The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review

The present article reviews modern research on the psychology of emotion regulation. Emotion regulation determines the offset of emotional responding and is thus distinct from emotional sensitivity, which determines the onset of emotional responding. Among the most viable categories for classifying emotion-regulation strategies are the targets and functions of emotion regulation. The emotion-generating systems that are targeted in emotion regulation include attention, knowledge, and bodily responses. The functions of emotion regulation include satisfying hedonic needs, supporting specific goal pursuits, and facilitating the global personality system. Emotion-regulation strategies are classified in terms of their targets and functions and relevant empirical work is reviewed. Throughout this review, emotion regulation emerges as one of the most far-ranging and influential processes at the interface of cognition and emotion.     

Implicit theories of emotion shape regulation of negative affect

Implicit theories of emotion—assumptions about whether emotions are fixed (entity theory) or malleable (incremental theory)—have previously been shown to influence affective outcomes over time. We examined whether implicit theories of emotion also relate to the immediate regulation of negative affect. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that the more students endorsed an entity theory of emotion, the more discomfort they reported while watching an aversive movie clip, the more they avoided affective stimuli in this movie clip, the more negative affect they reported after the clip, and the less likely they were to watch the same clip again to learn about its ending. These findings suggest that implicit theories of emotion might produce poor affective outcomes immediately as well as over time. They also offer insight into why some people avoid negative affect while others confront it.     

Dimensions of “uniquely” and “non‐uniquely” human emotions

Emotion scientists often distinguish those emotions that are encountered universally, even among animals ( “primary emotions”), from those experienced by human beings ( “secondary emotions”). No attempt, however, has ever been made to capture the lay conception about this distinction and to find the criteria on which the distinction is based. The first study presented in this paper was conducted in three countries involving four languages, so as to allow for cross‐cultural comparisons. Results showed a remarkable convergence. People from all samples not only differentiated between “uniquely human” and “non‐uniquely human” emotions on a continuum, but they did so on the same basis as the one used by emotion scientists to distinguish between “primary” and “secondary” emotions. Study 2 focused on the implicit use of such a distinction. When confronted with a human (animal) context, participants reacted faster to secondary (vs primary) emotions. The implications of the human uniqueness of some emotions within the social and interpersonal contexts are discussed.     

On the dynamics of implicit emotion regulation: Counter-regulation after remembering events of high but not of low emotional intensity

Valence biases in attention allocation were assessed after remembering positive or negative personal events that were either still emotionally hot or to which the person had already adapted psychologically. Differences regarding the current state of psychological adjustment were manipulated experimentally by instructing participants to recall distant vs. recent events (Experiment 1) or affectively hot events vs. events to which the person had accommodated already (Experiment 2). Valence biases in affective processing were measured with a valence search task. Processes of emotional counter-regulation (i.e., attention allocation to stimuli of opposite valence to the emotional event) were elicited by remembering affectively hot events, whereas congruency effects (i.e., attention allocation to stimuli of the same valence as the emotional event) were obtained for events for which a final appraisal had already been established. The results of our study help to resolve conflicting findings from the literature regarding congruent vs. incongruent effects of remembering emotional events on affective processing. We discuss implications of our findings for the conception of emotions and for the dynamics of emotion regulation processes.     

“Hidden Treasures” from Israeli Women's Writing Groups: Exploring an Integrative,Feminist Therapy

This article presents the work of mental health practitioners and laywomen who have developed and applied a new model of working with women in groups, a model founded on feminist principles that uses women's writing as the vehicle for group work. The model maintains a delicate balance between the needs of the group, the needs of the women in their social environment, and the women's ability to be the broker of their time, place, and mode of expression. This article presents the theoretical roots of the model and the qualitative evaluation of the writing groups that have been held over seven years, and it discusses how and why this model works for women of all ages and from all walks of life.     

Psychometric properties of the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) in a study of coping behaviour amongst malawian students

Abstract

The Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI; Amirkhan 1990) is an inductively derived measure of responses to adverse circumstances. Although seeking to isolate “a few fundamental strategies with wide applicability” (Amirkhan 1990). the initial validation studies were all based on Californian populations. The present study repork findings from completion of the CSI by 415 Malawian students as part of their enrolment health check up. Factor analysis (principal components analysis with varimax rotation) identified three factors with very similar structure and loadings to those identified by Amirkhan, namely, Support Seeking, Problem Solving and Avoidance. As with the initial validation study, there was some evidence of withdrawal and distraction forming identifiable sub-components of Avoidance. The CSI does appear to provide a measure of core coping strategies which is robust across cultural settings, the theoretical implications of which are considered. The influence of factors such as age and gender on CSI scores is discussed     

