This dissertation examined the effects of implicit theories of emotion (beliefs about the malleability of emotion) on emotion regulation and experience. Incremental theories involve beliefs that emotions are controllable; entity theories involve beliefs that emotions are uncontrollable. I hypothesized that an incremental theory would be associated with better well-being, more adaptive emotion regulation, and mastery-oriented patterns of response to emotion regulation difficulty, compared to an entity theory. Study 1 developed a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess trait implicit theories of emotion and examined correlations with self-reports of personality, emotional experience, emotion regulation, and well-being. A trait incremental theory was associated with greater positive emotion and less negative emotion, an effect that was mediated by the tendency of incremental theorists to use more active coping and adaptive emotion regulation strategies, compared to entity theorists. Incremental theories were also associated with greater overall well-being, lower depression, and less stress. Studies 2-5 manipulated implicit theories of emotion and examined their causal effects on emotion and emotion regulation. Although entity and incremental participants did not report differences in emotional experience when experiencing emotions naturally (Study 2), participants in the incremental group were more likely to regulate their emotions when explicitly asked to do so (Study 3). Specifically, only incremental participants responded to instructions to remain objective while rating emotionally evocative images. Studies 4 and 5 examined differences in reactions to emotion regulation difficulty. After completing an emotional interference task, all (Study 4) or a random half (Study 5) of participants were told that they had done poorly and rated attributions for their performance, affect, and motivation to remain engaged versus withdrawing. Although hypothesized patterns did not emerge as a whole, participants in the incremental condition were more likely to attribute their performance (failure or success) to strategy use. This research has implications for the study of emotion regulation, in particular, patterns of helplessness and mastery within the domain of emotions.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the dynamic process of disclosure within the adolescent–mother relationship by examining maternal characteristics that encourage adolescent disclosure of distressing experiences and risk factors that may interfere with mothers’ abilities to be supportive. A community sample of 66 mothers and their adolescent children (M = 14.31 years, 58% female) participated. The adolescents disclosed an emotionally distressing experience to their mothers for the first time. Mothers’ validating behaviors and emotional distress in response to their adolescents’ expressions of negative emotion were predictive of adolescent disclosure. Adolescents who perceived their mothers to be validating of their negative emotions made more substantive disclosures and found disclosing to their mothers to be more beneficial. In contrast, greater maternal emotional distress was associated with less substantive disclosures, and maternal emotional distress was further indirectly associated with less substantive and beneficial disclosures through less maternal validation of negative emotion. A developmental model of maternal risk for emotional distress in response to adolescent negative emotion was also supported. Maternal history of childhood trauma perpetrated by someone close to the mother (i.e., high betrayal) was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing subsequent interpersonal trauma as an early adult; maternal interpersonal trauma in early adulthood was associated with mothers’ increased difficulty regulating their emotions; and greater maternal emotion dysregulation was associated with higher levels of maternal distress in response to adolescent negative emotion. An indirect association between maternal childhood high betrayal trauma and emotional distress was also supported through continued trauma and emotion regulation difficulties. These findings suggest that when disclosing distressing experiences to their mothers, adolescents consider how validating their mothers are of their expression of negative emotion, as well as how distressing their emotions are for their mothers. Mothers’ histories of childhood trauma, ongoing interpersonal trauma in adulthood, and emotion regulation difficulties were further implicated in mothers’ reactions to their adolescents’ expressions of negative emotion. Interventions targeted to increase maternal emotion regulation skills and validation of children’s negative emotions may be an effective way to promote better mother–adolescent communication, especially in regard to distressing experiences.

