Dealing with Feelings: Characterization of Trait Alexithymia on Emotion Regulation Strategies and Cognitive-Emotional Processing

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: Differences in how people regulate their emotions have been shown across cultures. Yet, whether bilinguals regulate emotions differently based on the language they are speaking is unknown, as is whether these regulatory choices relate to their physiology. The aim of this study was to assess whether self-reported use of emotion regulation strategies that promote emotional engagement would be associated with greater sympathetic arousal while describing emotional experiences for bilinguals. Design/Methodology/Approach: 99 Spanish–English bilinguals ( M = 20.8 years; SD = 2.11; 73 women) were interviewed about times they felt sad and afraid in both Spanish and English, and described what they did to regulate those emotions. Sympathetic nervous system physiology (pre-ejection period; PEP) was assessed continuously. The within-person experimental design enabled exploration of differences in regulation and physiology that were associated with talking about negative emotions in different languages. Data and Analysis: Emotion regulation strategies that indexed emotional engagement (e.g. cognitive reappraisal) were reliably coded from participant interviews. PEP reactivity was calculated as the change from a resting baseline to each language context. We used hierarchical linear regressions to test our hypotheses. Findings/Conclusions: We found that using fewer engagement strategies was associated with decreased sympathetic arousal, but only for people who were more physiologically aroused when at rest and only when participants were speaking English. Originality: This study is the first to show that bilinguals’ emotion regulatory attempts have different consequences across languages, highlighting how emotional processing is colored by cultural-linguistic lenses. Significance/Implications: These findings align with growing evidence that bilinguals’ physiological reactions to emotional events depend on the language context. Knowledge generated by this investigation contributes to our understanding of cross-cultural differences in people’s physiological arousal and emotional processing by highlighting these patterns among the understudied population of bilingual speakers.

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Emotion-Regulation Choice

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797611418350 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 22 (11) ◽

pp. 1391-1396 ◽

Cited By ~ 210

Author(s):

Gal Sheppes ◽

Susanne Scheibe ◽

Gaurav Suri ◽

James J. Gross

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Early Stage ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽

Relative Preference ◽

New Process ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategy ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

Emotional Pictures ◽

Process Conception

Despite centuries of speculation about how to manage negative emotions, little is actually known about which emotion-regulation strategies people choose to use when confronted with negative situations of varying intensity. On the basis of a new process conception of emotion regulation, we hypothesized that in low-intensity negative situations, people would show a relative preference to choose to regulate emotions by engagement reappraisal, which allows emotional processing. However, we expected people in high-intensity negative situations to show a relative preference to choose to regulate emotions by disengagement distraction, which blocks emotional processing at an early stage before it gathers force. In three experiments, we created emotional contexts that varied in intensity, using either emotional pictures (Experiments 1 and 2) or unpredictable electric stimulation (Experiment 3). In response to these emotional contexts, participants chose between using either reappraisal or distraction as an emotion-regulation strategy. Results in all experiments supported our hypothesis. This pattern in the choice of emotion-regulation strategies has important implications for the understanding of healthy adaptation.

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Deconstructing Reappraisal: Descriptions Preceding Arousing Pictures Modulate the Subsequent Neural Response

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2008.20066 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 977-988 ◽

Cited By ~ 234

Author(s):

Dan Foti ◽

Greg Hajcak

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

International Affective Picture System ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽

Cognitive Demands ◽

Positive Potential ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

Emotional Pictures

The late positive potential (LPP) is a sustained positive deflection in the event-related potential that is larger following the presentation of emotional compared to neutral visual stimuli. Recent studies have indicated that the magnitude of the LPP is sensitive to emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal, which involves generating an alternate interpretation of emotional stimuli so that they are less negative. It is unclear, however, whether reappraisal-related reductions in the LPP reflect reduced emotional processing or increased cognitive demands following reappraisal instructions. In the present study, we sought to examine whether a more or less negative description preceding the presentation of unpleasant images would similarly modulate the LPP. The LPP was recorded from 26 subjects as they viewed unpleasant and neutral International Affective Picture System images. All participants heard a brief description of the upcoming picture; prior to unpleasant images, this description was either more neutral or more negative. Following the more neutral description, the magnitude of the LPP, unpleasant ratings, and arousal ratings were all reliably reduced. These results indicate that changes in narrative are sufficient to modulate the electrocortical response to the initial viewing of emotional pictures, and are discussed in terms of recent studies on reappraisal and emotion regulation.

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Event-Related Potentials and Emotion Dysregulation

The Oxford Handbook of Emotion Dysregulation ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190689285.013.13 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 165-181

Author(s):

Brittany C. Speed ◽

Greg Hajcak

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Emotion Dysregulation ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Past Research ◽

Self Report ◽

Future Research ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Regulation Strategies

Emotion dysregulation is a common feature of many psychological disorders. To date, however, most research evaluating emotion regulation has been limited to self-report assessments. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are well suited to disentangle discrete aspects of emotional processing that are critical to understanding both healthy and aberrant emotional functioning. This chapter focuses on a particular ERP component, the late positive potential (LPP), and reviews evidence that the LPP is modulated by emotional content and is sensitive to various emotion regulation strategies. Next, studies leveraging the LPP to examine individual differences in emotional processing in the context of psychopathology are reviewed. Finally, this chapter discusses methodological limitations of past research and current gaps in our understanding, including suggestions for future research using ERPs to study emotion dysregulation.

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Exploring Particular Facets of Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Their Relationships With Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Among Adolescents

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000566 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. 280-286 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nir Madjar ◽

Nicole Segal ◽

Gilad Eger ◽

Gal Shoval

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

High School Students ◽

Analysis Of Covariance ◽

Depression Symptoms ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽

Cognitive Emotion Regulation ◽

School Students ◽

Self Injury ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

Nonsuicidal Self Injury

Abstract. Background: Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been found to be associated with poor emotion regulation. Aims: The goal of this study was to examine the association of multidimensional cognitive emotion regulation strategies with NSSI among adolescents and compare the different patterns of NSSI. Method: A sample of 594 high-school students (54.4% boys; mean age = 14.96 years), from five regional schools across Israel, were assessed for five facets of cognitive emotion regulation strategies (acceptance, refocus on planning, positive refocusing, putting into perspective, and positive reappraisal) and NSSI behaviors using validated scales. Participants were allocated into three groups: repetitive NSSI (more than six occasions of NSSI; 7.1%), occasional NSSI (at least one incident but less than six; 8.3%), and no NSSI (84.6%). Results: Analysis of covariance, controlling for gender and depression symptoms, revealed that students with NSSI reported higher levels of acceptance, but lower levels of refocus on planning and putting into perspective. Limitations: The study used a cross-sectional design, which was a limitation. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that particular cognitive emotion regulation strategies differ substantially in their relationship with NSSI. Adolescents who focus on planning and putting stressful situations into perspective may have increased resilience, whereas adolescents who are accepting of negative events that have happened may be more prone to maladaptive coping behaviors.

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