Investigating the effectiveness of instructing emotion regulation flexibility to individuals with low and high anxiety.
Anxiety Stress Coping
; 37(1): 143-156, 2024 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37120826
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Psychopathology has been associated with a deficit in emotion regulation (ER) flexibility - the ability to flexibly utilize ER strategies that are appropriate to situational demands. Yet, whether anxious individuals can be taught ER flexibility, or whether ER flexibility is effective in managing negative affect, remains unknown. We investigated the impact of instructed ER flexibility on emotional responding among individuals with differing levels of anxiety. DESIGN ANDMETHODS:
Participants (N = 109) were taught two ER strategies (reappraisal, distraction) and randomized to be instructed in either flexible or inflexible ER while viewing images that differed in negative emotional intensity.RESULTS:
When averaged over anxiety, or for participants with low anxiety, negative affect did not differ between conditions. However, among anxious participants, those in the flexible regulatory conditions - those who were instructed to flexibly switch between strategies - reported lower negative affect than those in the inflexible Reappraisal only condition, but not the Distraction only condition. The effectiveness of the two flexible conditions did not significantly differ.CONCLUSIONS:
Anxious individuals benefitted from being instructed in either ER flexibility or distraction. This finding supports literature on the adaptiveness of distraction and provides preliminary evidence linking instructed ER flexibility and improved emotional responding.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Regulación Emocional
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Anxiety Stress Coping
Asunto de la revista:
CIENCIAS DO COMPORTAMENTO
/
PSICOLOGIA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Australia