On the relative effectiveness of affect regulation strategies: A meta-analysis

The Impact of Virtual Reality Intervention on Emotion Regulation and Executive Functions in Autistic Children

Introduction: Autistic children may encounter difficulties in managing emotions and executive functions (EFs), which can contribute to mental and health challenges. Recognizing physical activities as a potential strategy for enhancing emotion regulation (ER), this study aims to investigate the efficacy of a virtual reality (VR)-based physical exercise program in improving ER and EFs among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Materials and Methods: Forty boys diagnosed with ASD, aged 7 to 10 years, were randomly assigned to two groups: a VR intervention group (n = 20) and a control group (n = 20). The intervention group participated in a VR program, while the control group solely concentrated on engaging in sedentary and inactive video gaming. EFs were evaluated through the utilization of both the flanker task and the Wisconsin card sorting task, both administered initially at baseline and subsequently after an 8-week interval. In addition, the parents of the children completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist to evaluate their ER skills. Results: According to the results, a significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of EFs and the ability to regulate emotion (P < 0.05). The intervention group demonstrated a notable improvement in ER skills and exhibited superior executive functioning abilities compared with the control group. Conclusion: It appears that VR exercises can serve as a preliminary trial to enhance EFs and ER in children with autism. In addition, they may prove effective as complementary interventions to traditional educational strategies in preventing future challenges associated with ASD.

Temporal dynamics of positive emotion regulation: insights from facial electromyography

Introduction

Emotion regulation (ER) is a complex process that manifests gradually over time. This study investigated the temporal dynamics of ER in modifying positive emotions in terms of both negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) dimensions.

Methods

After participants had been exposed to pleasant pictures for 8,000 ms, they received instructions to either continue viewing the picture (no regulation) or reappraise it with a neutral meaning (neutralize goal) or negative meaning (transform goal) for another 8,000 ms. We obtained corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major electromyography (EMG) as objective measures of NA and PA.

Results

For the no-regulation condition, upon instruction onset, we observed maintained low levels of corrugator and high levels of zygomaticus EMG reactivity, indicating sustained PA activation. Compared to the no-regulation condition, for the neutralize goal, we observed no change in corrugator reactivity, which remained at a low level, while zygomaticus reduction started at 1,000 ms after instruction onset, indicating decreased PA and generation of a neutral emotional state. For the transform goal, we observed corrugator increase and zygomaticus decrease both starting at 1,500 ms after instruction onset and co-existing throughout the regulation period. These results indicate increased NA and decreased PA, relating to generation of a negative emotional state. The transform goal differed from the neutralize goal in terms of corrugator increase starting at 2,500 ms after instruction onset. Albeit simultaneous onset of changes on corrugator and zygomaticus reactivity under the transform goal, model-fitting analyses indicated that the best-fitting trajectory was one that first emphasized PA reduction until, at 3,000 ms, it turned into primary NA increase.

Discussion

These distinct temporal patterns highlight the possibility of effecting one-dimensional PA change with the neutralize goal and sequential two-dimensional change (first decreasing PA, then increasing NA) with the transform goal. This research sheds light on the time course of emotional change brought about by different regulatory goals.

A structural model of EFL teachers' physical activity, emotion regulation, and competence for online teaching

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a rapid shift to online teaching, placing unprecedented demands on educators' physical and mental well-being. However, the relationship between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' physical activity, emotion regulation, and competence for online teaching remains underexplored.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate the interplay between EFL teachers' physical activity, emotion regulation strategies, and competence for online teaching.

RESULTS

Structural equation modeling revealed significant direct and indirect effects, indicating that physical activity positively influences emotion regulation, which, in turn, enhances teachers' competence for online instruction. Furthermore, emotion regulation was found to mediate the relationship between physical activity and online teaching competence.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings underscore the importance of promoting physical activity among EFL teachers as a means to enhance their emotion regulation skills and competence for online teaching, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

IMPLICATIONS

The study highlights the need for targeted interventions aimed at supporting EFL teachers' well-being and professional development, with implications for educational policies, teacher training programs, and institutional support structures in the digital learning landscape.

A study of the interactive mediating effect of ADHD and NSSI caused by co-disease mechanisms in males and females

Background

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), of which the predisposing factors are complex and diverse, profoundly affects the physical and mental health of young people. Therefore, this work established an NSSI intermediary network model considering the interaction of multiple factors. A mediating effect between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and NSSI, considering the influence of comorbidities, such as depression, anxiety, and impulsive personality, was proposed based on sex differences.

Methods

A total of 2,689 middle school students in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China, were randomly sampled and participated in this study. Data regarding their demographic characteristics, attention deficit, hyperactivity/impulsivity, NSSI, anxiety, depression, internet addiction, and other comorbid symptoms were collected and analyzed. After initially screening the data, variables were assessed for significance using a single-factor inter-group difference analytic method, and a binary logistic regression analysis was performed. The intermediary effect of factors influencing NSSI in males and females was also analyzed.

Results

The overall NSSI rate was 15.16%. The results showed that the impact of individual impulsivity characteristics (impulsiveness, the ADHD with hyperactivity/impulsivity subtype) on NSSI behavior was not significant (regression results, P > 0.05). The degree of association between ADHD with attention deficit and ADHD with comprehension deficit subtypes, and other comorbid symptoms (depression, anxiety, and internet addiction disorder) and NSSI, with odds ratios (ORs) of 7.6/6.42/436.68/3.82/1.86, and 95% bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs) of 4.64, 12.87/3.46, 12.67/137.42, 2659.13/2.32, 6.37/1.31, 2.82, respectively. The results also showed significant effects of ADHD subtypes on comorbid symptoms and the path effects of NSSI (P < 0.01). Among them, the mediating effect was the strongest when anxiety was the mediating variable, and the mediating effect of girls was higher than that of boys.

Conclusion

The results of this work demonstrated the influence of ADHD symptoms on NSSI behavior. Among patients with ADHD, patients with subtypes with obvious attention deficit characteristics were more likely to exhibit NSSI behavior, whereas the hyperactive impulse subtype had no direct impact on NSSI. We conclude that adolescent impulsivity may not be directly related to NSSI behavior and that impulsive characteristics jointly affect NSSI behavior through a series of NSSI comorbid symptoms. Notably, the probability of symptom onset and the degree of comorbidity was significantly higher in girls than in boys of the same age, and girls were more prone to NSSI behavior. These findings provide effective theoretical support for the prevention and treatment of adolescent NSSI behavior.

