Capturing emotion coherence in daily life: Using ambulatory physiology measures and ecological momentary assessments to examine within-person associations and individual differences

Which emotion regulation strategy is efficient for whom? Reappraisal and suppression efficiency for adaptive and maladaptive personality profiles

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the efficiency of different emotion regulation strategies, specifically reappraisal and suppression, in relation to adaptive and maladaptive personality profiles.

BACKGROUND

Personality conditions emotions and influences emotion regulation. Of the available regulation strategies, reappraisal (reinterpreting the situation) is described as an efficient strategy, whereas suppression (not displaying the experienced emotion) carries higher physiological and cognitive costs. Little is known, however, about the influence of personality on these efficiencies.

METHOD

We tested the personality structure of 102 participants (Meanage = 20.75, SDage = 2.15), based on the Five-Factor Model and the Maladaptive Personality Trait Model. Experience, expressivity, and physiological arousal were recorded during the viewing of emotionally charged positive and negative images while participants reappraised, suppressed, or viewed the images without regulating their emotions.

RESULTS

We identified two clusters for adaptive personality ("Adaptive Resilient" and "Anti-resilient") and two for maladaptive personality ("Maladaptive Resilient" and "Under-controlled"). The major finding was for emotional experience in maladaptive personalities, where reappraisal was efficient in the Maladaptive Resilient profile, while none of the strategies brought relief in the Under-controlled profile.

CONCLUSION

This study, which systematically contrasts personality and efficiency of emotion regulation strategies, is one of the first attempts to refine the understanding of how personality influences the emotional regulation process.

Distinguishing Emotion Regulation Success in Daily Life From Maladaptive Regulation and Dysregulation

ACADEMIC ABSTRACT

This paper aims to motivate research on emotion regulation success in naturalistic settings. We define emotion regulation success as achieving one's emotion regulation goal and differentiate it from related concepts (i.e., maladaptive regulation and dysregulation). As goals vary across individuals and situations, it is insufficient to conceptualize emotion regulation success as maximizing positive affect and minimizing negative affect. Instead, emotion regulation success can be measured through novel approaches targeting the achievement of emotion regulation goals. In addition to utilizing novel data analytic tools (e.g., response surface analyses), future research can make use of informant reports and observing ambulatory behavior or physiology. Considering emotion regulation goals when measuring daily emotion regulation success has the potential to answer key questions about personality, development, and mental health.

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

People differ in how they want to feel in daily situations (e.g., excited) and why they want to feel that way (e.g., to make others feel better), depending on factors such as culture or age. Although people manage their emotions to reach these goals, most research assessing emotion regulation success has not taken individual goals into account. When assessing if people successfully regulate their emotions, most research in daily life has been focused on whether people feel more positive or less negative. To help study emotion regulation success in a more thoughtful and inclusive way, we propose a new approach to conceptualizing emotion regulation success that incorporates individual differences in what motivates people to regulate and discuss future research directions and applications.

Interoceptive beliefs moderate the link between physiological and emotional arousal during an acute stressor

Growing work suggests that interoception, that is, representations of one's internal bodily changes, plays a role in shaping emotional experiences. Past studies primarily examine how behavioral accuracy in detecting interoceptive signals (interoceptive ability) relates to emotional states, with less work examining self-reported interoceptive facets such as the characterizations of one's interoceptive abilities (interoceptive sensibility) or evaluative beliefs about the value versus danger of interoceptive signals (interoceptive beliefs). However, existing studies rarely examine physiological reactivity, behavioral, and self-reported dimensions of interoception together in the same sample. As such, it remains unclear whether and how much individual differences in interoceptive facets uniquely and in interaction with physiological reactivity may matter for emotional experience. Herein, 250 healthy young adults completed a heartbeat detection task assessing interoceptive ability and questionnaire measures of interoceptive sensibility and beliefs during an initial laboratory visit. At a follow-up session, 227 participants returned to undergo an acute psychosocial stressor. Measures of physiological arousal such as preejection period (PEP) and heart rate variability were acquired throughout the stressor with self-reported emotions acquired immediately after. Linear regressions revealed that greater sympathetic nervous system reactivity (i.e., PEP), poorer interoceptive ability (i.e., accuracy), and less positive interoceptive beliefs were related to more intense high arousal emotions during the stressor. Importantly, across models, interoceptive beliefs was the only interoceptive facet to moderate the concordance between physiological and emotional arousal. Implications for psychological theories of emotion, stress, and interoception are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Physiology and emotions: Within individual associations during caregiver-adolescent conflict

