Affective processing in overwhelmed individuals: Strategic and task considerations

Previous research suggests that emotionally overwhelmed individuals (high affect intensity, intermediate attention to emotions, low clarity of emotions) attempt to counteract the influence of affective information. In five studies (ns=129, 177, 119, 339, 261), the current research found that task performance in overwhelmed individuals varied by current arousal and by whether affective influence occurred on evaluative versus non-evaluative tasks. Overwhelmed high current arousal participants exhibited decreased affective influence on evaluative tasks but increased affective influence on non-evaluative tasks. These results are consistent with the effects of active suppression of affective information, including ironic effects of monitoring for affective information. In contrast, overwhelmed low current arousal participants exhibited increased affective influence on evaluative tasks but decreased affective influence on non-evaluative tasks. These results are consistent with attentional avoidance of affective information. Overall, these results further suggest that overwhelmed individuals attempt to counteract the influence of affective information. Whether they are successful depends on their current arousal and how affect can influence performance.     

A Review of: “Fairburn,C. G. (2008). Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eating Disorders.”

Successful reports of behavioral treatment of encopresis describe interventions as unpleasant as the disorder: hospitalization, laxatives, prompted toileting, aversive consequences. The focus on soiling rather than on the constant constipation that precedes encopresis, on the reduction of soiling rather than on the acquisition of effective toilet use. Five normal chronically constipated children (four of whom were encopretic) were treated at home with combinations of: preparatory instructions, rewards for clean pants, reward for appropriate toileting (bowel movement in toilet). Once soiling was eliminated and appropriate bowel movements occured regularly, all families were taught to fade treatment contingencies. To determine the contribution of the toileting reward to treatment effectiveness, this reward was added to the other two treatment components in a multiple baseline across four cases; it provided a significant ingredient in short-term success. A fifth child achieved short-term success with only the instructions and the clean pants reward. Long-term results (11-20 months) revealed that the fifth child, who never received the toileting reward, was the only one who relapsed.