Emotion Regulation describes the ability to influence the experience and expression of affect. Adaptive emotion regulation contributes to healthy development, social competence and academic success (Kochanska, Murray & Harlan, 2000). This study investigated the behavioural strategies for emotion regulation, emotion expression, regulatory styles and classroom behaviour in middle childhood. One hundred and twenty-eight children were recruited from five UK public and private primary schools. From within their school setting, participant sensitivity to emotion-eliciting events was recorded using ambulatory skin conductance technology whilst age-group paired children performed two LEGO construction tasks. Observed behaviours were video-recorded and coded to establish frequencies of distinct regulatory behaviours. These were compared to self-reports of emotion regulation strategies and teacher-reports of classroom behaviour. Iterative partitioning cluster analysis methods were used to identify four regulatory profiles: 1) the ‘Adaptive’ cluster: employed high levels of positive problem solving and reappraisal strategies and frequently expressed both positive and negative emotions; 2) the ‘Maladaptive’ cluster: used more negative regulation (avoidant or obstructive strategies), expressed more negative emotion and had more social and behavioural problems in class; 3) the ‘Reactive’ cluster showed high levels of electrodermal activity, expressed little emotion and were reported as inattentive/hyperactive in class; and 4) the ‘Distracted’ cluster demonstrated high levels of behavioural and cognitive distraction. These results indicate four meaningful profiles that could support the identification of vulnerable individuals for positive school-based intervention and support.

Objective: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is highly prevalent in clinical and forensic mental health populations. Understanding the link between childhood maltreatment and the underlying mechanisms that can increase the vulnerability to developing and maintaining PTSD is imperative in clinical conceptualisations and intervention targets. A significant proportion of research is conducted with non mental health populations and there is a paucity of research with forensic populations. The first objective was to review the literature, in clinically related and forensic samples, investigating the association of emotion regulation with childhood maltreatment and Posttraumatic Stress (PTS) symptoms/PTSD. Emotion dysregulation and social problem solving deficits are commonly reported in the forensic population and have been associated with a number of psychopathologies. The empirical study examined the role of emotion regulation and social problem solving skills in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adulthood trauma symptomatology in a male forensic population. Method: A systematic search of literature investigating the role of emotion regulation in relation to childhood maltreatment and/or PTS symptoms/PTSD was conducted using electronic databases; Medline, PsycINFO, Cinahl, Behavioural and Sciences Collection, EMBASE and PILOTS. Studies that met predetermined inclusion criteria were systematically reviewed. The empirical study employed a cross sectional design to examine the role of emotion regulation and social problem skills in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adulthood trauma symptomatology. Fifty two male forensic mental health patients completed four self-report questionnaires; Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised: Short Form and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist – Civilian Version. Results: The systematic review indicated strong evidence to suggest links between childhood maltreatment and emotion dysregulation, and emotion dysregulation and PTS symptoms/PTSD within clinically related and forensic samples. Preliminary evidence suggests a mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and PTSD. The empirical study found that overall childhood maltreatment, childhood emotional abuse, sexual abuse and emotional neglect were associated with greater emotion dysregulation. Childhood sexual abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect were associated with poorer social problem solving skills. With the exception of childhood physical abuse, all forms of childhood maltreatment, emotion dysregulation and poor social problem solving were correlated with greater trauma symptomatology. Mediation analysis indicated that both emotion dysregulation and poor social problem solving mediated the relationship between childhood emotional neglect and PTS symptoms in adulthood. Conclusions: The systematic review identified that further research is required within clinical populations to better understand the underlying causal pathways between childhood maltreatment and the development and maintenance of PTS symptoms/PTSD. The empirical study gives further insight into the forensic psychopathology and highlights the relevance of emotion regulation and social problem solving in the treatment of PTS symptoms.