Concordance between physiological and emotional responses is central to models of emotion and has been shown to correspond to effective responses and well-being in adults. A deeper understanding of physiological-emotional concordance during ecologically relevant scenarios is essential to then determine if these associations predict mental health problems or can serve as a helpful biomarker of risk or resilience in adults and youth. The present study assessed the minute-to-minute associations between sympathetic (i.e., skin conductance level [SCL]) and parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) nervous system activity and self-reported emotions, assessed via video-mediated recall procedures, during a parent-adolescent conflict discussion task. Associations between emotion ratings and physiological activity were assessed in adolescents (N = 97; ages 10-15) and their adult caregivers (N = 97). Utilizing a multilevel modeling approach, findings demonstrated a significant positive association between SCL and emotion ratings for youth, suggesting that increased engagement and alertness contributed to more positive emotion. RSA was unrelated to emotion ratings. The presence of significant variability in associations indicated the presence of potential moderators. This could include clinically relevant processes (e.g., emotion regulation, relationship quality, and mental health). Future research should continue to build on findings to determine if, when, and for whom, physiological-emotional concordance occurs, and whether the degree of concordance predicts risk for mental and physical health problems.

Testing emotional response coherence assumptions: Comparing emotional versus non-emotional states

Although central to theories of emotion, emotional response coherence, that is, coordination among various emotion response systems, has received inconsistent empirical support. This study tests a basic assumption of response coherence, that is, that it characterizes emotional states defining their beginning and end. To do so, we (a) compare response coherence between emotional versus non-emotional states and (b) examine how emotional coherence changes over time, before, during, and after an emotional episode. Seventy-nine participants viewed neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant film clips and rated continuously how pleasant they felt (experience) before (anticipation), during, and after (recovery) each clip. Autonomic physiological arousal responses (skin conductance level, heart rate; physiology) and facial expressions (corrugator, zygomatic activity; expression) were recorded. Within-person cross-correlations between all emotional response pairs were calculated for each phase. Analyses comparing coherence during emotional versus neutral film viewing showed that only experience-expression coherence was higher for emotional versus neutral films, indicating specificity for emotional states. Examining coherence across phases indicated that coherence increased from anticipation to emotional film viewing, as expected, for experience-expression and experience-physiology pairs (SCL only). Of those pairs, increased coherence returned to baseline during recovery, as theoretically assumed, only for experience-corrugator activity coherence. Current findings provide empirical support for theoretical views of response coherence as a defining feature of emotional episodes, but mostly for the coherence between experience and facial expressions. Further research needs to investigate the role of sympathetic arousal indices, as well as the role of response coherence in emotional recovery.

Affect Across the Wake-Sleep Cycle

Affective scientists traditionally have focused on periods of active wakefulness when people are responding to external stimuli or engaging in specific tasks. However, we live much of our lives immersed in experiences not related to the current environment or tasks at hand-mind-wandering (or daydreaming) during wakefulness and dreaming during sleep. Despite being disconnected from the immediate environment, our brains still generate affect during such periods. Yet, research on stimulus-independent affect has remained largely separate from affective science. Here, we suggest that one key future direction for affective science will be to expand our field of view by integrating the wealth of findings from research on mind-wandering, sleep, and dreaming to provide a more comprehensive account of affect across the wake-sleep cycle. In developing our argument, we address two key issues: affect variation across the wake-sleep cycle, and the benefits of expanding the study of affect across the full wake-sleep cycle. In considering these issues, we highlight the methodological and clinical implications for affective science.