Emotion regulation shows an age- and sex-specific moderating effect on the relationship between chronic stress and cognitive performance

Despite the extensive knowledge about the effects of chronic stress on cognition, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We conducted a cross-sectional moderation analysis on a population-based sample of 596 adults to examine the age- and sex-specific role of emotion regulation (ER) in the relationship between chronic stress and cognitive performance using validated self-report questionnaires. While women showed no direct or moderated relationship between stress and cognition, men displayed a distinct age-related pattern where stress was negatively associated with poorer cognitive performance at older ages, and the onset of this relationship was detected earlier in men with ER problems. These results showed that suppression of emotions and lack of executive control of ER amplify the negative consequences of chronic stress and suggest that there are sex-specific differences in the decline of ability to cope with long-term exposure to stressors.

The role of effective factors on suicidal tendency of women in Turkey

Background/Aim

This study aims to identify the variables that influence the suicidal tendency of women who are married, have had a relationship or are currently in a relationship in Turkey.

Methods

This study uses cross-sectional data from the 2014 Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies National Research on Domestic Violence Against Women in Turkey. Data from 6,458 women between the ages of 15 and 49 were analyzed in this dataset. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the factors influencing women's suicidal tendencies.

Results

Based on the analysis's findings, age, education level, health status, number of children, the sector in which the spouse/partner works, the drinking status of the spouse/partner, the situation where the spouse/partner fights with another man in a way that involves physical violence, the cheating status of the spouse/partner, the controlling behaviour of the spouse/partner, exposure to various types of violence by both the spouse/partner and someone other than the partner, and the household income level variables were found to be associated with the suicidal tendency of women.

Conclusion

Prioritizing women who are, in particular, between the ages of 15 and 24, live in the south of Turkey, have a high school education, are in poor health, are childless, have low household incomes, live with an unemployed spouse or partner, and are exposed to various forms of violence from their partner or other sources can be achieved more effective results in reducing and preventing women's suicidal behaviors.

Quantitative versus qualitative emotion regulation goals: Differential effects on emotional responses

Emotion regulation (ER) involves both a goal (e.g., to feel less emotion) and a strategy (e.g., reappraisal). To clarify the impact of ER goals on emotional responding, we conducted a within-participant study (N = 156) in which we held the strategy constant (reappraisal) to isolate the impact of regulation goals. We compared the impact of a quantitative goal (changing emotion quantity/intensity) with that of a qualitative goal (changing emotion quality/type) on emotional responses to negative and positive pictures. We manipulated ER goals by cuing participants to continue viewing the picture (unregulated/no ER goal) or to reappraise it to decrease its predominant affective impact (quantitative goal) or increase its opposite-valence impact (qualitative goal). We assessed emotional responses through self-reported feelings and facial expressions (corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major electromyography). Our findings suggest that the type of regulation goal has a differential effect on emotional responses, with qualitative goals being more effective in modulating both negative and positive emotions. For negative stimuli, attempts to use a quantitative goal decreased negative but not positive emotional responses (uncoupled negative deactivation). Conversely, attempts to use a qualitative goal decreased negative and increased positive emotional responses (reciprocal positive activation). For positive stimuli, the quantitative goal generated uncoupled positive deactivation, while the qualitative goal produced reciprocal negative activation. Results highlight the importance of considering specific regulation goals in shaping emotional responses. Future research in the field of ER may benefit from identifying and manipulating different goals and strategies to understand how to effectively regulate emotions.

Exploration of a Psychological Defensive Syndrome Against Depressive Symptomatology in a Community Sample of Indian Women

The prevalence of depressive symptomatology in Indian women and the associated treatment gap are alarming and require interventions at a community level. Such interventions may succeed if the specific risk and protective factors are appropriately identified and addressed. Identifying such factors may suggest a Psychological Defensive Syndrome (PDS) against depressive symptomatology, and inculcating this PDS through specific interventions may help individuals manage depressive symptomatology. For evaluating the feasibility of such an idea, a two-phase research project was initiated, and the current paper presents findings of its first phase. The primary aim of the first phase was to explore the predictive relationship between depressive symptomatology and rumination, reappraisal, resilience, self-efficacy, neuroticism, and extraversion. A total of 671 women (Mage = 23.71) responded to standardized questionnaires in a semi-structured interview setting. The obtained data were subjected to correlational, regression, and path analysis. The findings support all the hypotheses; women, who reported less engagement in rumination and more in reappraisal, who scored low on neuroticism and high on extraversion, resilience and self-efficacy, showed less severe depressive symptoms than their counterparts. This pattern can be thought of as a PDS against depressive symptoms in Indian women. These results highlight the importance of addressing these factors in preventing and assuaging depressive symptomatology in Indian women.

Emotional cherry picking: the role of personality and goal orientation in selective emotion regulation for musical practice

Introduction

Emotion regulation is an important part of optimising performance and successful goal pursuit in practice-based tasks such as making music. Musicians may regulate their own emotions during the course of their musical practice in order to improve their performance and ultimately attain their practice-related goals. The specific emotions they target may depend upon their personality traits but may also relate to the nature of their goal orientation, and the interaction between the two. This study investigates whether the emotions desired by musicians in their musical practice were dependent on their personality traits and Mastery goal orientation (the desire to master musical and technical skills).

Methods

Via an online questionnaire, 421 musicians completed a personality scale and answered questions relating to their mastery practice goals. They also completed emotion scales indicating how strongly they desired to increase or decrease the intensity of specific emotions when practicing.

Results

Overall, musicians preferred to up-regulate positive rather than negative emotions [paired t(420) = 58.13, p < 0.001]. Bayesian Mixed Effects models showed that personality traits affected musicians' desire to regulate specific emotions. For example, higher levels of Agreeableness predicted greater desire to increase positive but not negative emotions, whereas Extraversion predicted greater desire to increase anger [Est. = 0.05, SE = 0.03, Odds (Est. > 0) = 43.03] but not positive emotions. The inclusion of Mastery goal orientation either amplified or mitigated these effects in several cases, and also introduced new trait-emotion relationships. Findings confirm a general hedonic principle underlying the emotions musicians desired in their musical practice. However, predicted by personality traits, musicians also sometimes sought to increase the intensity of unpleasant emotions.

Discussion

These findings complement existing research that suggests that some Mastery-oriented musicians may seek an emotional state consisting of both positive and negative emotions. This and future studies on this topic may contribute to a better understanding of individual differences in emotion regulation ability as a potential aspect of individualised musical practice strategies.

