraisal of negative and neutral stimuli. We first demonstrate abnormal emotion regulation with increased negative emotion severity on the behavioral level. Next, focusing on a recently established three-layer topography of self, we show increased representation of global fMRI brain activity in specifically those regions mediating the mental (CMS) and exteroceptive (Right temporo-parietal junction and mPFC) self in post-acute MDD during the emotion task. Applying a complex statistical model, namely multinomial regression analyses, we show that increased global infra-slow neural activity in the regions of the mental and exteroceptive self modulates the behavioral measures of specifically negative emotion regulation (emotion attention and reappraisal/suppression). Together, we demonstrate increased representation of global brain activity in regions of the mental and exteroceptive self, including their modulation of negative emotion dysregulation in specifically the infra-slow frequency range (0.01 to 0.1 Hz) of post-acute MDD. These findings support the assumption that the global infra-slow neural basis of the increased self-focus in MDD may take on the role as basic disturbance in that it generates the abnormal regulation of negative emotions.

Associations between positive memory count and hazardous substance use in a trauma-exposed sample: Examining the moderating role of emotion dysregulation.

Research has demonstrated links between autobiographical memory retrieval and hazardous substance use. However, limited work has examined relations between positive autobiographical memories and hazardoussubstance use, as well as moderating factors influencing these relations. Thus, we examined the potential moderating roles of negative and positive emotion dysregulation in the relations between count of retrieved positive memories and hazardous substance use (alcohol and drug use separately). Participants were 333 trauma-exposed students (Mage = 21.05; 85.9% women) who completed self-report measures assessing positive memory count, hazardous alcohol and drug use, negative emotion dysregulation, and positive emotion dysregulation. Positive emotion dysregulation significantly moderated the association between positive memory count and hazardous alcohol use (b = 0.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.01, 0.06], p = 0.019), as well as the association between positive memory count and hazardous drug use (b = 0.02, 95% CI [0.01, 0.03], p = 0.002). Individuals with more positive emotion dysregulation had stronger associations between increases in positive memory count and increased hazardous substance use. Findings indicate that trauma-exposed individuals who retrieve more positive memories and experience difficulties regulating positive emotions report greater hazardous substance use. Positive emotion dysregulation may be an important target for memory-based interventions among trauma-exposed individuals who report hazardous substance use.

The Role of Emotion Dysregulation in the Relationship Between Sleep Disturbances and PTSD Symptom Severity.

Emotion dysregulation is implicated in the development, maintenance, and treatment of sleep disturbances and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) separately. However, few studies have assessed interactions among these variables. To address this gap, this study examined whether the associations of sleep quality and sleep quantity with PTSD severity were stronger at higher levels of negative and positive emotion dysregulation in a community sample of 199 trauma-exposed individuals. This study found that both poorer sleep quality and lower sleep quantity were associated with greater PTSD severity at low to average (but not high) levels of negative emotion dysregulation. Positive emotion dysregulation did not moderate the relationships between sleep quality or quantity and PTSD severity. Exploratory additive multiple moderation analyses showed significant associations between poorer sleep quality and lower sleep quantity with greater PTSD severity at low to average levels of negative emotion dysregulation, coupled with any level of positive emotion dysregulation. Findings inform theoretical perspectives on the sleep-PTSD relationship and clinical applications of targeting emotion dysregulation in the treatment of sleep disturbances and PTSD symptoms for trauma-exposed individuals.

Difficulties with positive emotion regulation in anorexia nervosa.

Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) have well-documented difficulties regulating negative emotions, but less is known about positive emotion regulation in this population. To address this gap, we compared responses on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Positive questionnaire and the traditional DERS questionnaire (measuring negative affect dysregulation) between females with AN (n=30) and demographically-matched controls without an eating disorder history (NC; n=30) and examined relations between positive emotion regulation and clinical symptoms. Results indicated that individuals with AN demonstrated greater difficulty regulating negative (p<0.001, d=2.75) and positive (p<0.001, d=1.08) emotions compared to NC participants. Specifically, the AN group reported heightened positive emotion nonacceptance (p=0.004, d=0.78) and impulsivity (p=0.003, d=0.81). Greater positive emotion nonacceptance was associated with higher anxiety (p=0.015) and depression (p=0.022) among individuals with AN. Unexpectedly, more positive emotion impulsivity was associated with less restrictive eating in AN (p<0.001). Findings were largely maintained even after controlling for negative emotion dysregulation and psychotropic medication use. The results suggest that reducing shame related to positive emotions could improve mood in AN; alternatively, relinquishing control when experiencing positive emotion could reduce restriction. More research is warranted on positive emotion regulation as a treatment target for AN.