abstract: Previous research indicates that difficulties in emotion regulation and greater dissociation from one's emotions are often observed among trauma survivors. Further, trauma survivors often show greater negative emotions such as anger, and diminished positive emotions such as happiness. Relatively less is known about the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms, dissociation, emotion regulation difficulties, and non-trauma related emotional experiences in daily life. This study examined whether greater reports of posttraumatic stress symptoms, difficulties in emotion regulation, and dissociative tendencies were associated with greater intensity of anger and lower intensity of happiness during a relived emotions task (i.e., recalling and describing autobiographical memories evoking specific emotions). Participants were 50 individuals who had experienced a traumatic event and reported a range of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Participants rated how they felt while recalling specific emotional memories, as well as how they remembered feeling at the time of the event. Results showed that dissociative tendencies was the best predictor of greater intensity of anger and, contrary to the hypothesis, dissociative tendencies was predictive of greater happiness intensity as well. These findings are consistent with previous research indicating a paradoxical effect of heightened anger reactivity among individuals with dissociative tendencies. In addition, researchers have argued that individuals with a history of traumatization do not report lower positive emotional experiences. The present findings may suggest the use of dissociation as a mechanism to avoid certain trauma related emotions (e.g, fear and anxiety), in turn creating heightened experiences of other emotions such as anger and happiness. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Counseling Psychology 2013

Background: The long-term detrimental impact of childhood emotional maltreatment is being increasingly recognised in the empirical literature. Adulthood trait-aggression is one proposed outcome of childhood emotional maltreatment. However, the pathways by which emotional maltreatment leads to trait-aggression are not well understood. Method: A systematic review was conducted to appraise the current empirical evidence base regarding the relationship between childhood emotional maltreatment and adulthood trait-aggression. Eighteen studies were reviewed and their quality analysed based on a number of pre-defined criteria. An empirical study was conducted using a cross-sectional, survey based design to evaluate hostile attribution bias and emotion regulation difficulties as mediators between childhood emotional maltreatment and adulthood trait-aggression. Participants were men (N = 42) recruited from NHS Forensic Mental Health Services. Results: Results from the systematic review provided support for a positive and significant association between childhood emotional abuse and adulthood traitaggression. There was evidence to indicate that childhood emotional neglect was also positively associated with adulthood trait-aggression, however, only a small number of studies have examined this relationship. The empirical study found significant indirect effects of childhood emotional abuse on self-reported aggression through emotion regulation difficulties. Emotion regulation difficulties did not have a significant effect on the relationship between childhood emotional neglect and aggression. Hostile attribution bias was not found to significantly mediate the relationship between either emotional abuse and aggression or emotional neglect and aggression. Conclusion: Those who experience emotional maltreatment during childhood may be at increased likelihood of engaging in aggressive behaviour in adulthood. Emotion regulation difficulties may play a key role in the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and aggression and this should be taken into consideration when assessing and treating adults who have difficulties with aggression. The routes by which emotional neglect and emotional abuse lead to aggression may differ. Further research is required to better understand the processes which lead from emotional maltreatment to aggression, particularly with regards to emotional neglect.

Research has shown that a self-compassion meditation exercise in healthy individuals reduced negative affect, negative cognitions about the self and sympathetic arousal and also enhanced positive emotions and parasympathetic activity (Kirschner, Karl, & Kuyken, 2013). Beneficial effects of self-compassion, i.e., being kind and considerate to one’s self with the acknowledgement that pain cannot always be fixed or solved (Neff, 2003; Gilbert, 2009), for mental health and well-being have been previously demonstrated. This research tested the hypothesis that meditation can also be beneficial for individuals who survived psychological trauma and have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a disorder characterised by elevated physiological arousal and negative post-traumatic cognitions about the self. This study used self-report and physiological measures such as Heart-Rate (HR), Heart-Rate Variability (HRV), and Skin Conductance Level (SCL) in a trauma-exposed sample (N =56) with and without PTSD. It was revealed that both groups show significant meditation-induced reductions in state self-criticism and sympathetic arousal (HR, SCL). However, the study only found the expected pattern of significantly elevated state self-compassion and parasympathetic activation (HRV) induced by a self-compassion meditation in the non-PTSD group. This suggests that, interpreting these findings within Gilbert’s three affect regulatory systems, a single self-compassion meditation was sufficient to reduce threat in all trauma survivors and to activate the safety system in the non-PTSD group but not to initiate safety and connectedness in PTSD patients.

