Unpleasant Emotions Research Articles

Does Guided Written Disclosure Reduce Distress and Improve Psychological Functioning in Patients with Skin Diseases?

Background. Skin diseases (e.g., psoriasis and systemic sclerosis) are generally associated with negative psychosocial outcomes. Although different psychological interventions have been used to improve the quality of life of dermatological patients, the effects of the guided written disclosure (GWD) protocol have not been previously examined in these patients. Moreover, little attention has been paid to positive psychology constructs. Methods. This study investigates the effectiveness of GWD on positive and negative functioning in dermatological patients. Pre- and 1-month post-intervention measures included emotion regulation, sense of inner peace, skin-related symptoms and functioning, sense of coherence, and psychological distress. Results. A total of 196 consecutive outpatients were randomly assigned to GWD and active control groups, of whom 60 (30.6%) completed the study and 45 (GWD: n = 24; AC: n = 21) provided complete data. Our results did not show any significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the outcome variables, whereas non-completers reported higher levels of distress, unpleasant skin-related emotions, and lower cognitive reappraisal compared to completers. Conclusions. These findings show a poor compliance, and suggest that expressive writing is not well accepted by patients and is not effective in improving positive and negative psychological functioning in dermatological patients.

Neuropsychological Fundamentals of Envy

The article deals with psychogenetic and neuropsychological principles of envy. Its originality lies in the fact that envy is seen as an unpleasant emotion and feeling, and a negative attitude, projected onto another person who, compared to the object of envy, has certain advantages, opportunities, or is in a more favourable position (social, psychological, physical, financial). Besides, the article analyzes theoretical-empirical and experimental studies on envy, its neuropsychological aspects and influence on the functioning of the brain. It shows prerequisites (genetic and social) for envy as an emotional experience and analyzes the role of social comparison in generating and consolidating envy. The article discusses describes the neuropsychological localization of envy in brain structures and the role of mirror neurons in the formation of envious impulses. It also theoretically proves that envy as a mental reaction is a situational and short-term feeling of dissatisfaction aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities or luck, which is manifested in a strong desire to have them for oneself right away. Social comparison (not in one’s favour) causes a profound drop in self-esteem, which the brain perceives as physical pain. This triggers specific mechanisms of imaginary psychological compensation when someone else’s defeat is perceived as one’s victory. Short-term envious reactions are based on the natural action mechanism of mirror neurons in the brain that come from “imitative desire”, important for survival. Neuropsychologists have traced the overactivation of mirror neurons responsible for assessment and motivation in those people whose experience of envy is frequent and long-term. The article suggests possible ways of envy psychocorrection based on the neuropsychological mechanisms of its formation.

Intensity, frequency, and differentiation of discrete emotion categories in daily life and their associations with depression, worry, and rumination.

Previous research examining links between psychopathology and emotions in daily life have largely focused on disorder-specific patterns of mean-level positive and negative affect. In this study, we examined three transdiagnostic dimensions of psychopathology, namely depression, worry, and rumination, and their association with the intensity, frequency, and differentiation of discrete emotion categories endorsed in daily life. Three independent samples of young adults (total n = 614) completed baseline measures assessing depression, worry, and rumination followed by a 1-week daily diary procedure. Daily diaries assessed the following emotion categories: "tranquility," "contentment," "happiness," "excitement," "pride," "sadness," "boredom," "guilt," "fear," and "anger." Intensity, frequency, and differentiation were all calculated from daily emotion ratings. Psychopathology was associated with intensity and frequency of pleasant emotion, with intensity showing stronger associations. Intensity of contentment and happiness were most strongly associated with all three forms of psychopathology, whereas pride had the weakest associations. Psychopathology was associated with intensity and frequency of unpleasant emotions, with frequency tending to show stronger associations. Frequency of sadness and boredom were most strongly associated with depression, whereas the frequency and intensity of fear were similarly associated with depression and worry. Although psychopathology was associated with pleasant and unpleasant emotion differentiation, to our surprise, effect sizes were negligible to small. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Moderating Effect of Psychological Flexibility in the Relationship between Neuroticism and Self-Harm