Coherence and divergence in autonomic-subjective affective space

A central tenet of many theories of emotion is that emotional states are accompanied by distinct patterns of autonomic activity. However, experimental studies of coherence between subjective and autonomic responses during emotional states provide little evidence of coherence. Crucially, previous studies investigating coherence have either adopted univariate approaches or made limited use of multivariate analytic approaches by investigating subjective and autonomic responses separately. The current study addressed this question using a multivariate dimensional approach to build a common autonomic-subjective affective space incorporating subjective responses and three different autonomic signals (heart rate, skin conductance response, and pupil diameter), measured during an emotion-inducing task, in 51 participants. Results showed that autonomic and subjective responses could be adequately described in a two-dimensional affective space. The first dimension included contributions from subjective and autonomic responses, indicating coherence, while contributions to the second dimension were almost exclusively of autonomic covariance. Thus, while there was a degree of coherence between autonomic and subjective emotional responses, there was substantial structure in autonomic responses that did not covary with subjective emotional experience. This study, therefore, contributes new insights into the relationship between subjective and autonomic emotional responses, and provides a framework for future multimodal emotion research, enabling both hypothesis- and data-driven testing.

Examining Stress and Residual Symptoms in Remitted and Partially Remitted Depression Using a Wearable Electrodermal Activity Device: A Pilot Study

Consistent evidence suggests residual symptoms and stress are the most reliable predictors of relapse in remitted depression. Prevailing methodologies often do not enable continuous real-time sampling of stress. Thus, little is known about day-to-day interactions between residual symptoms and stress in remitted depression. In preparation for a full-scale trial, this study aimed to pilot a wrist-worn wearable electrodermal activity monitor: ADI (Analog Devices, Inc.) Study Watch for assessing interactions between physiological stress and residual depressive symptoms following depression remission. 13 individuals remitted from major depression completed baseline, daily diary, and post-daily diary assessments. Self-reported stress and residual symptoms were measured at baseline and post-daily diary. Diary assessments required participants to wear ADI's Study Watch during waking hours and complete self-report questionnaires every evening over one week. Sleep problems, fatigue, energy loss, and agitation were the most frequently reported residual symptoms. Average skin conductance responses (SCRs) were 16.09 per-hour, with an average of 11.30 hours of wear time per-day. Increased residual symptoms were associated with enhanced self-reported stress on the same day. Increased SCRs on one day predicted increased residual symptoms on the next day. This study showed a wearable electrodermal activity device can be recommended for examining stress as a predictor of remitted depression. This study also provides preliminary work on relationships between residual symptoms and stress in remitted depression. Importantly, significant findings from the small sample of this pilot are preliminary with an aim to follow up with a 3-week full-scale study to draw conclusions about psychological processes explored. Clinical and Translational Impact Statemen-ADI's wearable electrodermal activity device enables a continuous measure of physiological stress for identifying its interactions with residual depressive symptoms following remission. This novel procedure is promising for future studies.

Psychological distress among hospital caregivers during and after the first wave of COVID-19: Individual factors involved in the severity of symptoms expression

Coronavirus disease 2019 has spread rapidly over the globe and has put an unprecedent psychological pressure on health care workers (HCWs). The present study aimed at quantifying the psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on HCWs during and after the first wave and identify sociodemographic, situational, and psychological risk/protective factors for symptoms severity. An online survey was sent by e-mail to all nurses and physicians employed by a teaching hospital in Brussels, Belgium. 542 (20,62%) completed the survey. 47%, 55%, 32% and 52% of participants reported posttraumatic stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia symptoms, respectively, during the peak. Two to three months later, posttraumatic symptoms emerged de novo in 54% of HCWs. It persisted in 89% of those presenting severe symptoms initially. Neuroticism was the strongest predictor of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and insomnia. Work overload was the strongest predictor of depression and second predictor of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and insomnia. Other significant predictors included being a nurse, the number of past traumatic experiences, avoidant coping style, and expressive suppression of emotions.

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.

Advancing models and methods of emotional concordance

Emotional concordance refers to dynamic coordination of two or more components of the emotion system in response to environmental demands. Concordance can occur within a person (e.g., sympathetic arousal with a fearful expression) and between persons (e.g., similar emotional expressions in couples). This introduction to the 2021 special issue examines current models and methods of concordance. First, we highlight how emotion researchers have begun to focus on concordance across a range of populations and contexts. Second, we note concordance research benefits from examination of multiple emotion systems simultaneously (within- and/or between-persons), resulting in a multivariate time series. Finally, we describe recent efforts to understand the functional (e.g., health-related) consequences of concordance. The articles in this special issue collectively point toward exciting new directions in examining whether and when concordance occurs, and how it varies by individual differences, context, and measures.