scholarly journals The “Thinking Threshold”: A therapeutic concept guided by emotion regulation flexibility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Veilleux ◽  
Katherine C Hyde ◽  
Kaitlyn Chamberlain ◽  
Danielle Baker ◽  
regina schreiber ◽  
...  

Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy with significant empirical support. However, it is also true that many people have difficultly using cognitive reappraisal—and any cognitive strategy that requires significant mental effort—while experiencing intense emotions. Per the tenants of emotion-regulation flexibility, we provide information on a therapeutic concept we call the “thinking threshold” which helps clients identify the level of emotional distress at which their thinking becomes impaired. When clients are above the “thinking threshold” they are guided to use behavioral and bodily-focused emotion regulation strategies, and to use cognitive reappraisal and problem solving when below the “thinking threshold.” In this paper, we outline the rationale for considering emotion-regulation flexibility with clients, identify why level of emotional intensity is an important context to consider when helping clients identify effective emotion regulation strategies, and review research supporting the notion that effortful cognitive strategies are less effective at high levels of emotional distress. We also describe how we teach clients to use the “thinking threshold” concept and provide a brief case study demonstrating the utility of the concept with a client. Finally, we review ways in which the “thinking threshold” could be tailored and adapted alongside acceptance-based approaches, and we describe future directions for both empirical examination of the “thinking threshold” as well as expansion within clinical practice.

2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Andela ◽  
Laurent Auzoult ◽  
Didier Truchot

The goal of this study was to assess relations between public self-consciousness, private self-consciousness (self-reflectiveness and internal state awareness), and two emotion-regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. 59 employees of a public hospital completed a survey. Public self-consciousness was not associated with either emotion-regulation strategy, while both dimensions of private self-consciousness were related to the strategies. While self-reflectiveness was correlated with expressive suppression, internal states awareness was associated with cognitive reappraisal.


PSYCHE 165 ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Rina Mariana ◽  
Maulany Putry Sagita

This study aims to find out how the emotional regulation strategies of child prisoners in Class II TI LPKA. Pati. Using the one used is Quantitative Descriptive method. Emotional regulation on child inmates was revealed using a questionnaire about emotion regulation strategies. The results of research derived from questionnaires and interviews conducted showed that out of 32 child inmates, as many as 32 child prisoners used emotion regulation strategies cognitive reappraisal in dealing with problems in the LPKA environment. In addition, as many as 7 adolescents have a tendency to use emotion strategies cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in dealing with problems in the LPKA environment. Based on the results of the study it was found that 9.37% of child prisoners had poor emotion regulation strategies, and 71.87 % of child inmates have a fairly good emotion regulation strategy and 18.75% have a good emotion regulation strategy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Evanna Boccagno ◽  
Jill M. Hooley

Emotion regulation difficulties are implicated prominently in self-injury. Yet it is unclear how people who engage in different forms of self-injury attempt to regulate negative affect when multiple strategies are available to them. This laboratory-based study examined emotion regulation strategy choices in individuals who engage in non-suicidal self-injury (n=40), indirect forms of self-injury (disordered eating and substance abuse; n=46), and controls (n=48). Following a self-relevant stressor (negative autobiographical memory recall), participants selected one of six regulation strategies based on what they believed would most effectively alter their affect. Strategies spanned behavioral (physical pain, a snack, word activity) and non-behavioral (rumination, reappraisal, doing nothing) domains. Compared to controls, individuals who engage in NSSI and indirect self-injury were more likely to select behavioral strategies. In addition, those with NSSI and indirect self-injury were more likely than controls to choose physical pain and less likely to ruminate. Findings indicate that people with direct and indirect forms of self-injury alike are more likely to take action than to engage in further thought when experiencing aversive self-awareness, even when cognitive strategies are made salient. Results illuminate intervention targets for these clinical populations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bochra Nourhene Saguem ◽  
Amel Braham ◽  
Islem Romdhane ◽  
Selma Ben Nasr