How regulation strategies protected or worsened emotional experience during France's three lockdowns: Prepandemic versus pandemic comparisons and longitudinal approach

The COVID-19 pandemic remains hugely challenging, but its impact on emotional experience, especially over time, has often been neglected. The French Government imposed three COVID lockdowns with varying degrees of strictness that induced different types of emotional discomfort and emotion regulation. The present longitudinal study explored affect and emotion regulation strategies in each of these lockdowns, comparing samples assessed before and during the pandemic. The objective was to understand how government measures influenced subjective experience and how people adjusted their emotion regulation accordingly. The longitudinal lockdown sample comprised 164 participants (M_age = 37.60 years, SD = 12.50). Affect and emotion regulation were assessed in the first week of each of the three lockdowns (20-27 March 2020, 23-30 November 2020, and 19-26 April 2021). The 120 participants in the prepandemic (control) sample were drawn from previous studies focusing on affect and regulation strategies in natural everyday situations. Results indicated that affect deteriorated considerably, compared with prepandemic levels. Whereas activated negative affect (nervous and worried) tended to decrease, deactivated negative affect (sad and bored) increased. Regarding emotion regulation strategies, negative emotion expression was associated with more negative affect and less positive affect, while positive emotion expression and proactive behaviour were associated with a better emotional experience. A multivariate growth curve showed that in the absence of psychological support, stressful situations and repeated lockdowns do not induce people to make better emotion regulation strategy choices. As government restrictions had a negative impact on individuals' emotional experience, support programs should be implemented in future pandemics to promote emotion regulation.

"Studying cognitive reappraisal as an antidote to the effect of negative emotions on medical residents' learning: a randomized experiment"

BACKGROUND

Medical trainees often encounter situations that trigger emotional reactions which may hinder learning. Evidence of this effect on medical trainees is scarce and whether it could be counteracted is unclear. This study investigated the effect of negative emotions on medical residents' learning and whether cognitive reappraisal counteracts it.

METHODS

Ninety-nine medical residents participated in a three-phase experiment consisting of: (1) watching a video, either a neutral or an emotion-induction version, the latter either followed by cognitive reappraisal or not (2) learning: all participants studied the same medical text; study-time and cognitive engagement were measured; (3) test: a recall-test measured learning. Data was analysed using Chi-square test and one-way ANOVA.

RESULTS

Study time significantly varied between conditions (p = 0.002). The two emotional conditions spent similar time, both significantly less than the neutral condition. The difference in test scores failed to reach significance level (p = 0.053). While the emotional conditions performed similarly, their scores tended to be lower than those of the neutral condition.

CONCLUSION

Negative emotions can adversely affect medical residents' learning. The effect of emotions was not counteracted by cognitive reappraisal, which has been successfully employed to regulate emotions in other domains. Further research to examine emotion regulation strategies appropriate for medical education is much needed.

Psychological Resilience: An Affect-Regulation Framework

Exposure to adversity (e.g., poverty, bereavement) is a robust predictor of disruptions in psychological functioning. However, people vary greatly in their responses to adversity; some experience severe long-term disruptions, others experience minimal disruptions or even improvements. We refer to the latter outcomes-faring better than expected given adversity-as psychological resilience. Understanding what processes explain resilience has critical theoretical and practical implications. Yet, psychology's understanding of resilience is incomplete, for two reasons: (a) We lack conceptual clarity, and (b) two major approaches to resilience-the stress and coping approach and the emotion and emotion-regulation approach-have limitations and are relatively isolated from one another. To address these two obstacles,we first discuss conceptual questions about resilience. Next, we offer an integrative affect-regulation framework that capitalizes on complementary strengths of both approaches. This framework advances our understanding of resilience by integrating existing findings, highlighting gaps in knowledge, and guiding future research.

Happy Software: An interactive program based on an emotion management model for assertive conflict resolution

Emotions are key to conflict resolution: to resolve conflict situations assertively, we must be able to manage the emotions that cause them. After a detailed analysis of the relevant theoretical framework, this paper presents a theoretical emotion management model aimed at assertive conflict resolution. The model, which is described step by step, has been transformed into an interactive program for students, implemented, and assessed in a population aged 8-16 years. The model is divided into four steps or phases. The first is emotional awareness, which consists of understanding and legitimating emotions; the second focuses on reducing emotional intensity and impulsivity; the third encompasses the use of different emotion regulation strategies; and the fourth and final step is assertive communication. Training in this process results in better emotion management, which eventually leads to greater wellbeing and a more positive assessment of new conflicts and aids in the assertive resolution thereof. The final section of the paper summarizes the most important evidence and outcomes of the use of the Happy software so far.

Driven or lacking access: Integration types as a subdimension of the affect consciousness construct

Introduction

This article examines integration types as a sub-dimension of the affect consciousness construct to account for individual differences in how problems with the experience and expression of affects manifest. The two integration types driven and lack of access describe prototypical ways of experiencing and expressing affect, differentiating between problems characterized by too much or too little affective mobilization.

Methods

Archival data from a non-clinical sample (n = 157) was used to examine the validity and reliability of integration type scales from the Affect Integration Inventory (AII 2.0). Internal structure was assessed through confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) by structural equation modelling. Nomological validity was examined through tests of patterns of hypothesized associations between integration types across various affects and specific types of interpersonal problems (as measured by the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems; IIP-64).

Results

CFAs indicated acceptable fit for the different integration type scales and overall construct structure. Distinct sinusoidal patterns of correlations between integration types and interpersonal problems were found for the various affects examined. All correlation patterns had good fit (GoF ≥ 0.87), with significant differences in magnitude between peak and low point correlations.

Discussion

We conclude that differences in prototypical ways of experiencing and expressing affects can be assessed easily, quickly, and reliably, have theoretically consistent intra-domain relationships and valid structural psychometric properties, are robustly related to interpersonal functioning in general, and are systematically and differentially related to specific and theoretically hypothesized interpersonal problem types.

Reading struggle stories of role models can improve the perseverance of undergraduates with low perseverance

Perseverance refers to the ability that individuals show in the process of overcoming failure repeatedly and achieving success. The present study aimed to investigate how many stories about struggling role models undergraduates with a low level of perseverance need to read to effectively improve their perseverance after experiencing failure. Undergraduates with high and low levels of perseverance who had experienced failure were randomly assigned to read 5 struggle stories or 5 achievement stories of role models. They were asked to report their confidence in success, their emotional experience, and their persistent intentions after experiencing failure (i.e., their initial report after reading 0 stories) and then again after reading each story. The results showed that the participants' initially reported level of confidence in success improved after reading 1 struggle story of a role model and further improved after reading 5 struggle stories of role models. Furthermore, the participants' initially reported level of positive emotions increased after reading 1 struggle story or 1 achievement story of a role model, and the positive effects began to level off after reading 4 struggle stories or 4 achievement stories of role models. The participants' initially reported persistent intentions improved after reading 5 struggle stories of role models. These findings reveal that undergraduates can benefit from reading struggle stories of role models regardless of their perseverance levels. Undergraduates' confidence in success and their emotional experience can be improved more quickly than their persistent intentions after experiencing failure.