Many people seek professional help because of self-harm, signaling a crisis in domestic mental health issues. Neuroticism significantly predicts self-harm through experiential avoidance as a coping strategy in response to negative stimuli. However, despite neurotic tendencies, a person with a high level of psychological flexibility may have the capacity to respond constructively to unpleasant situations or emotions. The current study measured neuroticism (K-IPIP-NEO-120), self-harm (K-SHI), and psychological flexibility (K-AAQ-II) in 551 South Korean adults (M=271, F=280, age range: 20–59 years). Results showed that psychological flexibility moderated the relationship between neuroticism and self-harm. Neuroticism significantly predicted self-harming behaviors when psychological flexibility was low or moderate, whereas high psychological flexibility prevented the risk of a connection between neuroticism and self-harm. Psychological flexibility may need to be addressed in clinical interventions and in self-harm prevention.

Resilience process of a victim sexual violence in women: Transformation from victim to activist

Humans face numerous life challenges and phenomena that could cause traumatic feelings, such as violent cases. Amid these challenges, resilience was an essential psychological ability for individuals, including victims of sexual violence. Thus, this study aimed to determine the resilience process, factors that influenced and the meaning of the resilience process traversed by women victims of sexual violence. This research involved three informants who were victims of sexual violence. A qualitative method with a phenomenological approach was applied in this study. The semi-structured interviews were conducted in data collection. The data were analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Based on the analysis of transcribed interviews, three themes emerged: experienced various unpleasant emotions, coped and adapted with the situation, experienced several changes in herself and became resilient. Participants also have their meaning of the resilience process. Furthermore, the new finding is the pain victims experience, and their coping forces them to become resilient and join the organization that focuses on against sexual violence. Internal and external factors affect the resilience of victims, including empathy, social concern, and goals to be achieved. The implication of this study is to enhance the current literature on resilience and as additional knowledge to understand the resilience process and factors that influence victims of sexual violence to become resilient.

Estimating the Emotional Information in Japanese Songs Using Search Engines.

Several studies have shown that music can reduce unpleasant emotions. Based on the results of this research, several systems have been proposed to suggest songs that match the emotions of the audience. As a part of the system, we aim to develop a method that can infer the emotional value of a song from its Japanese lyrics with higher accuracy, by applying the technology of inferring the emotions expressed in sentences. In addition to matching with a basic emotion dictionary, we use a Web search engine to evaluate the sentiment of words that are not included in the dictionary. As a further improvement, as a pre-processing of the input to the system, the system corrects the omissions of the following verbs or particles and inverted sentences, which are frequently used in Japanese lyrics, into normal sentences. We quantitatively evaluate the degree to which these processes improve the emotion estimation system. The results show that the preprocessing could improve the accuracy by about 4%. Japanese lyrics contain many informal sentences such as inversions. We pre-processed these sentences into formal sentences and investigated the effect of the pre-processing on the emotional inference of the lyrics. The results show that the preprocessing may improve the accuracy of emotion estimation.

Is a pandemic as good as a rest? Comparing athlete burnout and stress before and after the suspension of organised team sport due to Covid-19 restrictions, and investigating the impact of athletes’ responses to this period