Parental Happiness Socialization and Youth Adjustment in Italy and Azerbaijan in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era.

This study aims to cross-culturally identify the parental socialization strategies in response to a child's happiness and their associations with youth academic and socio-emotional adjustment, controlling for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were a convenient sample of Italian (N = 606, 81.9% mothers) and Azerbaijanis (N = 227, 61.4% mothers) parents of youths (Mage = 12.89, SD = 4.06; 51% girls). Parents filled out an online survey to assess their socialization strategies in response to their children's happiness, their children's negative emotion regulation and dysregulation, academic performance, and prosocial behavior. Exploratory factorial analysis showed the presence of two factors that enclosed supportive and unsupportive parental socialization strategies. A multiple-group path analysis model showed that similarly across countries, supportive parental strategies were positively related to youths' prosocial behavior and that unsupportive parental strategies were positively related to youths' negative emotion dysregulation, and negatively related to youths' academic performance and negative emotion regulation. Those results emerged controlling for parents' and adolescents' gender and age, parents' educational level, social desirability, and Covid-related problems. This study advances cross-cultural knowledge about the impact of the strategies that parents use to socialize their children's happiness in the unique context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clinical aspects of binge eating disorder: A cross-sectional mixed-methods study of binge eating disorder experts' perspectives.

Research on binge eating disorder continues to evolve and advance our understanding of recurrent binge eating. This mixed-methods, cross-sectional survey aimed to collect information from experts in the field about clinical aspects of adult binge eating disorder pathology. Fourteen experts in binge eating disorder research and clinical care were identified based on receipt of relevant federal funding, PubMed-indexed publications, active practice in the field, leadership in relevant societies, and/or clinical and popular press distinction. Anonymously recorded semi-structured interviews were analyzed by ≥2 investigators using reflexive thematic analysis and quantification. Identified themes included: (1) obesity (100%); (2) intentional/voluntary or unintentional/involuntary food/eating restriction (100%); (3) negative affect, emotional dysregulation, and negative urgency (100%); (4) diagnostic heterogeneity and validity (71%); (5) paradigm shifts in understanding binge eating disorder (29%); and (6) research gaps/future directives (29%). Overall, experts call for a better understanding of the relationship between binge eating disorder and obesity, including a need for clarification around the extent to which the two health issues are separate vs. related/overlapping. Experts also commonly endorse food/eating restriction and emotion dysregulation as important components of binge eating disorder pathology, which aligns with two common models of binge eating disorder conceptualization (e.g., dietary restraint theory and emotion/affect regulation theory). A few experts spontaneously identified several paradigm shifts in our understanding of who can have an eating disorder (beyond the anorexi-centric "thin, White, affluent, cis-gendered neurotypical female" stereotype), and the various factors that can drive binge eating. Experts also identified several areas where classification issues may warrant future research. Overall, these results highlight the continual advancement of the field to better understand adult binge eating disorder as an autonomous eating disorder diagnosis.

Alcohol binge drinking in adolescence and psychological profile: Can the preclinical model crack the chicken-or-egg question?