Purpose This paper aims to assess the psychological impact of home confinement in Tunisian medical students and analyze the relationship between psychopathology and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Design/methodology/approach In total, 251 medical students who have been in home confinement accepted to participate in an online questionnaire survey. They completed depression, anxiety and stress scale, beck hopelessness scale and cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire. Findings Moderate to extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress were reported by 57.4%, 51.0% and 31.4% of medical students, respectively. Based on the cut-off value of nine, 31.1% of the participants showed high levels of hopelessness. Hierarchical regression analysis identified four cognitive emotion regulation strategies as significant independent contributors to psychopathology above and beyond home confinement related variables. Self-blame positively predicted stress. Catastrophizing positively predicted anxiety and hopelessness. Refocusing on planning negatively predicted anxiety. Positive reappraisal negatively predicted hopelessness. Practical implications Cognitive emotion regulation strategies may constitute a valuable target of preventive and interventional measures to improve medical students’ mental health. Originality/value A unique feature of this study is the demonstration of the important role played by cognitive emotion regulation strategies in predicting anxiety, stress and hopelessness in medical students. In the context of mandatory home confinement, these cognitive strategies were significant predictors of psychopathology above and beyond home confinement related variables.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mor Keleynikov ◽  
Joy Benatov ◽  
Noga Cohen

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has been declared a global pandemic. The consequences of this pandemic, among them changes in routine, quarantine, school closures and more, place children with special needs and their families at risk of severe emotional distress. Therefore, the present study used an online survey to measure stress, anxiety and depression levels as well as concerns related to the COVID-19 outbreak among 94 parents of children with special needs (mean age = 41.6 years, SD = 6.59; 83% female) and 79 parents raising a typically developing child (mean age = 40.85 years, SD = 7.40; 85% female). We also examined whether the use of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies (reappraisal and suppression, respectively) predicts emotional distress among the two parent groups. The results indicate that compared to parents of TD children, parents of children with special needs reported more concerns about the COVID19 outbreak and more symptoms of emotional distress (depression, anxiety and stress). The use of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies moderated the association between concerns arising from the COVID-19 outbreak and emotional distress. In addition, the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies predicted distress only among parents of children with special needs but not among parents of TD children. These findings highlight the role played by emotion regulation in maintaining well-being at times of crisis among vulnerable populations, such as families raising children with special needs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Zimmermann ◽  
Alexandra Iwanski

Despite the growing research on emotion regulation, the empirical evidence for normative age-related emotion regulation patterns is rather divergent. From a life-span perspective, normative age changes in emotion regulation may be more salient applying the same methodological approach on a broad age range examining both growth and decline during development. In addition, emotion-specific developmental patterns might show differential developmental trends. The present study examined age differences in seven emotion regulation strategies from early adolescence (age 11) to middle adulthood (age 50) for the three emotions of sadness, fear, and anger. The results showed specific developmental changes in the use of emotion regulation strategies for each of the three emotions. In addition, results suggest age-specific increases and decreases in many emotion regulation strategies, with a general trend to increasing adaptive emotion regulation. Specifically, middle adolescence shows the smallest emotion regulation strategy repertoire. Gender differences appeared for most emotion regulation strategies. The findings suggest that the development of emotion regulation should be studied in an emotion-specific manner, as a perspective solely on general emotion regulation either under- or overestimates existing emotion-specific developmental changes.


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.


Author(s):  
Bruno Faustino

Abstract Background: Psychological inflexibility and emotional dysregulation are a hallmark of psychopathology, being intrinsically embedded in emotional and personality disorders. However, the transdiagnostic mechanisms of psychological inflexibility and emotional dysregulation domains are still a matter of discussion. Aims: The present study aims to explore the relationships between cognitive fusion (as a measure of psychological inflexibility), emotion regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal and emotional suppression and emotional dysregulation domains in two different samples. Method: In a cross-sectional design, 297 individuals were assessed with self-report measures and divided into non-clinical (n = 231) and clinical samples (n = 66), according to diagnosis. Results: Results showed that the degree of cognitive fusion was higher in the clinical sample. However, significant correlations between cognitive fusion, emotional regulation strategies and emotional dysregulation domains were found in the two samples. Cognitive reappraisal and emotional dysregulation domains predicted cognitive fusion and mediated the relationship between cognitive fusion and symptomatology in the two samples. Conclusions: Relationships between cognitive fusion and emotional dysregulation domains were found independent of diagnosis. The implementation of emotion regulation strategies may be related to individual differences. However, cognitive fusion, reappraisal and lack of strategies may be core transdiagnostic features in psychological inflexibility and emotion dysregulation.


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