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in social-distancing measures and the suspension of organised sport globally, and has been shown to have negatively impacted mental health. However, athletes may have experienced reprieve from sport demands, which have previously been linked with maladaptive responses such as burnout and stress. The aims of this study were (1) compare levels of burnout and stress reported by Gaelic games athletes pre- and post-COVID-19 suspension period, (2) explore how athletes utilised and perceived this period and the return to sport, and (3) examine the implications of this for burnout. Participants completed an online questionnaire, which included the athlete burnout questionnaire, perceived stress scale, sport emotion questionnaire, demographic questions, weekly training hours, and other hours for sport (e.g. travel) before Covid-19 (BC-19) and after the Covid-19-induced suspension (AC-19_S). Questions relating to how athletes utilised (e.g. training focus) and perceived (positive/negative impact) the period were included AC-19 S. Data was compared across time-points and we explored predictors of burnout AC-19_S. Ninety-two athletes completed the questionnaire at both time-points. No significant differences in burnout or stress were identified, suggesting the suspension period did not significantly impact these variables. Burnout BC-19, stress AC-19_S, unpleasant emotions about returning to sport and using the period to rest/recover positively predicted burnout AC-19_S. Reduction in other hours across time-points and pleasant emotions about returning predicted lower burnout. Results suggest an athletes’ response to a suspension period and subsequent return to sport can impact feelings of burnout, and may have implications for future unanticipated change events.

Meta-Analysis of Mindfulness-Based Program Soles of the Feet for Disruptive Behaviors.

Mindfulness-based programs are a promising intervention modality for reducing disruptive behavior, and Soles of the Feet (SOF) is one program that teaches internal awareness of personal events (e.g., unpleasant emotions) and a self-regulation strategy to decrease disruptive behaviors. This study conducted a meta-analysis of single-case research design (SCRD) studies that implemented SOF to decrease disruptive behaviors. Existing SOF studies were evaluated using high-quality SCRD standards, resulting in 15 studies included in the analysis (49 participants; mean age 23.12 years (SD = 15.87); highly heterogeneous backgrounds). Studies were analyzed to calculate effect sizes using Tau-U, an innovative non-parametric statistical approach for estimating effect sizes in SCRD studies. The aggregated weighted Tau-U effect size of SOF across all studies was -0.87. Moderator analyses indicated SOF's effectiveness was robust across participant characteristics and delivery formats. This meta-analysis suggests that SOF is a moderately effective evidence-based practice for reducing disruptive behavior.

Emotional Depth, Ambivalence, and Affective Propulsion

Unpleasant emotions can be strongly “propulsive,” spurring us to make changes to our situation, perspective, values, and commitments. These changes are often positive, even crucial to our pursuit of the good life. But under what conditions are unpleasant emotions strongly propulsive? I argue that the source of affective propulsion should not be located in the mere unpleasantness of a given emotion, but, rather, in the emotional context in which the emotion arises. Drawing on Martin Heidegger’s comparative analysis of “shallow” and “deep” boredom, I claim that the propulsive quality of an emotion arises not from its intrinsic properties but from the ambivalence generated when two affective states simultaneously influence our sense-making activity in opposing ways.

Using meditation in a control vs. acceptance context: A preliminary evaluation of relations with anxiety, depression, and indices of well-being.

Meditation practices have been marketed broadly to ameliorate human suffering. As such, individuals may seek out and use meditation to control or manage unpleasant thoughts and emotions. Emotion and thought control research suggest that meditation used in this way may potentiate unpleasant private experiences and contribute to negative outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the function or purpose guiding meditation and its relations with anxiety, depression, and other indices of well-being. In a cross-sectional design, undergraduate meditators (N = 98) reported intentions guiding their meditation practice (i.e., experiential/emotional control or acceptance/openness) and completed an assessment battery. Most participants (58.2%) indicated using meditation to manage, control, or avoid difficult experiences. Participants using meditation with control-based intentions reported greater worry, anxiety, depression, negative affect, and lower mindfulness relative to their acceptance-guided counterparts. After controlling for level of anxiety, viewing anxiety as a problem increased the likelihood of using meditation with control-based intentions. Similar relations were observed between viewing stress as a problem and the likelihood of using meditation for experiential control. Findings suggest that (a) how people meditate is significantly related to psychological distress and (b) highlight the importance of evaluating intentions guiding meditative practices, particularly in individuals struggling with unpleasant emotional or psychological experiences.