During adolescence, internal and external factors contribute to engaging with alcohol binge drinking (ABD), putting at risk the neurodevelopment of brain regions crucial for emotional control and stress coping. This research assessed the prevalence of ABD in late adolescent students of Southern Italy and characterized their psychological profile and drinking motives. Translational effects of alcohol binge drinking in the animal model were also studied. Seven hundred and fifty-nine high school students of both sexes (aged 18–20) were recruited. Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C), Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised Short Form, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-Third Ed., State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Basic Self-Esteem Scale identified alcohol habits, drinking motives, and psychopathological profile. Eighty-five percentage of the students drank alcohol and 28% of them engaged in ABD; AUDIT-C correlated with enhancement, coping, and conformity motives. ABD was related to a greater likelihood of presenting clinical syndromes and personality disorders, as well as low resilience and self-esteem. Thereafter, in the pre-clinical model, adolescent male rats were exposed to alcohol (3.5 g/kg) in an intermittent binge-like paradigm and tested during prolonged abstinence. Rats were evaluated for anxiety-like behavior, motivated behaviors, resilience, and stress response following a psychosocial challenge. Binge-like alcohol-exposed adolescent rats displayed high integrated z-score for social- and novelty-induced anxiety, altered motivation-driven output, decreased resilience, and a blunted HPA axis response to psychosocial stress, with respect to respective controls. Our data confirm that ABD is the chosen pattern of drinking in a significant percentage of high school students in Southern Italy, and highlights AUDIT-C score as a relevant parameter able to predict the occurrence of affective disturbances. The evidence from the preclinical model shows that ABD produces detrimental consequences in the adolescent rat brain, resulting in negative affect, emotional dysregulation, and aberrant stress response, pointing to decreasing excessive alcohol drinking as a primary goal for the global act for brain health.

A-195 The Indirect Effects of Repetitive Negative Thinking and Emotion Dysregulation on the Association Between Attentional Control and Anxiety Symptoms

Abstract Objective: Attentional control has been found to influence the ability to effectively down-regulate negative emotional states and attenuate intrusive negative thinking. The present study aims to clarify the unique effects of attentional control on anxiety symptoms through perseverative negative thinking and emotional dysregulation. Method: A sample of undergraduate psychology students (n=741) completed the Attentional Control Scale-Straightforward (ACS), the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ), the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form (DERS-SF), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). A parallel mediation model was tested in the PROCESS macro in SPSS using 10,000 sample bias-corrected bootstrapping. Results: Attentional control was negatively associated with emotional dysregulation, B=-.30, [-.41, -.18], repetitive negative thinking, B=-.37, [-.50, -.24], and anxiety symptoms, B=-.07, [-.11, -.02]. Repetitive negative thinking, B=.13, [.11, .16], and emotional dysregulation, B=.06, [.03, .09], were both positively associated with anxiety symptoms. There was an indirect effect of attentional control on anxiety symptoms through both repetitive negative thinking, B=-.05, [-.07, -.03], and emotional dysregulation, B=-.02, [-.03, -.01]. The direct effect was no longer significant after accounting for repetitive negative thinking and emotional dysregulation in the model, B=.00, [-.04, .04]. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the relationship between attentional control and anxiety symptoms can be explained by emotion dysregulation and repetitive negative thinking. Future research focusing on whether the use of attentional and cognitive resources can prospectively predict emotion regulation and perseverative negative thinking may assist with better understanding the mechanism of attentional and cognitive intervention techniques.

Autonomic indices and loss-of-control eating in adolescents: an ecological momentary assessment study.

Loss-of-control (LOC) eating commonly develops during adolescence, and it predicts full-syndrome eating disorders and excess weight gain. Although negative emotions and emotion dysregulation are hypothesized to precede and predict LOC eating, they are rarely examined outside the self-report domain. Autonomic indices, including heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), may provide information about stress and capacity for emotion regulation in response to stress. We studied whether autonomic indices predict LOC eating in real-time in adolescents with LOC eating and body mass index (BMI) ⩾70th percentile. Twenty-four adolescents aged 12-18 (67% female; BMI percentile mean ± standard deviation = 92.6 ± 9.4) who reported at least twice-monthly LOC episodes wore biosensors to monitor HR, HRV, and physical activity for 1 week. They reported their degree of LOC after all eating episodes on a visual analog scale (0-100) using a smartphone. Adjusting for physical activity and time of day, higher HR and lower HRV predicted higher self-reported LOC after eating. Parsing between- and within-subjects effects, there was a significant, positive, within-subjects association between pre-meal HR and post-meal LOC rating. However, there was no significant within-subjects effect for HRV, nor were there between-subjects effects for either electrophysiologic variable. Findings suggest that autonomic indices may either be a marker of risk for subsequent LOC eating or contribute to LOC eating. Linking physiological markers with behavior in the natural environment can improve knowledge of illness mechanisms and provide new avenues for intervention.

Posttraumatic stress disorder strengthens the momentary associations between emotion dysregulation and substance use: a micro-longitudinal study of community women experiencing intimate partner violence.

