Change in emotional processing during a dialectical behavior therapy-based skills group for major depressive disorder

Across studies, paying attention to and analyzing one's emotions has been found to be both positively and negatively correlated with depression symptoms. One way of reconciling these seemingly contradictory findings is the possibility that attending to emotions in a skillful manner may help to reduce depression whereas attending to emotions with limited skill may be counterproductive. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a clinical intervention designed to foster adaptive awareness, expression, regulation, tolerance, and acceptance of emotions. Results of the present report come from a pilot study of a 16-week DBT-based skills training group for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD) as an adjunctive treatment to pharmacotherapy. Patients were randomized to treatment or a waitlist control group. A significant interaction revealed that increases in emotional processing were associated with decreases in depression symptoms in the DBT-based skills group; however, increases in emotional processing in the waitlist condition were associated with increases in depression. Results offer preliminary support for the idea that participating in DBT-based skills training may help individuals with treatment-resistant MDD to develop skills that facilitate processing emotions in a way that helps to reduce rather than exacerbate depression symptoms.     

The Effect of Positive Rumination Training on Mental Health and Attentional Bias

To examine the effect of positive rumination training on mental health and attentional bias, 32 college freshmen with low level of mental health were recruited and assigned to the experimental and waitlist control groups, 16 participants in each group. The experimental group received a 8-session group counseling with 2 h per session. Results showed that positive rumination increased while negative rumination, depression and anxiety decreased significantly for the experimental group. For the waitlist control group, all these indicators did not change significantly. The attention engagement in sad faces of the experimental group decreased significantly while other indicators of attentional bias did not change. The results indicate that group positive rumination training can improve mental health. But further research is needed to examine its effect on attentional bias.

     

The role of negative affectivity and negative reactivity to emotions in predicting outcomes in the unified protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders

The present study aimed to understand the contributions of both the trait tendency to experience negative emotions and how one relates to such experience in predicting symptom change during participation in the Unified Protocol (UP), a transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders. Data were derived from a randomized controlled trial comparing the UP to a waitlist control/delayed-treatment condition. First, effect sizes of pre- to post-treatment change for frequency of negative emotions and several variables measuring reactivity to emotional experience (emotional awareness and acceptance, fear of emotions, and anxiety sensitivity) were examined. Second, the relative contributions of change in negative emotions and emotional reactivity in predicting symptom (clinician-rated anxiety, depression, and severity of principal diagnosis) reductions were investigated. Results suggested that decreases in the frequency of negative emotions and reactivity to emotions following participation in the UP were both large in magnitude. Further, two emotional reactivity variables (fear of emotions and anxiety sensitivity) remained significantly related to symptom outcomes when controlling for negative emotions, and accounted for significant incremental variance in their prediction. These findings lend support to the notion that psychological health depends less on the frequency of negative emotions and more on how one relates to these emotions when they occur.     

书法练习对儿童情绪及其调节策略发展的促进作用

本研究采用纵向设计,对170名儿童（实验组：101人;对照组：69人）进行为期两学年的追踪,旨在探讨书法练习对儿童情绪状态及认知性情绪调节策略发展的影响。研究发现,1）以前测成绩为协变量,后测时实验组的积极情绪显著高于对照组;2）实验组在“积极重新关注”、“计划”两维度上的情绪调节策略得分增量（后测-前测）显著高于对照组。结果表明,书法练习对儿童情绪及其调节策略发展具有促进作用。     

Enhancing Emotion-Regulation Skills in Police Officers: Results of a Pilot Controlled Study

Police officers are routinely exposed to situations that elicit intense negative emotions; thus, officers have a particularly strong need for effective methods of regulating such emotions. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether a manualized emotion-regulation training (Integrative Training of Emotional Competencies; iTEC; Berking, 2010a) can improve the emotion-regulation skills of police officers. First, self-reports of 9 emotion-regulation skills were assessed in a sample of officers (N = 31) and compared to those of a matched community-based control group. Then, the effects of the training on the emotion-regulation skills of officers were evaluated in a time-staggered design with a waitlist control condition. Results indicate that, compared to controls, officers have difficulties in accepting and tolerating negative emotions, supporting themselves in distressing situations, and confronting emotionally challenging situations. The training significantly enhanced successful skill application, especially some skills with which officers reported difficulty applying. These findings suggest that a focus on emotion-regulation skills may be an important component for programs aimed at preventing mental-health problems in police officers.     