An experimental test of the effects of acute sleep deprivation on affect and avoidance

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Avoidance and sleep have been identified as mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of many mental health disorders. However, there has been little research into the relation between sleep and avoidance.

METHODS

To address this, a randomized controlled experiment using behavioral and self-report measures of affect and avoidance was conducted. Compared to a control group, we hypothesized that sleep-deprived individuals would demonstrate increased negative, and decreased positive, affectivity, more avoidance behavior toward a negatively valenced stimulus, as well as increased self-reported avoidance. Fifty-two healthy individuals ages 18-30 years old were randomly assigned to a full night of sleep deprivation or normal sleep. They completed a baseline and post-manipulation behavioral avoidance task (BAT) using a disgusting stimulus and self-reports of avoidance and state affect.

RESULTS

Repeated measures ANOVAs demonstrated negative affectivity and self-reported avoidance increased, and positive affectivity decreased, from pre-to post-manipulation in the sleep loss condition as expected. However, there were no effects of sleep deprivation on avoidance behaviors.

LIMITATIONS

This study emphasized internal validity over generalizability. Additionally, the at-home sleep deprivation limited researcher control over the overnight activities of participants.

CONCLUSIONS

Results replicate prior work on the affective consequences of sleep deprivation and highlight a discrepancy between the effect of sleep deprivation on behavioral avoidance toward a specific stimulus compared to self-reported cognitive and social avoidance behaviors.

Compassionate reappraisal and rumination impact forgiveness, emotion, sleep, and prosocial accountability

Sufficient sleep quality and quantity are important for biopsychosocial well-being. Correlational research has linked trait forgiveness to better sleep. Prior experimental evidence also demonstrated contrasting effects of offense rumination versus compassionate reappraisal on forgiveness and psychophysiological responses, suggesting the value of testing effects on sleep. The present study assessed 180 participants (90 M, 90 F). First, we replicated an individual difference model of forgiveness, rumination, depressed and anxious affect, and sleep. Second, we conducted a quasi-experiment inducing offense rumination and compassionate reappraisal on two consecutive nights. Compassionate reappraisal (vs. rumination) replicated past research by prompting more empathic, forgiving, positive, and social responses, with less negative emotion including anger. New findings revealed that compassionate reappraisal (vs. rumination) was also associated with faster sleep onset, fewer sleep disturbances, and fewer sleep impairing offense intrusions. The morning after compassionate reappraisal, participants reported less rumination and intrusive impact of the offense, with more hedonic well-being and accountability to others. Compared to rumination, compassionate reappraisal was associated with more empathy and forgiveness, better sleep, well-being, and prosociality.

Approaching or Decentering? Differential Neural Networks Underlying Experiential Emotion Regulation and Cognitive Defusion

The current study investigated the bottom-up experiential emotion regulation in comparison to the cognitiveve top down-approach of cognitive defusion. Rooted in an experiential- and client-centered psychotherapeutic approach, experiential emotion regulation involves an active, non-intervening, accepting, open and welcoming approach towards the bodily felt affective experience in a welcoming, compassionate way, expressed in ‘experiential awareness’ in a first phase, and its verbalization or ‘experiential expression’ in a second phase. Defusion refers to the ability to observe one’s thoughts and feelings in a detached manner. Nineteen healthy participants completed an emotion regulation task during fMRI scanning by processing highly arousing negative events by images. Both experiential emotion regulation and cognitive defusion resulted in higher negative emotion compared to a ‘watch’ control condition. On the neurophysiological level, experiential emotion regulation recruited brain areas that regulate attention towards affective- and somatosensorial experience such as the anterior cingulate cortex, the paracingulate gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the prefrontal pole, areas underlying multisensory information integration (e.g., angular gyrus), and linking body states to emotion recognition and awareness (e.g., postcentral gyrus). Experiential emotion regulation, relative to the control condition, also resulted in a higher interaction between the anterior insular cortex and left amygdala while participants experienced less negative emotion. Cognitive defusion decreased activation in the subcortical areas such as the brainstem, the thalamus, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. In contrast to cognitive defusion, experiential emotion regulation relative to demonstrated greater activation in the left angular gyrus, indicating more multisensory information integration. These findings provide insight into different and specific neural networks underlying psychotherapy-based experiential emotion regulation and cognitive defusion.

Deliberately retrieved negative memories can improve mood beyond the intention to do so

The role of autobiographical memory in emotion regulation is deemed as limited to the selective retrieval of positive memories intended as a distraction from unpleasant stimuli. The present experimental study is the first to examine whether negative autobiographical memories serve as a way to boost one’s mood by employing the mechanism of retrospective downward autobiographical comparison between now and then. We hypothesised that this mechanism may operate in response to negative memories, leading to positive mood induction. Ninety-nine students participated in four memory tasks: autobiographical positive, autobiographical negative, vicarious positive, and vicarious negative. Emotional states at pre- and post-tests were assessed using the implicit test differentiating positive (PA) and negative (NA) components of mood. The results replicated previous studies on the mood-repair effect of deliberate positive recall. The most striking finding is that negative autobiographical recall consistently boosted PA and inhibited NA. This result supported the idea of retrospective downward autobiographical comparison as a plausible mechanism behind the efficacy of negative memories in emotion regulation.

The role of creative cognitive reappraisals in positively transforming negative emotions

Recent studies have found the connections between cognitive reappraisals' creativity and their regulatory efficacy. The present study proposed and tested a novel hypothesis on the function of cognitive reappraisals, especially creative ones. That is, whether they could positively alter negative emotional arousal toward unpleasant stimuli. To this end, two questions were investigated: (a) whether the creative reappraisals were more capable than ordinary ones of transforming the negative stimuli (pictures) to be perceived as positive, and (b) whether these two kinds of reappraisals made the "negative-to-positive transformation" through different mechanisms. To answer the first question, we examined the power of the creative and ordinary reappraisals in making the "negative-to-positive transformation" using an indirect and delayed "positive-or-negative" picture-sorting task (Exp. 1, n = 41 with a statistical power of 0.877), or using a direct and immediate subjective rating (Exp. 2, n = 31 with a statistical power of 0.768). To answer the second question, we checked how the factor of creativeness (creative vs. ordinary reappraisal) interacted with the factor of "timing" (simultaneous vs. delayed reappraisal delivery, Exp. 1), or with that of "dose" (one vs. three reappraisal applications; Exp. 2), in making the "negative-to-positive transformation," respectively, and examined if the variation of "timing" or "dose" factors would exert different effects on the creative and ordinary reappraisals' regulatory function. Our results generally proved that creative reappraisal was more capable of making the "negative-to-positive transformation" than the ordinary reappraisal, regardless of the direct and indirect emotion evaluation ratings as well as the variations in the timing and dose of reappraisal delivery. Moreover, we found that these two kinds of reappraisals could show dissociable dose-dependent effects (but not timing-dependent ones), thus partially implying that creative and ordinary reappraisal might make the "negative-to-positive transformation" through fundamentally different processes or mechanisms.