A fast-growing body of literature linking emotion dysregulation to substance use has almost exclusively relied on cross-sectional designs and has generally failed to assess dysregulation stemming from positive emotions. The current study measured the momentary associations between both negative and positive emotion dysregulation and substance use, as well as the moderating role of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Micro-longitudinal momentary data were collected three times per day for 30 days using phone-based interactive voice recording. Northeastern United States. A total of 145 community women (M, age = 40.56, 40.3% white) experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and using substances were recruited from 2018 until 2020. Momentary surveys assessed negative and positive emotion dysregulation and alcohol, drug, and cigarette use. PTSD diagnosis was derived from a structured diagnostic interview. Between-person relations that remained significant after covariate adjustment and correction for multiple testing were found for negative emotion dysregulation and both number of drinks (internal rate of return [IRR] = 1.45; 95% CI = 1.07, 1.93; β = 0.37) and drug use (OR = 3.78; 95% CI = 1.86, 7.69; β = 1.33), and positive emotion dysregulation and number of cigarettes (OR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.07, 1.82; β = 0.34). Of six interactions tests, PTSD was only shown to moderate the within-person relation between positive emotion dysregulation and drug use, even after controlling for relevant covariates and adjusting for multiple testing (OR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.51; β = 0.23), such that women experiencing intimate partner violence with versus without PTSD were more likely to use drugs when experiencing periods of elevated positive emotion dysregulation. Women experiencing intimate partner violence with higher levels of negative dysregulation relative to others may use more alcohol and be more likely to use drugs. Women experiencing intimate partner violence with higher levels of positive dysregulation relative to others may use more cigarettes. Women experiencing intimate partner violence who also have posttraumatic stress disorder may be more likely to use drugs when experiencing momentary elevated levels of positive emotion dysregulation than those who do not also have posttraumatic stress disorder.

Effect of adding a positive memories’ module in a trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural treatment for female survivors of intimate partner violence: trial protocol

BackgroundTrauma-focused cognitive-behavioural treatments have been proven to be effective for reducing symptoms in female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), although they still present some difficulties (e.g. significant drop-out rates, low adherence). Based on existing evidence about the difficulty of accessing memories of positive experiences among these women, we considered integrating positive memory evocation in trauma-focused treatments. The present study aims to test the effect of adding a positive memory module to trauma-focused CBT for female survivors of IPV.MethodsThe study is a single-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing two trauma-focused CBT (with and without a positive memory module) for female survivors of IPV and a wait-list condition (superiority trial), including pretreatment and posttreatment measures, and follow-ups at 3, 6 and 12 months. Assessors of treatment outcome will be blinded to the trial arm. We aim to recruit 135 participants who will be randomized to one of the experimental conditions. The primary outcome is PTSD symptom severity. Secondary outcome measures include IPV, attitudes towards IPV, posttraumatic cognitions, centrality of trauma, self-concept, positive and negative affect, depression, anxiety, emotional dysregulation or health-related quality of life, as well as satisfaction with treatment. Moreover, adherence to and satisfaction with treatment will be considered.DiscussionThis study first analyses the effect of including positive memory evocation into a trauma-focused treatment for female survivors of IPV. This strategy aims to improve the effect of the treatments and enhance the healing of the trauma by developing a more integrated and emotionally modulated autobiographical narrative that contributes to the recovery and well-being of the victims.Trial registrationISRCTN73702156. Registered on 10 March 2022.

Daily reciprocal relations between negative and positive emotion dysregulation and posttraumatic stress symptoms among individuals with a history of sexual assault

Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are a debilitating health concern that can develop following sexual assault. One factor central to PTSS is emotion dysregulation. However, little is known about how emotion dysregulation, particularly the dysregulation of positive (versus negative) emotions, relates to the maintenance of PTSS over time. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature by using a micro-longitudinal approach to examine daily reciprocal relations between negative and positive emotion dysregulation and PTSS. Participants were 121 individuals with a history of sexual assault (Mage = 35.27; 70.2% women; 81.0% white) recruited from the community. Participants self-reported on negative and positive emotion dysregulation as well as PTSS once daily for seven days. Findings provide support for the effects of both negative and positive emotion dysregulation on increases in next-day PTSS. Results carry important implications for PTSS assessment and intervention efforts among those with a history of sexual assault.