Coping Under Pressure: Employing Emotion Regulation Strategies to Enhance Performance Under Pressure

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 408-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yannick A. Balk ◽  
Marieke A. Adriaanse ◽  
Denise T.D. de Ridder ◽  
Catharine Evers

Performing under high pressure is an emotional experience. Hence, the use of emotion regulation strategies may prove to be highly effective in preventing choking under pressure. Using a golf putting task, we investigated the role of arousal on declined sport performance under pressure (pilot study) and the effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies in alleviating choking under pressure (main study). The pilot study showed that pressure resulted in decreased performance and this effect was partially mediated by increased arousal. The main study, a field study, showed that whereas the choking effect was observed in the control condition, reappraisal and, particularly, distraction were effective emotion regulation strategies in helping people to cope instead of choke under pressure. These findings suggest that interventions that aim to prevent choking under pressure could benefit from including emotion regulation strategies.

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Soheila Imanparvar ◽  
Meysam Ghasemi

The purpose of this research was to explain the role of emotion regulation strategies and behavioral activation system (BAS) in social adjustment of adolescents with conduct disorder. The method of study is descriptive-correlation. The statistical population included all junior high school students in Ardabil in 2016. The sampling was conducted by the multistage cluster method and then 50 subjects with conduct disorder were selected as the sample group using this method. Data of the present study were collected using Rutter behavioral disorders questionnaire (form B), students adjustment questionnaire, emotion regulation questionnaire and activation system and behavioral inhibition questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient test and regression analysis using SPSS software. The findings showed that there is a significant relationship between social adjustment and behavioral activation (BAS) and emotion regulation system (P<0.05). Also, the results of regression analysis showed that behavioral activation and emotion regulation system can significantly explain 16% variances in social adjustment of students with conduct disorders. Accordingly, it can be concluded that behavioral activation and emotion regulation system plays a role in social adjustment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianqian Chu ◽  
Xiang Wang ◽  
Rui Yao ◽  
Jie Fan ◽  
Ya Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Childhood trauma (CT) is considered as a highly risk factor for depression. Although the pathway of CT to depression, especially the mediating or moderating effects of cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS) or neuroticism, have investigated by several studies, the results were inconsistent and there is a paucity of full models among these interactive factors. This study aims to examine the relationships among CT, adaptive / maladaptive CERS, neuroticism and current depression symptoms in university students.Methods: We recruited 3009 students, aged averagely 18.00 (SD = 0.772) years, from universities in Hunan province in 2019. A moderated mediation model was built to examine the relationships among CT, CERS, neuroticism and current depression using the SPSS PROCESS 3.5 macro. We conducted bootstrapping of regression estimates with 5,000 samples and 95% confidence interval.Results:Results revealed that the significant mediating effects of adaptive CERS (β = 0.0117; 95% CI: 0.0061 to 0.0181) and maladaptive CERS (β = 0.0278; 95% CI: 0.0161 to 0.0401) between CT and depression were observed, accounting for 5.690% and 13.521% of the total effect respectively. Then, moderated mediation analyses results showed that neuroticism simultaneously moderated the direct effect of CT on current depression (β = 0.035; 95% CI: 0.001 to 0.009), and the indirect effects of CT on current depression through adaptive CERS (adaptive CERS – current depression: β = -0.034; 95% CI: -0.007 to -0.001) and maladaptive CERS (maladaptive CERS – current depression: β = 0.157; 95% CI: 0.017 to 0.025). However, the moderating effects of neuroticism in the indirect paths from CT to adaptive CERS (β = 0.037; 95% CI: 0.000 to 0.014) and maladaptive CERS (β = -0.001; 95% CI: -0.006 to 0.005) were not significant.Conclusions: This study provides powerful evidences through a large university students sample for the mediating role of adaptive / maladaptive CERS and the moderating role of neuroticism between CT and current depression. This manifests that cognitive emotion regulation may be a vital factor for people who suffered from CT and current depression. Furthermore, the influence of neuroticism in this process cannot be ignored.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Usyatynsky

