Subjective happiness and autobiographical memory: Differences in the ratio of positive events and transmission as emotional expression

Mnemonic emotion regulation: a three-process model

Emotion regulation comprises attempts to influence when and how emotions are experienced and expressed. It has mostly been conceived of as proactive (e.g. situation selection) or reactive (e.g. attentional distraction), but it may also be retroactive and involve memory. I term such past-oriented activity mnemonic emotion regulation and propose that it involves increasing or decreasing access to or altering the characteristics of a memory. People may increase access to a memory and make it more likely that it will be retrieved in the future, for example by rehearsing a pleasant memory. They may decrease access to a memory and make it less likely that intrusions will be experienced in the future, for example by repeatedly trying to stop an unpleasant memory from being retrieved. Finally, people may alter the characteristics of a memory and change its content or context, for example by replacing a negative impression with a productive interpretation. I discuss how mnemonic emotion regulation may be instigated (e.g. via elaborate rehearsal) as well as the different motives (e.g. hedonic motives) people may have for engaging in regulation. Also, I discuss possible benefits of, variations in, and improvements of mnemonic emotion regulation.

An International Study of Emotional Response to Bilateral Vision Loss Using a Novel Graphical Online Assessment Tool

BACKGROUND

Leber׳s hereditary optic neuropathy usually causes rapid bilateral blindness in young adults, and thus represents a unique and severe psychologic stressor.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to describe adjustment to this major life event, using a new tool to enhance recall of past affective states by using life event-related context. This is the largest (n = 116 with Leber׳s hereditary optic neuropathy), and first study reporting on the emotional aspects of this nontrauma cause of blindness.

METHODS

We developed a new online survey tool that allowed study subjects to report their mood over a long period of time, corresponding with dates of relevant life events.

RESULTS

The new method provided data of great richness for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Three groups were identified: a group in which majority of them had severe sadness at the point of vision loss followed by a period of recovery, a group whose sadness had not recovered, and a group for whom vision loss was not a major cause of sadness compared with other life events. We identified numerous factors that were important in psychologic recovery, and premorbid psychologic symptoms were more frequent in those who had not yet recovered.

CONCLUSIONS

These data may assist behavioral health providers in identifying patients with vision loss to be at risk of mental health problems and in developing support and treatment interventions. We believe this new method has great potential for studying psychologic adjustment retrospectively.