The Development of Cognitive Reappraisal From Early Childhood Through Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Methodological Recommendations

Cognitive reappraisal is an important emotion regulation strategy that shows considerable developmental change in its use and effectiveness. This paper presents a systematic review of the evidence base regarding the development of cognitive reappraisal from early childhood through adolescence and provides methodological recommendations for future research. We searched Scopus, PsycINFO, and ERIC for empirical papers measuring cognitive reappraisal in normative samples of children and youth between the ages of 3 and 18 years published in peer-reviewed journals through August 9th, 2018. We identified 118 studies that met our inclusion criteria. We first present a quantitative review of the methodologies used to investigate cognitive reappraisal in children and adolescents, with attention to variations in methodologies by the sample age range. We then present a qualitative review of findings with attention to: (1) the age at which children begin to effectively use cognitive reappraisal to regulate their emotions, and (2) developmental changes in cognitive reappraisal from early childhood through adolescence. We consider how methodological differences may contribute to inconsistencies in findings, highlight gaps in the literature that remain to be addressed, and make recommendations for future directions.

Bottom-Up and Cognitive Top-Down Emotion Regulation: Experiential Emotion Regulation and Cognitive Reappraisal on Stress Relief and Follow-Up Sleep Physiology

Emotional stress throughout the day is known to affect objective sleep physiology and subjective sleep quality. In the interplay between emotions and sleep, emotion regulation plays a critical role in the recovery from stressful, emotional events and subsequent sleep. While the effects of top-down emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal on sleep have been studied before, the impact of bottom-up emotion regulation strategies such as experiential emotion regulation is understudied. Cognitive reappraisal reflects the cognitive reinterpretation of the meaning of a stressful event, while experiential emotion regulation involves an active, non-intervening, accepting, open and welcoming approach of acknowledging awareness of raw sensory affective experiences or 'experiential awareness' in a first phase and expression in a second phase. The present study aims to investigate the effects of experiential emotion regulation and cognitive reappraisal on the recovery from pre-sleep emotional stress measured by (1) negative affect and (2) sleep structure. Sleep of forty-three healthy Dutch-speaking participants (22 females, 21 males) has been assessed using EEG polysomnography. Stress was triggered using a pre-sleep emotional failure induction, after which emotion regulation by experiential emotion regulation versus cognitive reappraisal versus control was induced twice. The control condition consisted of the reallocation of attention towards the neutral aspects of the emotional event. The results indicated that recovery from negative affect of the failure experience after single or repeated deployment of experiential emotion regulation and cognitive reappraisal was not significantly different from the control condition. Moreover, after repeated deployment, sleep physiology did not significantly differ between experiential emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, and the control condition in the impact of the regulation of the failure experience. The implications of the distinctive impact of experiential emotion regulation and cognitive reappraisal on both the pre-sleep emotional experience and follow-up sleep physiology are discussed.

Epidemiology of psychotic-like experiences by subtypes and their relationship with emotional regulation and affective lability among Chinese college students

Although psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are transient and not pathognomonic for psychiatric disorders, they may increase the risk of concurrent and future psychiatric disorders. However, the prevalence of PLEs and the different effects of PLE subtypes on mood outcomes are still unclear. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the prevalence of PLE subtypes and explore their relationship with the use of specific emotion regulation strategies and the level of affective lability among college students. The history of PLEs, the level of affective lability, and the use of specific emotion regulation strategies were assessed via self-reported questionnaires, and 1905 college students and 1812 college students were included in separate analyses. This study found that 14.44% of college students reported ever experiencing any of the five PLEs, with males reporting more PLE symptoms and a higher number of PLEs than females. Different PLE subtypes had different effects on the use of specific emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal or suppression) and the level of affective lability and also showed gender differences. Cognitive reappraisal and suppression differently predicted affective lability in males and females, and cognitive reappraisal mediated the relationship between hearing voices in PLEs and affective lability in males. In conclusion, PLEs were common in Chinese college students and gender differences were revealed in the prevalence of PLE subtypes. PLEs were associated with the use of specific emotion regulation strategies and the level of affective lability. Cognitive reappraisal may be a promising target for intervention aimed at relieving the effect of PLEs in non-clinical individuals.

Experiential, expressive, and physiological effects of positive and negative emotion regulation goals while reappraising amusing stimuli

We examined whether positive and negative emotion regulation (ER) goals while cognitively reappraising amusing stimuli differentially engage positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) systems. Forty-eight women watched 20-30s amusing film clips. They were instructed to either respond naturally (no ER goal) or emphasize the film clips' positive (positive ER goal) or negative (negative ER goal) aspects in their interpretation. We measured PA and NA system activity on experiential, expressive, and physiological response channels through self-reported amusement and disgust, electromyography of zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii, and autonomic nervous system reactivity from respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and pre-ejection period (PEP). Natural viewing (no ER goal) of amusing clips increased self-reported amusement (and to a lesser degree disgust), zygomaticus reactivity, and RSA. Compared to no and negative ER goals, reappraising the amusing clips with a positive ER goal decreased corrugator reactivity, decreasing negative emotional expression. Compared to no and positive ER goals, reappraising the amusing clips with a negative ER goal decreased self-reported amusement and zygomaticus reactivity and increased self-reported disgust and corrugator reactivity, decreasing positive and increasing negative emotional experience and expression. We conclude that positive and negative ER goals while reappraising amusing stimuli differentially engaged PA and NA systems: The positive ER goal engaged withdrawal of the expressive NA system, whereas the negative ER goal engaged reciprocal NA-PA system activation on experiential and expressive response channels.