Emotions and emotion up-regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

In stressful situations such as the COVID-19-pandemic, unpleasant emotions are expected to increase while pleasant emotions will likely decrease. Little is known about the role cognitive appraisals, information management, and upregulating pleasant emotions can play to support emotion regulation in a pandemic. In an online survey (N = 1682), we investigated predictors of changes in pleasant and unpleasant emotions in a German sample (aged 18–88 years) shortly after the first restrictions were imposed. Crisis self-efficacy and felt restriction were predictors of changes in unpleasant emotions and joy alike. The application of emotion up-regulation strategies was weakly associated with changes in joy. Among the different upregulation strategies, only “savouring the moment” predicted changes in joy. Our study informs future research perspectives assessing the role of upregulating pleasant emotions under challenging circumstances.

A Mixed-Method Examination of Coaches’ Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Toward Athletes

Athletes often upregulate and downregulate pleasant or unpleasant emotions to feel or perform better (i.e., for hedonic or instrumental reasons). In addition to athletes regulating their own emotions, interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) also occurs in sports, wherein individuals attempt to regulate the emotions of others. Although previous research has examined IER between teammates, studies have rarely considered coaches’ efforts to regulate athletes’ emotions. The current mixed-method study explored coaches’ beliefs about athletes’ emotions and engagement in IER. Analysis of quantitative survey data (N = 208) and qualitative interview data (n = 10) from competitive level coaches (Mage = 44.0 ± 13.2 years) revealed that coaches perceived both benefits and detriments of various emotions, and coaches’ beliefs about emotions influenced the ways they attempted to regulate athletes’ emotions. Most coaches reported frequently engaging in affect-improving IER. Although the coaches generally opposed the idea of intentionally worsening athletes’ emotions, sometimes their feedback to athletes had the effect of worsening their emotions. Coaches also emphasized the need to consider athletes’ individual differences when engaging in IER. The current findings highlight the relevance of coaches’ IER, suggest several directions for future research, and offer useful considerations for coaches and coach education programs.

Free Papers Compiled

Free Papers Compiled

The effect of personality characteristics combined with behavioral activation system (BAS) / behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and sport emotional induction on working memory

Abstract Study aim: To investigate the interactive effects of behavioral activation or behavioral inhibition and induced pleasant or unpleasant emotions on working memory performance among young adults. Material and methods: Eighty participants (age 18–32 years) were randomly classified into 2 groups behavioral activation or inhibition and then sub-divided further via whether they received inductions in either pleasant emotions or unpleasant emotions. A pre-test measure of the working memory test was recorded and repeated after emotional induction. Results: The ANOVA analysis indicated significant effect of PERSONALITY factor (F1,76 = 4.760, p = 0.0322, ηp 2 = 0.059) on results of the working memory test. The memory performance of the behavioral activation group that received positive emotion was better than the other groups, and the working memory performance of the behavioral inhibition group that received positive emotion was poorer than the other groups. Furthermore, the working memory performance of the behavioral activation group (positive emotion) was better than the other groups. Also, the working memory performance of the behavioral inhibition group (positive emotion) was poorer than the other groups. Conclusions: Finally, the findings support the different effects of the brain behavioral systems and sport emotional induction on working memory.

A Wearable Head Mounted Display Bio-Signals Pad System for Emotion Recognition.

