Emotion regulation dynamics in daily life: Adaptive strategy use may be variable without being unstable and predictable without being autoregressive.

Emotion ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Wenzel ◽  
Elisabeth S. Blanke ◽  
Zarah Rowland ◽  
Thomas Kubiak
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Strategy Use

scholarly journals Emotion Regulation in Everyday Life: Mapping Global Self-Reports to Daily Processes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Koval ◽  
Elise Katherine Kalokerinos ◽  
Katharine Helen Greenaway ◽  
Hayley Medland ◽  
Peter Kuppens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Strategy Selection ◽  
Total N ◽  
Sampling Studies ◽  
Self Reports

Recent theory outlines emotion regulation as a dynamic process occurring across several stages: (i) identifying the need to regulate, (ii) selecting a strategy, and (iii) implementing that strategy to change an emotional state. Despite its dynamic nature, emotion regulation is typically assessed using static global self-report questionnaires that ask people to reflect on their general use of certain strategies. While these global measures are typically assumed to assess stable individual differences in the selection stage of emotion regulation, this assumption has not been tested systematically. Moreover, it is unclear whether global self-report scales also capture processes relevant to the identification and implementation stages of emotion regulation. To address these issues, we examined how global self-report measures correspond with the three stages outlined in emotion regulation theory, modelled using repeated sampling of strategy use, and affective antecedents and consequences of strategy use in daily life. We analyzed data from nine daily diary and experience sampling studies (total N=1,097), in which participants reported their use of cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and rumination using both global questionnaires and daily life methods. Results across studies revealed weak-to moderate convergent correlations between global self-reports and individual differences in strategy selection in daily life, as well as some cross-strategy correlations. We also found some evidence that certain global self-reports capture identification and implementation processes. Taken together, our findings suggest that global self-reports do not only assess trait strategy selection, but may also reflect individual differences in identification and implementation of emotion regulation strategies in daily life.

scholarly journals When and How to Regulate: Everyday Emotion-Regulation Strategy Use and Stressor Intensity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth S. Blanke ◽  
Jennifer A. Bellingtier ◽  
Michaela Riediger ◽  
Annette Brose
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
Contextual Factor ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategy

AbstractContextual factors shape emotion regulation (ER). The intensity of emotional stimuli may be such a contextual factor that influences the selection and moderates the effectiveness of ER strategies in reducing negative affect (NA). Prior research has shown that, on average, when emotional stimuli were more intense, distraction was selected over reappraisal (and vice versa). This pattern was previously shown to be adaptive as the preferred strategies were more efficient in the respective contexts. Here, we investigated whether stressor intensity predicted strategy use and effectiveness in similar ways in daily life. We examined five ER strategies (reappraisal, reflection, acceptance, distraction, and rumination) in relation to the intensity of everyday stressors, using two waves of experience-sampling data (N = 156). In accordance with our hypotheses, reappraisal, reflection, and acceptance were used less, and rumination was used more, when stressors were more intense. Moreover, results suggested that distraction was more effective, and rumination more detrimental the higher the stressor intensity. Against our hypotheses, distraction did not covary with stressor intensity, and there was no evidence that reappraisal, reflection, and acceptance were more effective at lower levels of stressor intensity. Instead, when examined individually, reflection and reappraisal (like distraction) were more effective at higher levels of stressor intensity. In sum, stressor intensity predicted ER selection and moderated strategy effectiveness, but the results also point to a more complex ER strategy use in daily life than in the laboratory.

scholarly journals Specifying the Mechanisms and Targets of Emotion Regulation: A Translational Framework from Affective Science to Psychological Treatment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Southward ◽  
Shannon Sauer-Zavala ◽  
Jennifer S. Cheavens
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Affective Science ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Regulation Strategies

Emotion dysregulation is fundamental to a range of psychiatric disorders. Leading psychological treatments are often designed to teach several emotion regulation strategies. However, teaching a wide range of strategies may be an inefficient way to enhance emotional functioning. We propose a framework of emotion dysregulation to guide the development of more efficient and flexible interventions. We review motivational (i.e., self-efficacy), between- situation (i.e., increasing frequency, quantity, or quality of adaptive strategy use; decreasing frequency of maladaptive strategy use), and within-situation mechanisms (i.e., using more or fewer strategies in a given situation; optimally ordering strategies) as well as temporal targets of emotion regulation interventions (i.e., short-term effectiveness vs. long-term adaptiveness). Throughout, we detail recommendations for researchers to test these mechanisms and targets.

scholarly journals Are Acute Increases and Variability in Emotion Regulation Strategies Related to Negative Affect and Paranoid Thoughts in Daily Life?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Bahlinger ◽  
Tania M. Lincoln ◽  
Annika Clamor
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Measurement Point ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
Multi Level