Emotion Self-Regulation in Neurotic Students: A Pilot Mindfulness-Based Intervention to Assess Its Effectiveness through Brain Signals and Behavioral Data

Neuroticism has recently received increased attention in the psychology field due to the finding of high implications of neuroticism on an individual’s life and broader public health. This study aims to investigate the effect of a brief 6-week breathing-based mindfulness intervention (BMI) on undergraduate neurotic students’ emotion regulation. We acquired data of their psychological states, physiological changes, and electroencephalogram (EEG), before and after BMI, in resting states and tasks. Through behavioral analysis, we found the students’ anxiety and stress levels significantly reduced after BMI, with p-values of 0.013 and 0.027, respectively. Furthermore, a significant difference between students in emotion regulation strategy, that is, suppression, was also shown. The EEG analysis demonstrated significant differences between students before and after MI in resting states and tasks. Fp1 and O2 channels were identified as the most significant channels in evaluating the effect of BMI. The potential of these channels for classifying (single-channel-based) before and after BMI conditions during eyes-opened and eyes-closed baseline trials were displayed by a good performance in terms of accuracy (~77%), sensitivity (76–80%), specificity (73–77%), and area-under-the-curve (AUC) (0.66–0.8) obtained by k-nearest neighbor (KNN) and support vector machine (SVM) algorithms. Mindfulness can thus improve the self-regulation of the emotional state of neurotic students based on the psychometric and electrophysiological analyses conducted in this study.

A day in the life of a college student during the COVID-19 pandemic: An experience sampling approach to emotion regulation

COVID-19 has contributed to unexpected stressors in daily life, and emotion regulation is an important area of research during and post-pandemic to gain knowledge of the effect of the pandemic on emotion regulatory processes. We adopted an ecologically valid approach to collect 10 experience sampling events within the same day to examine how college students regulated their emotions on a typical weekday during the pandemic and the simultaneous hedonic association of these strategies on their affective experience. Several emotion regulation strategies (including acceptance, calming, reappraisal, problem solving, and social sharing) were associated with increased positivity or reduced negativity that may be better for psychological health. In contrast, other emotion regulation strategies (including rumination, experiential avoidance, catastrophizing, lack of clarity, self-blaming, and other-blaming) were associated with increased negativity or reduced positivity that may worsen psychological health. In these findings, self-reported stress was a crucial contextual moderator to consider while understanding the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and experienced affect. The current study documents variability in affect in response to stressors experienced by college students even within a single day and provides a real-world perspective on the emotion regulation strategies that were adaptive and maladaptive in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Positive rumination can (also) interfere with sleep: A study in a non-clinical sample

It is postulated that negative ruminations perpetuate insomnia symptoms by increasing arousal. Less is known about the role of positive rumination. In this study, we set out to test the association between positive and negative ruminations and insomnia symptoms in a non-clinical sample, asking whether reappraisal and suppression moderate the relationship between rumination types and symptoms of insomnia.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 354 participants (59% women), ages 18-50, responded to online questionnaires regarding symptoms of insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index [ISI]), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire that provides separate scales for Reappraisal and Suppression, Negative Rumination (Ruminative Response Scale), Positive Rumination and Dampening (Responses to Positive Affect questionnaire), and general health and demographics.

RESULTS

About 30% of respondents had moderate to severe symptoms of insomnia according to the ISI. The primary hypothesis was tested using three moderation models, where rumination type, emotion regulation styles, and interaction terms were predictors, and ISI scores were the outcome variable. Negative rumination positively predicted ISI (β = 0.56, p < 0.001), while the interaction terms with Reappraisal (β = 0.02, p = 0.575) and Suppression (β = 0.07, p = 0.092) were not significant. Dampening also positively predicted ISI (β = 0.56, p < 0.001), with the interaction term with Reappraisal nearly significant (β = -0.09, p = 0.060), but not with Suppression (β = 0.08, p =0.098). Positive rumination negatively predicted ISI (β = -0.12, p = 0.021), this relationship was reversed with emotion regulation factors in the model (β = 0.11, p = 0.094), where the interaction with Reappraisal (β = 0.13, p = 0.020) and Suppression (β = -0.13, p = 0.024) were both significant.

DISCUSSION

Positive Rumination weakly and negatively correlated with ISI, but the combination with Reappraisal was associated with more insomnia symptoms. By contrast, Dampening was associated with more insomnia symptoms, with minimal to no moderating effects. These observations are interpreted in the context of the role of emotion regulation strategies and sleep, and their potential clinical implications.

A data-driven approach for examining the demand for relaxation games on Steam during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major source of stress for a majority of people that might have negative long-term effects on mental health and well-being. In recent years, video games and their potential positive effects on stress relief have been researched and "relaxation" has been an important keyword in marketing a certain kind of video game. In a quasi-experimental design, this study investigated the increase of average daily player peak (ADPPs) for the COVID period compared to the pre-COVID period and if this increase was significantly larger for relaxing games in contrast to non-relaxing games. Results showed a medium-sized increase of ADPPs over all types of games but no difference between relaxing games and non-relaxing games. These results are discussed in regards to their potential of presenting gaps between the current theoretical models of the influence of video games on mental health and actual observed player behaviour.

Toward a Theory of Emotions in Competitive Sports

In this article, we introduce a theory on the dynamic development of affective processes, affect regulation, and the relationship between emotions and sport performance. The theory focusses on how affective processes emerge and develop during competitive sport involvement. Based on Scherer's component process model, we postulate six components of emotion that interact with each other in a circular fashion: (I) triggering processes, (II) physiological reactions, (III) action tendencies, (IV) expressive behaviors, (V) subjective experience, and (VI) higher cognitive processes. The theory stresses the dynamics of affective processes and describes the consequences for performance in competitive sports. It assumes that the peculiarities of different sports must be taken into account in order to understand the affective processes, and offers starting points on which strategies can be used to effectively regulate affective states. Consequences for research and practice are derived and discussed. To study the development of affective processes, future research should test the assumptions in ecologically valid contexts, such as real competitions or competition-like situations, using multi-component measures of emotions.

The relationship between habitual use and real-time emotion regulation strategies in adolescents: Evidence from frontal EEG asymmetry

Past research on emotion regulation has shown that cognitive reappraisal is a healthier and more effective emotion regulation strategy than expressive suppression. However, there are few studies in this field that combine real-time emotion regulation with the use of habitual emotion regulation strategies to observe the patterns of brain activity, and fewer studies focusing on adolescents. Frontal electroencephalography (EEG) asymmetry reflects the difference between brain activation in left and right frontal areas and is widely viewed as an effective biomarker of emotional reactivity and regulation. The present study investigated the asymmetry of the frontal EEG activity during adolescents' emotional regulation, and explored its relationship with adolescents' habitual use of emotional regulation strategies. Habitual use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression was measured with the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ). EEG was recorded from 54 adolescents (24 boys & 30 girls, M_age = 12.59), during the Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task. Results showed that adolescents who used cognitive reappraisal strategies more habitually exhibited greater left frontal asymmetry during real-time enhancement or reduction of negative emotions. In contrast, no significant correlation was found between habitual use of suppression and frontal alpha asymmetry. The results provide neurological evidence that, for adolescents, the use of habitual emotion regulation strategies may affect real-time emotion regulation, adolescents who use cognitive reappraisal more frequently are more capable or more prone to recruit appropriate brain regions in situations that need to regulate negative emotions. This reinforces the importance of the formation and use of correct emotion regulation habits for adolescents.