工作场所中的主观幸福感干预研究*

旨在探讨基于持续幸福理论的感恩、助人和追求目标的主观幸福感干预方法在国内工作场所中的有效性。采用随机分组安慰剂控制的方式,将3家企业的140名员工随机分为3个干预组、1个安慰剂控制组和1个空白对照组,进行持续一周的干预,并分别在干预前、干预结束时和干预结束2周后对被试的主观幸福感进行测试。结果发现记录感恩能够显著提升生活满意度;助人行为能够显著提升生活满意度、积极情绪,且能降低消极情绪;追求目标能显著提升生活满意度和降低消极情绪。结果表明上述三种干预方法能有效提高工作场所人员的主观幸福感。     

A New Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Intervention Focusing on Well-Being: A Randomized Control Trial of Mindfulness-Based Positive Psychology

Second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) align well with positive psychology philosophy and practices, but trials of SG-MBIs have largely focused on ill-being. This study developed a mindfulness-based positive psychology (MBPP) intervention integrating positive psychology with an SG-MBI to enhance well-being. A randomized control trial was performed to compare MBPP with a waitlist condition among 138 Chinese participants. The results showed that MBPP significantly reduced negative emotions for subjective well-being and significantly improved environmental mastery for psychological well-being. Improvements in self-compassion and negative attitudes but not avoidance, mediated changes in well-being. Changes in positive emotions, positive relations, and awareness were associated with the amount of meditation practice. These findings showed that MBPP is promising for improving well-being and that the positive psychology components play important roles. Broadly, the study illustrated that positive psychology and SG-MBIs can be effectively integrated, and it supported the further application of SG-MBIs from the positive psychology perspective.

     

Cross‐cultural differences in emotion suppression in everyday interactions

Previous research suggests that in collectivistic cultures, people tend to suppress their emotions more than in individualistic cultures. Little research, however, has explored cross‐cultural differences in emotion regulation in everyday interactions. Using a daily social interaction method, we examined whether people from collectivistic backgrounds (Chinese exchange students and immigrants from the Moluccas, Indonesia) living in the Netherlands differed from those from individualistic backgrounds (Dutch natives) in emotion suppression during everyday interactions. We also examined whether this depended on their relationship with the interaction partner(s). We found that Chinese participants suppressed positive and negative emotions more than Dutch and Moluccan participants and that this was related to differences in interdependent and independent self‐construal across the samples. We also found that Chinese participants suppressed positive emotions less in interactions with close others, whereas Dutch participants suppressed negative emotions more with non‐close others. No such differences were found for Moluccans. Our findings support the idea that people from collectivistic cultures suppress emotions more than those from individualistic cultures, but they also suggest that this depends on who the interaction partner is. Furthermore, they suggest that emotion suppression may change when people with collectivistic backgrounds have been raised in individualistic cultures.     

A controlled evaluation of acceptance and commitment therapy plus habit reversal for trichotillomania

This randomized trial compared a combined Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Habit Reversal Training (ACT/HRT) to a waitlist control in the treatment of adults with trichotillomania (TTM). Twenty-five participants (12 treatment and 13 waitlist) completed the trial. Results demonstrated a significant reduction in hair pulling severity, impairment ratings, and hairs pulled, along with significant reductions in experiential avoidance and both anxiety and depressive symptoms in the ACT/HRT group compared to the waitlist control. Reductions generally were maintained at a 3-month follow-up. Decreases in experiential avoidance and greater treatment compliance were significantly correlated with reductions in TTM severity, implying that targeting experiential avoidance may be useful in the treatment of TTM. Other implications and suggestions for future research are noted.     

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Problematic Internet Pornography Use: A Randomized Trial

Problematic Internet pornography use is the inability to control the use of pornography, the experience of negative cognitions or emotions regarding pornography use, and the resulting negative effects on quality of life or general functioning. This study compared a 12-session individual protocol of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for problematic Internet pornography use to a waitlist control condition with 28 adult males, all but 1 of whom were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Measures of self-reported pornography viewing, standardized measures of compulsive sexual behavior and related cognitions, and quality of life occurred at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up. Results demonstrate significant between-condition reductions in pornography viewing compared to the waitlist condition (93% reduction ACT vs. 21% waitlist). When combining all participants (N = 26), a 92% reduction was seen at posttreatment and an 86% reduction at 3-month follow-up. Complete cessation was seen in 54% of participants at posttreatment and at least a 70% reduction was seen in 93% of participants. At the 3-month follow-up assessment, 35% of participants showed complete cessation, with 74% of participants showing at least 70% reduction in viewing. Treatment suggestions and future directions are discussed.     