Individuals experiencing depressive symptoms interpret ambiguous situations negatively and use helpful emotion regulation strategies less often than those without symptoms. Theory suggests these strategies are used less due to interference from negatively biased interpretations. This study examined whether interpretation bias interferes with emotion regulation by experimentally manipulating interpretations in a positive or negative direction. Method: Undergraduate students were randomly assigned to positive and negative bias training groups. Interpretation bias and emotion regulation questionnaires were completed before and after training. Results: The training succeeded in inducing bias change only for the positive group, and emotion regulation strategy use did not change in either group. Discussion: Interpretation bias was not found to affect emotion regulation. Possible explanations include: bias change in the positive group was not large enough to alter emotion regulation; the task eliciting emotion regulation was ill-suited for this study; and interpretation bias and emotion regulation are unrelated.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S357-S357 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Pervichko ◽  
Y. Zinchenko

IntroductionTwo thirds of adolescents with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) show signs of anxiety disorders. They display difficulty in emotion regulation (Van Der Ham et al., 2003; Scordo, 2007).ObjectiveTo investigate into emotion regulation strategies in MVP adolescents.MethodsA projective study of emotion regulation was undertaken with our modified version of Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Test (Zinchenko, Pervichko, 2014). Thirty-six adolescents with MVP (mean age was 17.1 ± 0.8 years) and 40 healthy adolescents (mean age was 16.7 ± 0.6 years) took part in the study.ResultsMVP adolescents significantly more frequently (P < 0.001) would mark Rosenzweig's situations as potentially traumatizing. Ego-defence (E-D) and extrapunitive (E) reactions appear to be significantly (P < 0.05) more frequent among MVP adolescents. MVP adolescents are more than healthy subjects prone to avoid open verbal revelations of their thoughts and feelings that emerge in the situation of frustration. Content analysis of responses conditioned by cognitive control (when the task was to taper off arbitrarily the traumatizing effect of the situation) revealed that suppression of emotions was displayed by MVP adolescents in 52% of answers, and for healthy participants - 29% of answers (P < 0.001). Cognitive reappraisal strategy was displayed by MVP adolescents in 27% of answers, and for healthy participants – 38% of answers (P < 0.05). Twenty-one percent of answers of MVP adolescents and 33% of answers of healthy participants suggested cognitive transformation of emotional experience and actualization of new meanings in traumatic situations (P < 0.05).ConclusionsMVP adolescents appear to be more sensitive of frustrations and differ from healthy peers in more frequent use of the strategy of suppression of emotions.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Boehme ◽  
Stefanie C. Biehl ◽  
Andreas Mühlberger

Patients suffering from mental disorders, especially anxiety disorders, are often impaired by inadequate emotional reactions. Specific aspects are the insufficient perception of their own emotional states and the use of dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies. Both aspects are interdependent. Thus, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) comprises the development and training of adequate emotion regulation strategies. Traditionally, reappraisal is the most common strategy, but strategies of acceptance are becoming more important in the course of advancing CBT. Indeed, there is evidence that emotion regulation strategies differ in self-reported effectiveness, psychophysiological reactions, and underlying neural correlates. However, comprehensive comparisons of different emotion regulation strategies are sparse. The present study, therefore, compared the effect of three common emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal, acceptance, and suppression) on self-reported effectiveness, recollection, and psychophysiological as well as electroencephalographic dimensions. Twenty-nine healthy participants were instructed to either reappraise, accept, suppress, or passively observe their upcoming emotional reactions while anxiety- and sadness-inducing pictures were presented. Results showed a compelling effect of reappraisal on emotional experience, skin conductance response, and P300 amplitude. Acceptance was almost as effective as reappraisal, but led to increased emotional experience. Combining all results, suppression was shown to be the least effective but significantly decreased emotional experience when thoughts and feelings had to be suppressed. Moreover, results show that greater propensity for rumination differentially impairs strategies of emotion regulation.


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