Connection, constraint, and coping: A qualitative study of experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated physical distancing which is expected to continue in some form for the foreseeable future. Physical distancing policies have increased reliance on digital forms of social connection and there are widespread concerns about social isolation and mental health in this context. This qualitative study sought to understand how loneliness was experienced during physical distancing in the initial national UK COVID-19 lockdown. Eight individuals who reported feeling lonely during the initial lockdown were interviewed in May 2020. Interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four main themes were identified: (1) Loss of in-person interaction causing loneliness, (2) Constrained freedom, (3) Challenging emotions, and (4) Coping with loneliness. The loss of in-person interaction contributed to feelings of loneliness and digital interaction was viewed as an insufficient alternative. Social freedom could be constrained by distancing policies and by social contacts, contributing to strained personal relationships and feelings of frustration as part of loneliness. Fluctuations in mood and difficult emotions were experienced alongside loneliness, and distraction and seeking reconnection were commonly reported methods of coping, although they were less accessible. These findings indicate that physical distancing measures can impact loneliness due to the limitations they impose on in-person social contact and the perceived insufficiency of digital contact as a substitute.

The Immediate and Lasting Effect of Emotion Regulation in Adolescents: An ERP Study

The immediate effect is an important index of the outcomes of emotion regulation. However, in daily life, whether the effect of emotion regulation lasts and the lasting mechanism have been examined less. The present research focused on the relationships between the immediate and lasting effect of the emotion regulation of adolescents. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from 51 adolescents (31 boys and 20 girls, Mage = 12.82) during online emotion regulation using the Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task (phase 1) and re-presentation of emotional stimuli after a period of time (phase 2). Event-related potentials (ERPs) related to emotion regulation, such as N2, P3, and the late positive potential (LPP), were examined in the two phases. The results showed that: (1) In both of the two phases, in negative emotion conditions, the amplitudes of P3 and LPP 300-600 of no-regulation conditions were significantly higher than those in reappraisal conditions. However, there was no significant difference under neutral conditions; (2) The amplitudes of P3, N2, and LPP 300-600 during emotion regulation in phase 1 positively predicted the amplitudes of P3, N2, and LPP300-600 in phase 2 in different experimental conditions. Results from the regression analysis implied that the immediate effect of online emotion regulation may predict the lasting effect when adolescents face the same emotions again. In addition, our findings provide neurological evidence that the use of cognitive reappraisal could effectively help adolescents to reduce the recruitment of cognitive resources when they regulate negative emotions and when they face those negative emotions again.

Sadness regulation strategies and measurement: A scoping review

BACKGROUNDS

Accurate measurement and suitable strategies facilitate people regulate their sadness in an effective manner. Regulating or mitigating negative emotions, particularly sadness, is crucial mainly because constant negative emotions may lead to psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety. This paper presents an overview of sadness regulation strategies and related measurement.

METHOD

Upon adhering to five-step scoping review, this study combed through articles that looked into sadness regulation retrieved from eight databases.

RESULTS

As a result of reviewing 40 selected articles, 110 strategies were identified to regulate emotions, particularly sadness. Some of the most commonly reported strategies include expressive suppression, cognitive reappraisal, distraction, seeking social or emotional support, and rumination. The four types of measures emerged from the review are self-reported, informant report (parents or peers), open-ended questions, and emotion regulation instructions. Notably, most studies had tested psychometric properties using Cronbach's alpha alone, while only a handful had assessed validity (construct and factorial validity) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha or test-retest) based on responses captured from questionnaire survey.

CONCLUSION

Several sadness regulation strategies appeared to vary based on gender, age, and use of strategy. Despite the general measurement of emotion regulation, only one measure was developed to measure sadness regulation exclusively for children. Future studies may develop a comprehensive battery of measures to assess sadness regulation using multi-component method.

The effect of temporal goals on emotion regulation choice: a replication and extension

To test predictions of the extended process model of emotion regulation, we conducted a pre-registered replication and extension of Sheppes et al.'s Study 3 ([2014]. Emotion regulation choice: A conceptual framework and supporting evidence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(1), 163-181. doi:10.1037/a0030831) on the effects of intensity and temporal goal on reappraisal choice. In the original study, participants chose reappraisal over distraction more in response to low intensity stimuli than high intensity stimuli and when given a long-term emotion regulation goal than an immediate emotion regulation goal. We attempted a replication in a larger sample and extended the research to test whether individual differences in the tendency to consider future consequences of one's actions (CFC) would moderate the effect of goal on emotion regulation choice. We replicated the effects of intensity, but not temporal goal, on choice. CFC interacted with temporal goal: participants low in CFC chose reappraisal more often if given a short-term goal than a long-term goal, but participants high in CFC chose reappraisal more often if given a long-term goal than a short-term goal. Although the effects of temporal goal did not replicate, our results suggest that it may interact with individual differences to influence emotion regulation choice. These findings contribute to a growing interest in factors that influence emotion regulation behaviour.

Emotion regulation in patients with cardiovascular disease: development and validation of the stress and anxiety regulation strategies scale (STARTS)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Anxiety and stress influence the onset and prognosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but little is known about what CVD patients do when experiencing stress/anxiety. This study aimed to identify the behavioral strategies CVD patients use to regulate these emotions.

DESIGN

Instrumental and longitudinal.

METHODS

A theoretically-guided scale, the Stress and Anxiety Regulation Strategies (STARTS), was developed considering the target population's characteristics. CVD patients were recruited at three different points (N_T1= 721, N_T2= 566, N_T3= 311).

RESULTS

At T1 exploratory factor analysis was conducted (random sample 1). The validity of the most parsimonious three-factor solution was subsequently found via confirmatory factor analysis at T1 (random sample 2), T2, and T3, revealing good and stable model fit. The factors represented strategies differentiated by the type and level of activity required (passive, intellectual, and physical strategies). The scale showed good test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Correlation and regression analyses with positive and negative affect, psychological wellbeing (stress, anxiety, depression), and cardiac self-efficacy provided evidence for the validity of STARTS score. Physical and passive strategies showed opposite patterns.

CONCLUSIONS

The scale shows adequate psychometric properties for assessing the strategies used by CVD patients to regulate stress and anxiety.