Multimodal bio-signals acquisition based on wearable devices and using virtual reality (VR) as stimulus source are promising techniques in emotion recognition research field. Numerous studies have shown that emotional states can be better evoked through Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE). The main goal of this paper is to provide researchers with a system for emotion recognition in VR environments. In this paper, we present a wearable forehead bio-signals acquisition pad which is attached to Head-Mounted Displays (HMD), termed HMD Bio Pad. This system can simultaneously record emotion-related two-channel electroencephalography (EEG), one-channel electrodermal activity (EDA), photoplethysmograph (PPG) and skin temperature (SKT) signals. In addition, we develop a human-computer interaction (HCI) interface which researchers can carry out emotion recognition research using VR HMD as stimulus presentation device. To evaluate the performance of the proposed system, we conducted different experiments to validate the multimodal bio-signals quality, respectively. To validate EEG signal, we have assessed the performance in terms of EEG eyes-blink task and eyes-open and eyes-closed task. The EEG eyes-blink task indicates that the proposed system can achieve comparable EEG signal quality in comparison to the dedicated bio-signals measuring device. The eyes-open and eyes-closed task proves that the proposed system can efficiently record alpha rhythm. Then we used signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and Skin Conductance Reaction (SCR) signal to validate the performance for EDA acquisition system. A filtered EDA signal, with a high mean SNR of 28.52 dB, is plotted on HCI interface. Moreover, the SCR signal related to stimulus response can be correctly extracted from EDA signal. The SKT acquisition system has been validated effectively by the temperature change experiment when subjects are in unpleasant emotion. The pulse rate (PR) estimated from PPG signal achieved the low mean average absolute error (AAE), which is 1.12 beats per minute (BPM) over 8 recordings. In summary, the proposed HMD Bio Pad offers a portable, comfortable and easy-to-wear device for recording bio-signals. The proposed system could contribute to emotion recognition research in VR environments.

Effectiveness of ‘Relapse Prevention Therapy’ on High-Risk Situations for Alcohol Use Among Alcohol Dependents

Introduction: Alcohol dependence is a major health concern. It is a progressive and fatal condition influenced by various factors such as heredity, psychology, and environment. There are intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social high-risk situations associated with relapse. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of “relapse prevention therapy” on high-risk situations for alcohol use among alcohol dependents. Methods: A preexperimental design was used. The study was registered with Central Trial Registry of India (CTRI). Total 32 patients from Drug De-addiction and Treatment Centre Out Patient Department (OPD), Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, were selected by using the purposive sampling technique. The tools used for data collection were sociodemographic datasheet cum clinical datasheet of the patient and inventory of drug-taking situations (IDTS-8). Patients received three sessions of relapse prevention therapy. Follow-up was done after eight weeks of relapse prevention therapy. Data was analyzed by both per-protocol analysis and worst-case analysis. Results: All three sessions were completed by 71.9% participants. Participants reported unpleasant emotions as the most frequent cause of their drinking. It was found that there was a significant reduction in alcohol consumption because of high-risk situations ( P =< .05) in both the analysis. Conclusion: Relapse prevention therapy was effective in dealing with high-risk situations for alcohol use.

Perceived motivational climate influences athletes’ emotion regulation strategies, emotions, and psychobiosocial experiences

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether athletes’ perceptions about the motivational climate created by their coach influence emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), emotions, and psychobiosocial experiences of athletes. A sample of 459 competitive athletes (201 women, 258 men), aged 16–35 years, drawn from individual and team sports, completed self-assessment measures of perceived motivational climate, emotion regulation, sport emotions, and psychobiosocial experiences. Main results from structural equation modeling showed that perceived mastery climate was positively related to cognitive reappraisal, pleasant emotions, and psychobiosocial experiences, while perceived performance climate was positively related to expressive suppression and unpleasant emotions. Moreover, mediation analysis showed perceived mastery climate to have positive indirect effects on pleasant emotions and psychobiosocial experiences via cognitive reappraisal, while performance climate had indirect effects on unpleasant emotions via expressive suppression. Overall findings suggest that the type of motivational climate created by the coach has consequences in terms of athletes’ emotion regulation strategies, emotions, and psychobiosocial experiences.

Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Out-of-Hospital Health Professionals: A Living Systematic Review.