Abstract Background Negative affect reliably predicts paranoid thoughts. Previous studies point to the importance of emotion regulation for paranoid thoughts but have not yet focused on effects of acute increases and variability in strategy use. Methods We conducted an experience-sampling study for one week in a subclinical sample. Acute increases in the intensity of strategy use from one measurement point until the next, between-strategy variability (i.e., standard deviation between all strategies at one measurement point), and within-strategy variability (i.e., standard deviation of each strategy over one day) were analyzed for effects on negative affect and paranoid thoughts. Results Multi-level-models indicated that acute increases in acceptance and reappraisal are associated with less negative affect. Acute increases in acceptance, but not in reappraisal, were related to less paranoid thoughts. In contrast, acute increases in rumination and suppression were associated with more negative affect and paranoid thoughts. Between- and within-strategy variability were no significant predictors. Conclusions Acute increases in the intensity of but not variability in emotion regulation strategies are related to negative affect and paranoid thoughts in daily life. Future studies are needed to examine whether improving emotion regulation leads to sustainable reductions in symptoms.

Assessment of health related issues in individuals’, couples’, and families’ daily life

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meinrad Perrez ◽  
Michael Reicherts ◽  
Yves Hänggi ◽  
Andrea B. Horn ◽  
Gisela Michel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Lower Variability

Abstract. Most research in health psychology is based on retrospective self reports, which are distorted by recall biases and have low ecological validity. To overcome such limitations we developed computer assisted diary approaches to assess health related behaviours in individuals’, couples’ and families’ daily life. The event- and time-sampling-based instruments serve to assess appraisals of the current situation, feelings of physical discomfort, current emotional states, conflict and emotion regulation in daily life. They have proved sufficient reliability and validity in the context of individual, couple and family research with respect to issues like emotion regulation and health. As examples: Regarding symptom reporting curvilinear pattern of frequencies over the day could be identified by parents and adolescents; or psychological well-being is associated with lower variability in basic affect dimensions. In addition, we report on preventive studies to improve parental skills and enhance their empathic competences towards their baby, and towards their partner.

Smiling won’t make you feel better: Response-focused emotion regulation strategies have little impact on cognitive, behavioural, physiological, and subjective outcomes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Bahl ◽  
Allison Ouimet
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Expressive Suppression ◽  
Memory Accuracy ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
The Common ◽  
Subjective Outcomes

Background and Objectives. Response-focused emotion regulation (RF-ER) strategies may alter people’s evoked emotions, influencing psychophysiology, memory accuracy, and affect. Researchers have found that participants engaging in expressive suppression (ES; a RF-ER strategy) experience increased sympathetic nervous system arousal, affect (i.e., higher subjective anxiety and negative emotion), and lowered memory accuracy. It is unclear, however, whether all RF-ER strategies exert maladaptive effects. Expressive dissonance (ED; displaying an expression opposite from how one feels) is a RF-ER strategy, and thus likely considered “maladaptive”. As outlined by the facial feedback hypothesis, however, smiling may increase positive emotion, suggesting it may be an adaptive strategy. We compared the effects of ED and ES to a control condition on psychophysiology, memory accuracy, and affect, to assess whether ED is an adaptive RF-ER strategy, relative to ES. Methods. We randomly assigned 144 female participants to engage in ED, ES, or to naturally observe, while viewing negative and arousing images. We recorded electrodermal activity and self-reported affect throughout the experiment and participants completed memory tasks. Results. There were no differences between groups across outcomes. Conclusion. Engaging in ES or ED may not lead to negative or positive impacts, shedding doubt on the common conclusion that specific strategies are categorically adaptive or maladaptive.

Concurrent and Lagged Relations between Emotion Regulation and Affect in Adolescents’ Daily Life

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliana Silva ◽  
Teresa Freire ◽  
Susana Faria
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Cognitive Reappraisal ◽  
Expressive Suppression ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Trait Level

AbstractA better understanding of emotion regulation (ER) within daily life is a growing focus of research. This study evaluated the average use of two ER strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and concurrent and lagged relationships between these two ER strategies and affect (positive and negative affect) in the daily lives of adolescents. We also investigated the role of the same strategies at the trait level on these within-person relationships. Thirty-three adolescents provided 1,258 reports of their daily life by using the Experience Sampling Method for one week. Regarding the relative use of ER strategies, cognitive reappraisal (M = 2.87, SD = 1.58) was used more often than expressive suppression (M = 2.42, SD = 1.21). While the use of both strategies was positively correlated when evaluated in daily life (p = .01), the same did not occur at the trait level (p = .37). Multilevel analysis found that ER strategies were concurrently related to affect (p < .01), with the exception of cognitive reappraisal-positive affect relationship (p = .11). However, cognitive reappraisal predicted higher positive affect at the subsequent sampling moment ( β = 0.07, p = .03). The concurrent associations between cognitive reappraisal and negative affect vary as function of the use of this strategy at the trait level (β = 0.05, p = .02). Our findings highlighted the complex associations between daily ER strategies and affect of a normative sample of adolescents.

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