An electrophysiological investigation on the emotion regulatory mechanisms of brief open monitoring meditation in novice non-meditators

Despite a growing literature supporting the salutary effects of mindfulness meditation on emotion regulation, the underlying mechanisms linking neural and subjective changes occurring during the actual practice of meditation with emotion regulatory effects observed after meditation remains virtually unexplored. The current study sought to address this gap in knowledge by testing the hypothesis that adoption of internally-directed focused attention, indexed by increased alpha and theta spectral power, during brief open monitoring (OM) mindfulness meditation predicts reduced emotional reactivity, as measured by the late positive potential (LPP). Results revealed that the OM meditation did not produce demonstrable differences in alpha and theta power but did increase self-reported sleepiness relative to controls. Follow-up analyses showed that sleepiness uniquely moderated the effect of meditation on the LPP, such that less sleepiness during meditation, but not the control audio, corresponded to smaller LPPs to negative images. Change in theta, but not alpha power, between meditation and rest was positively correlated with the LPP even after controlling for sleepiness. Although the primary hypothesis was unsupported, the findings demonstrate that phenomenological and neural changes occurring during OM meditation may modulate its subsequent “off-the-cushion” effects on emotional reactivity.

Dissociable Posterior and Anterior Insula Activations in Processing Negative Stimulus Before and After the Application of Cognitive Reappraisals

Although the role of the insular cortex in representing bodily and emotional feelings has been recognized, whether the mid-posterior and anterior parts of the insula act differentially in the encoding and regulation of emotional feelings is still unclear. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we examined the effects of the creative cognitive reappraisals versus the non-creative ordinary reappraisals on the activation pattern of the mid-posterior and anterior insular cortex during the processing of unpleasant pictures by comparing the neural correlates for processing these pictures before and after the application of cognitive reappraisals. We found significant anterior insular activation after the application of cognitive reappraisals, especially the creative ones, in contrast to the significant mid-posterior insular activation before the application of the cognitive reappraisals or after the application of the non-creative ordinary reappraisals. This finding supports the posterior-to-anterior progression hypothesis with the mid-posterior insular cortex being used for the encoding of primary emotional feelings and the anterior insular cortex being used for the encoding of regulated or modulated emotional feelings.

Does Listening to Music Regulate Negative Affect in a Stressful Situation? Examining the Effects of Self-Selected and Researcher-Selected Music Using Both Silent and Active Controls

BACKGROUND

Stress and anxiety are increasingly common among young people. The current research describes two studies comparing the effects of self-selected and researcher-selected music on induced negative affect (state anxiety and physiological arousal), and state mindfulness.

METHOD

In Study 1, 70 undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: researcher-selected music, self-selected music, or a silent control condition. In Study 2, with 75 undergraduates, effects of music were compared to an active control (listening to a radio show). Negative affect was induced using a speech preparation and arithmetic task, followed by music listening or control. Self-reported anxiety and blood pressure were measured at baseline, post-induction, and post-intervention. Study 2 included state mindfulness as a dependent measure.

RESULTS

Study 1 indicated that participants who listened to music (self-selected and researcher-selected) reported significantly greater anxiety reduction than participants in the silent control condition. Music did not reduce anxiety compared to an active control in Study 2. However, music listening significantly increased levels of state mindfulness, which predicted lower anxiety after self-selected music listening.

CONCLUSIONS

Music may provide regulation in preparation for stressful events. Yet, the results of Study 2 indicate that other activities have similar benefits, and shows, for the first time, that music listening increases mindfulness following a stressor.

Neural correlates of up-regulating positive emotions in fMRI and their link to affect in daily life

Emotion regulation is typically used to down-regulate negative or up-regulate positive emotions. While there is considerable evidence for the neural correlates of the former, less is known about the neural correlates of the latter—and how they are associated with emotion regulation and affect in daily life. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from 63 healthy young participants (22 ± 1.6 years, 30 female), while they up-regulated their emotions to positive and neutral images or passively watched them. The same participants’ daily affect and emotion regulation behavior was measured using experience sampling over 10 days. Focusing on the ventral striatum (VS), previously associated with positive affective processing, we found increased activation during the up-regulation to both positive and neutral images. VS activation for the former positively correlated with between- and within-person differences in self-reported affective valence during fMRI but was not significantly associated with up-regulation in daily life. However, participants with lower daily affect showed a stronger association between changes in affect and activation in emotion-related (medial frontal and subcortical) regions—including the VS. These results support the involvement of the VS in up-regulating positive emotions and suggest a neurobehavioral link between emotion-related brain activation and daily affect.

A Comparison of the Effects of 45-minute Aerobic Training and Cognitive Task Solving on Transient Mood States in a Female Student Sample

BACKGROUND

The beneficial effects of moderate-intensity physical exercise on mood are well established. Students in higher education are a group vulnerable to stress who may benefit from aerobic exercise classes. The present study broadens existing findings by testing the impact on mood of a 45-minute-long aerobic training session, conducted in a naturalistic setting.

METHOD

A three-dimensional mood assessment that distinguished hedonic tone (pleasantness of mood) from energetic and tense arousal dimensions was used for assessment of pre- and post-training mood in a sample of women (n = 120) taking part in a 45-minute aerobic training. A control group (n = 120) performed cognitive tasks.

RESULTS

Physical but not cognitive activity elevated mood on all three dimensions, but the effect size was largest for energetic arousal. It was also found that mood improvements in terms of energy and tension change were strongest for individuals initially low in hedonic tone.

CONCLUSIONS

The finding supports the hypothesis that successful completion of an exercise session in a naturalistic setting may enhance mood in female students. At a practical level, the study suggests that exercise classes may help students cope with the mood impairments resulting from demanding cognitive activities, leading to potential educational benefits.

Humor creation during efforts to find humorous cognitive reappraisals of threatening situations

This interdisciplinary study examined the structure of humor creation in the specific context of efforts to positively reappraise stressful situations for effective coping. In a sample of n = 101 participants, a performance test was used to assess the quantity (fluency, number of generated ideas that qualified as humor) and quality (rated funniness) of humor creation in cognitive reappraisal. Linguistic mechanisms were identified and quantified using cognitive-linguistic methods of corpus analysis, and their employment was correlated with humor production performance on the level of the individual. Almost all individuals were able to come up with reappraisal ideas that qualified as humorous. Depressive symptoms, a negative mood state, and high perceptions of threat did not compromise the participants' capability to create humor. Individuals who were more serious-minded as a trait produced ideas that were rated as less funny, but their basic ability to create humor was unaffected. Metonymy (a contiguity-based principle of meaning extension) emerged as by far the most prominent semantic mechanism in the creation of humorous re-interpretations. Furthermore, its use was related to good humor creation performance in terms of quantity and quality, which is in line with its assumed importance in the extension of meaning in general and the creation of humor in particular. Further effective linguistic mechanisms and conceptual phenomena were identified. The empirical data may be valuable for the development of interventions involving the creation of humorous ideas for cognitive reappraisal.