Health professionals (HPs), especially those working in the front line, have been one of the groups most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study is to identify the best available scientific evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of out-of-hospital HPs in terms of stress, anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy. A living systematic review of the literature was designed, consulting the electronic online versions of the CINHAL, Cochrane Library, Cuiden, IBECS, JBI, LILACS, Medline PyscoDoc, PsycoINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases in November 2021. Original research was selected, published in either English, Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese. In total, 2082 publications were identified, of which 16 were included in this review. The mental health of out-of-hospital HPs was affected. Being a woman or having direct contact with patients showing suspicious signs of COVID-19 or confirmed cases were the factors related to a greater risk of developing high levels of stress and anxiety; in the case of depressive symptoms, it was having a clinical history of illnesses that could weaken their defenses against infection. Stopping unpleasant emotions and thoughts was the coping strategy most frequently used by these HPs.

Clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study among child and adolescent psychiatrists across the world

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has directly impacted the field of child and adolescent psychiatry, affecting all aspects of the lives of children and their families and increasing their risk of distress and mental health issues, especially among children with preexisting psychiatric disorders. Child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAPs) across the world have had to adapt their practice, due to lockdown and social distancing measures. This study aimed to explore how CAPs experienced their clinical practice in these singular conditions.MethodsThis exploratory international qualitative study used the Inductive Process to analyse the Structure of lived Experience (IPSE) approach, which is a five-stage inductive process used to explore the lived experience of participants in depth and to analyze their structure of lived experience. This study took place from March through July 2020 through individual in-depth video interviews. The sample size was determined according to the principles of theoretical sufficiency.Results39 CAPs from 26 countries participated (age range 32–70 years; 23 women). Data analysis produced a structure of lived experience comprising three central axes of experience: (1) lost in space, lost in time, describing CAPs’ experience of disorganization of their clinical practice in the dimensions of lived time and lived space, (2) the body—of CAPs and patients—underlining their disconcerting experience of both sensory aspects and the non-embodied encounter during clinical practice, and (3) unpleasant emotions, with angst and loneliness the two main feelings coloring their clinical practice experience.ConclusionsThis analysis of the structure of lived experience of CAPs went beyond the sole context of the pandemic and revealed key aspects of what usually organizes CAP clinical practice. It identified two blind spots or conceptual voids within the child and adolescent psychiatry field: first, the intrinsic therapeutic function of a CAP clinical practice and, second, the important diagnostic and therapeutic function of the embodied encounter during CAP consultations. Beyond the context of COVID-19, further research should investigate these aspects to better define what a CAP does in practice and to increase both attractiveness and recruitment in this specialty.

Barriers to weight management in pregnant mothers with obesity: a qualitative study on mothers with low socioeconomic background

BackgroundMaternal obesity is a public health issue that could affect both women’s and children’s health. This qualitative study aimed to identify barriers to weight management of pregnant women with obesity and low socioeconomic backgrounds.MethodsThe current qualitative study has been conducted using a grounded theory approach by analyzing data collected from in-depth interviews with clients of Tehran’s public health care centers for prenatal care. The criteria for selecting participants were excessive weight gain during the first two trimesters of pregnancy, low socioeconomic status, and willingness to share their experiences. A semi-structured guide consisting of open-ended questions was asked in a private room. Open, axial, and selective coding were applied to the data.FindingsFour main themes emerged from data, each of which has some subcategories: 1) personal factors (unpleasant emotions and feelings, personal tastes/hobbies, workload and responsibilities, and history of diseases), 2) pregnancy status (unintended and high-risk pregnancy), 3) interpersonal relationships and support (lack of a spouse’s support and unhealthy role modeling of relatives), 4) socio-cultural factors/influences (social norms and values, lack of access to health services, and unreliable information channels).ConclusionsThis study provides an overview of the barriers to the weight management of pregnant women from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The results could help develop appropriate health strategies for low socioeconomic women with obesity. Also, health care providers for this group of women could use these findings as a guide to consider their conditions and background.