When being a model minority is good . . . and bad: realistic threat explains negativity toward Asian Americans

The current research explores the hypothesis that realistic threat is one psychological mechanism that can explain how individuals can hold positive stereotypical beliefs toward Asian Americans yet also express negative attitudes and emotions toward them. Study 1 demonstrates that in a realistic threat context, attitudes and emotions toward an anonymous group described by only positive, "model minority" attributes are significantly more negative than when the group was described using other positive attributes. Study 2 demonstrates that realistic threat significantly mediates the relationship between (a) the endorsement of the both the positive and negative stereotypes of Asian Americans and (b) subsequent negative attitudes and emotions toward them. Studies 3 and 4 conceptually replicate this effect in experimental situations involving interactions with Asian Americans in realistic threat contexts. Implications for understanding the nature of stereotyping and prejudice toward Asian Americans and other minority groups are discussed.     

The Role of Culture and Gender in the Relationship between Positive and Negative Affect

An integrative explanation proposes that culture and gender interact to produce fundamentally different patterns of association between positive and negative emotions. People in independent-based cultures (e.g. the United States) experience emotions in oppositional (i.e. bipolar) ways, whereas people in interdependent-based cultures (e.g. China) experience emotions in dialectic ways. These patterns are stronger for women than men in both cultures. In support of the theory, Study 1 showed that positive and negative emotions are strongly correlated inversely for American women and weakly correlated inversely for American men, but strongly correlated positively for Chinese women and weakly correlated positively for Chinese men. In Study 2, findings for Koreans, although mixed, were closer to the results for Chinese.     

Cognitive behavioral group treatment for Chinese people with depressive symptoms in Hong Kong: participants' perspectives

This study documents the experiences of 20 Chinese people in Hong Kong who participated in group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). They were asked to comment on the aspects of the group content and process that they found to be useful or not useful in dealing with their depressive moods. In general, they reported that the groups helped them gain awareness of their thought and behavioral patterns and learn new cognitive and behavioral strategies. Certain aspects of the group process, however, such as the outpouring of negative emotions, were considered by the participants to be counterproductive to their learning and practice of CBT.     

How social context moderates the self-evaluative emotions experienced due to health risk behaviour

When people are confronted with the potential negative physical outcomes of their own health risk behaviour, they experience a self-threat. This threat is felt as negative self-evaluative emotions. We hypothesise that the threat will lead to more private self-evaluative emotions (e.g. regret) in a private social context, whereas more public self-evaluative emotions (e.g. embarrassment) will be felt in a public social context with negative norms. Consistent with our hypotheses, we show that participants anticipate feeling more private self-evaluative emotions when confronted with the negative consequences of their unhealthy behaviour when alone, and more public self-evaluative emotions when in a group (Study 1). They further anticipate more public self-evaluative emotions in response to a health self-threat when the group norm is negative, and more private self-evaluative emotions when the group norm is lenient (Study 2). Finally, in a cross-sectional study amongst smokers, we show that private but not public negative self-evaluative emotions concerning their own smoking habits are positively correlated with the intent to quit smoking (Study 3). These studies show that a distinction needs to be made between public and private self-evaluative emotions, in terms of their antecedents and effects. Theoretical implications and further lines of research are discussed.     

A randomized clinical trial of group and individual Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy approaches for Social Anxiety Disorder

To compare the effectiveness of two Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) interventions—an individual and a group intervention—in Social Anxiety Disorder therapy. We compared the two treatment groups against a waitlist condition in a randomized clinical trial with 86 young adults. The individual CBT intervention was Trial-Based Cognitive Therapy (TBCT) developed by De-Oliveira, a novel technique in which the therapist engages the patient in a simulated judicial trial with the goal of identifying and changing core dysfunctional beliefs. The group intervention consisted of exposition therapy based on the Hofmann and Otto protocol (Group CBT) to restructure negative and dysfunctional cognitions regarding social situations. Both interventions reduced psychiatric symptoms from pre- to post-test and primary social anxiety and depression symptoms relative to waitlist controls. The interventions were recently introduced in Brazil, and this is the first randomized control trial to compare TBCT and this Group CBT, which were effective in assessing changes in social anxiety symptoms as well as co-occurring psychiatric symptoms.     

Evaluating the Coaching for Life Skills online training program: A randomised controlled trial

ObjectivesHigh school sport is considered a suitable context in which to develop life skills, yet most coaches are not equipped with the knowledge/tools needed to deliberately teach life skills. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Coaching for Life Skills online training program in helping coaches create environments conducive to the teaching of life skills.DesignRandomised controlled trial using a concurrent multiple baseline across groups design.MethodA total of 1,238 (58.8% male) Canadian high school coaches completed baseline testing examining coach-athlete relationship, coach interpersonal behaviours, and life skills teaching. Participants were then randomly assigned to an experimental, waitlist, or control group. A final sample of 285 (59.7% male) participants completed the trial (i.e., 36 experimental, 58 waitlist, and 191 control). Data were analysed using 3 x 3 repeated measures factorial analyses.ResultsAcross the three constructs assessed, there were no significant within-subject main effects for time, group, or for the interaction between time and group.ConclusionsAlthough the results were not statistically significant, visual analysis indicated positive directional changes for all three dependent variables, with increases in mean scores observed for both experimental and waitlist group participants following their completion of the Coaching for Life Skills online training program. Findings have implications for the design of online coach training programs aimed at helping coaches teach life skills through sport.     