The feasibility of using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) feedback regarding the level of activation in rostromedial prefrontal cortex (rMPFC) to learn improved regulation of this brain area was examined in a group of 5 young adults. Subjects received real-time feedback from the target brain region while engaging in a blocked-design task involving alternating blocks of attempted up-regulation and down-regulation of the target brain region. A transient negative emotional state was induced prior to each scanning session. Subjects completed 6 scanning sessions (a pre-training session, 4 feedback sessions and a post-training session - no feedback was provided for pre and post-training sessions). The guideline strategy provided to subjects of engaging in emotional awareness during up-regulation and bodily awareness during down-regulation was found to consistently regulate the region in the pre-training session prior to the fMRI feedback sessions. This finding is in line with the previously proposed role of the rMPFC in emotional awareness. In contrast to previous real-time fMRI findings, greater recruitment of the region was observed in the pre-training session compared to the post-training session, with a non-significant negative trend observed across feedback sessions. These results suggest that there may be limitations to which the feedback techniques successfully employed for other brain regions extend to yet unexplored brain regions. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Self-report questionnaires are frequently used in health fields; however, subjective interpretation is often ignored. One way of assessing this is using techniques derived from cognitive interviewing. Of these, ‘think-aloud’, in which respondents speak their thoughts aloud as they complete a questionnaire, is the original paradigm. The thesis focusses on the use of ‘think-aloud’ methodology in the evaluation of questionnaires already in use in the health domain. The current thesis has been prepared in the format of scientific papers. Paper 1 is a systematic review (23 studies) of the appropriateness and usefulness of think-aloud techniques for evaluating health-related questionnaires. A descriptive account is provided of the aims of the studies reviewed; the justification for using think-aloud; populations studied; and methodology; an evaluative account depicts the usefulness of the think-aloud method in addressing researchers’ aims. Think-aloud was successfully used to address researchers’ aims and was effective at elucidating problems with questionnaires. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed, and recommendations made for future research. Paper 2 is a cross-sectional observational study using think-aloud methods to examine the way in which people with End Stage Renal Disease (N=25) interpret and respond to the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). All questions were found to be problematic to some extent and reappraisal questions yielded the most problems. A tendency to deny or minimise negative emotions and present a positive self-image was also noted. Implications are discussed for use of the ERQ and replication with further samples suggested. Paper 3 is a critical appraisal of the above papers and provides personal reflections on the research process as a whole. The current thesis was a transition from a different study; amended due to time constraints. The journey is also outlined from this original study to the present thesis. Strengths and limitations are considered as well as areas for improvement and future research.

Research on the socialization of emotion has examined the role of parents’ behavioural responses to children’s negative emotions in the development of a number of psychosocial outcomes for children. Parents’ unsupportive socialization practices have predicted poorer social and emotional functioning both in childhood and later in adulthood. The current study aimed to broaden existing knowledge of the nature and impact of parent emotion socialization practices on emotion regulation. This was done through an exploration of the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural aspects of mothers’ responses to their children’s anger and sadness; by examining the impact of factors such as child gender and age as well as contextual factors on mothers’ responses; and by examining the impact of socialization practices on the development of emotion regulation. An online community sample of 114 mothers of 6- to 10-year-old children read a series of hypothetical situations in which they were asked to imagine their child responding with either anger or sadness. Mothers reported on their emotional responses, their acceptance of their child’s reaction, their causal attributions, and their socialization responses. Mothers also completed measures that assessed perceived social support, recent stressful life events, and the emotion regulation abilities of their child. Mothers were generally positive and supportive in their responses. Mothers were more likely to endorse negative responses to anger than sadness Responses did not differ according to the gender or age of the child. There was general consistency in the tendency to react positively or negatively. High levels of stressful life events predicted anger and punishment responses to child anger. Minimization of sadness was predicted by lower educational status. No other contextual factors were significant. As expected, minimization of sadness and anger both emerged as significant predictors of poorer emotion regulation in children; problem-focused responses predicted better emotion regulation for anger not sadness; unexpectedly emotion-focused responses to anger predicted poorer emotion regulation. Results are discussed in relation to the existing literature on the socialization of emotion and child outcomes. Limitations of this study and future directions for the research are discussed.