Development of a Measure of Coping with Multiple Sclerosis Caregiving

Development of a self-report measure of coping specific to multiple sclerosis (MS) caregiving is needed to advance our understanding of the role of coping in adaptation to caring for a person with MS and to contribute to a lack of empirical data on MS caregiving. A total of 213 MS caregivers and their care recipients completed a Coping with MS Caregiving Inventory (CMSCI) and measures of adjustment (psychological distress), appraisal and illness. A subsample ( n = 64) also completed the Ways of Coping Checklist (WCC) and additional adjustment measures (depression, caregiving impact, dyadic adjustment, and relationship conflict and reciprocity). Factor analyses revealed 5 factors: Supportive Engagement, Criticism and Coercion, Practical Assistance, Avoidance, and Positive Reframing. Subscales had internal reliabilities comparable to similar scales and were empirically distinct. Preliminary construct validation data are consistent with recent MS caregiving research that links passive avoidant emotion-focused coping with poorer adjustment, and relationship-focused coping caregiving research that links greater reliance on positive relationship-focused coping and less reliance on criticism with better adjustment. Results extend this research by revealing new relations between coping and adaptation to MS caregiving. Convergent validation data suggest that although the inventory differs from the WCC, it does share certain conceptual similarities with this scale.     

Job Conditions,Coping and Wellness/Health Outcomes in Spanish Secondary School Teachers

This cross-sectional study is part of EUROTEACH; a project aimed at examining the possible relationships between job conditions and wellness/ health outcomes in teachers from 11 European countries. The Spanish sample consists of 198 (53% female) teachers working in mixed public secondary schools in Alicante. The Job Demand-Control-Social Support (JDCS) model (Johnson and Hall, <citeref rid="bib18">1988</citeref>; Karasek and Theorell, <citeref rid="bib22">1990</citeref>) provides the theoretical framework for the study and specific instruments measuring additional job conditions and coping are applied to investigate these variables in the teaching profession. Moreover, the relationships between the variables are studied to clarify their possible interaction. Results confirm the expected relationship between job conditions and wellness/health effects, and also show the presence of an interaction between coping and the variables in the JDCS model. The need to perform further research on the role of coping, as well as considering other individual variables that might influence teacher occupational stress, is pointed out.     

Forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy that can reduce health risks and promote health resilience: theory,review, and hypotheses

Experimental evidence suggests that when people are transgressed against interpersonally, they often react by experiencing unforgiveness. Unforgiveness is conceptualized as a stress reaction. Forgiveness is one (of many) ways people reduce unforgiveness. Forgiveness is conceptualized as an emotional juxtaposition of positive emotions (i.e., empathy, sympathy, compassion, or love) against the negative emotions of unforgiveness. Forgiveness can thus be used as an emotion-focused coping strategy to reduce a stressful reaction to a transgression. Direct empirical research suggests that forgiveness is related to health outcomes and to mediating physiological processes in such a way as to support the conceptualization that forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy. Indirect mechanisms might also affect the forgiveness-health relationship. Namely, forgiveness might affect health by working through social support, relationship quality, and religion.     

Functional neuroimaging of working memory in survivors of childhood brain tumors and healthy children: Associations with coping and psychosocial outcomes

Purpose: Pediatric brain tumors are the second most common cancer diagnosis in individuals under age 20 and research has documented significant neurocognitive, psychosocial, and emotional late effects. Associations among these deficits have not been adequately considered and the role of survivors’ coping with stress in relation to deficits is unknown. Further, research has yet to examine neurobiological processes related to neurocognitive, psychosocial, and emotional difficulties in survivors through the use of functional neuroimaging. Method: Questionnaire measures and functional neuroimaging were used to examine the neurocognitive, psychosocial, and emotional functioning and coping responses of survivors of pediatric brain tumors (N = 17; age 8–16) and healthy children (N = 15). Results: Survivors experienced elevated levels of psychosocial and behavioral/emotional difficulties relative to healthy controls and normative data. Increases in brain activation in prefrontal and other anterior regions in response to a working memory task were associated with better psychosocial functioning, use of engagement coping strategies, and less use of disengagement coping strategies. Regression analyses suggest coping accounts for a significant portion of the association between brain activation and behavioral/emotional functioning. Conclusions: This study extends late-effects research by examining neurobiological processes associated with psychosocial and emotional difficulties. These findings contribute to our understanding of difficulties in survivors and provide a foundation for research exploring these associations and mediators of deficits in future longitudinal studies.