The representation of emotions in groups: the relative impact of social norms,positive–negative asymmetry and familiarity on the perception of emotions

Research in several countries shows that people hold norms of emotion perception, so that socially desirable emotions are perceived as positive and moderate. Subjects also believe that positive and moderate emotions are dominant in their lives. Other research shows that increased familiarity with a social group allows a better differentiation among the members and the attributes of this group (e.g. wider variability of emotions). In the present study, we compare the relative impact of familiarity with pleasant and unpleasant groups and social norms on emotion perception. Subjects (N=150) were to rate imagined family groups, families that they did not know well, and families that they knew very well, on perceived differentiation and variability of emotional episodes, extremity of emotional events, and global family evaluations. Results indicated that familiarity is weakly associated with perceived emotional variability in target families, and that, regardless of their familiarity with the family, subjects viewed unpleasant families as more negative, as less familiar, and as having a larger range of emotions than pleasant families. Results are discussed in terms of the idea that perception of emotions in groups depends more strongly on social norms than either on positive–negative asymmetry or on direct experience with their members.     

How social context moderates the self-evaluative emotions experienced due to health risk behaviour

When people are confronted with the potential negative physical outcomes of their own health risk behaviour, they experience a self-threat. This threat is felt as negative self-evaluative emotions. We hypothesise that the threat will lead to more private self-evaluative emotions (e.g. regret) in a private social context, whereas more public self-evaluative emotions (e.g. embarrassment) will be felt in a public social context with negative norms. Consistent with our hypotheses, we show that participants anticipate feeling more private self-evaluative emotions when confronted with the negative consequences of their unhealthy behaviour when alone, and more public self-evaluative emotions when in a group (Study 1). They further anticipate more public self-evaluative emotions in response to a health self-threat when the group norm is negative, and more private self-evaluative emotions when the group norm is lenient (Study 2). Finally, in a cross-sectional study amongst smokers, we show that private but not public negative self-evaluative emotions concerning their own smoking habits are positively correlated with the intent to quit smoking (Study 3). These studies show that a distinction needs to be made between public and private self-evaluative emotions, in terms of their antecedents and effects. Theoretical implications and further lines of research are discussed.     

Mental contrasting of counterfactual fantasies attenuates disappointment,regret, and resentment

Negative emotions elicited by positive counterfactuals about an alternative past—“if only” reconstructions of negative life events—are functional in preparing people to act when opportunities to restore the alternative past will arise. If the counterfactual past is lost, because restorative opportunities are absent, letting go of the negative emotions should be the better solution, sheltering people from feelings of distress. In six experimental studies, the self-regulation strategy of mental contrasting (Oettingen, European Review of Social Psychology 23:1–63, 2012) attenuated the negative emotions elicited by positive fantasies about a lost counterfactual past, specifically, disappointment, regret and resentment. Mental contrasting (vs. relevant control conditions) led people to feel less disappointed when evaluating their lost counterfactual past compared with their current reality, indicating reduced commitment to the lost counterfactual past (Studies 1, 2, 3, and 4), and it attenuated post-decisional regret and resentment (Studies 5 and 6). These findings held when participants were induced to focus on lost counterfactual pasts for which they were responsible (Studies 4 and 5), for which they blamed another person (Study 6), or for which they deemed no one responsible (Studies 2 and 3). The findings are relevant for building interventions that help people to come to terms with their lost counterfactual past.     

Systemizing in autism: The case for an emotional mechanism

More often than others, people with autism engage in systemizing – attempts to understand and build rule-based systems. The mechanism behind the increased frequency of such behavior in autism is unknown, however. The assumption has long existed that emotions exist to motivate behavior, and there is now much evidence that people with autism tend to have stronger, more easily elicited emotions than the average person. This appears to be the cause of increased systemizing in autism – through a negative and a positive emotional pathway: There is evidence that autistic people want control more strongly than do others. This is often so, says the hypothesis, because strong negative emotions, other things equal, make lack of control feel more aversive than it does for most people. Systemizing can increase the feeling of control and hence reduce the negative emotion. Positive emotion can also motivate systemizing in autism – fascination and attraction more strongly felt and more easily elicited than in other people.