The daughters of women with a history of depression are at heightened risk for a range of mental health problems. The present study investigated emotion regulation, cortisol reactivity to stress, and interpersonal competence as potential indicators of risk in adolescent girls at high versus low risk for depression. Participants were a community sample of 47 girls and their mothers (27 high risk and 20 low risk). Mothers and daughters had been interviewed to assess diagnostic history as part of a previous longitudinal study. In the current study, daughters completed the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) and cortisol samples were collected before and after exposure to this psychosocial stressor. Both mothers and daughters completed self-report questionnaires and daughters were re-assessed using the Depressive Disorders module of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. High risk mothers were also interviewed to assess the timing and chronicity of their depressive episodes during their daughters’ lifetime. High and low risk girls had equivalent ratings of self-reported stress following the TSST-C, but different physiological responses. Girls at high risk for depression showed a blunted cortisol response to the TSST-C whereas low risk girls showed a normal cortisol response. High risk status for depression predicted a blunted cortisol response to stress, which predicted difficulties with emotion regulation; difficulties with emotion regulation in turn predicted a greater number of self-reported depressive symptoms. These results suggest that maternal depression may act as a stressor that compromises stress-response system functioning in daughters and produces related difficulties with emotion regulation.

Relational aggression encompasses behaviour meant to hurt others by destroying their friendships and reputation (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). As peer relationships take on greater importance in early adolescence, relational aggression becomes more accepted and prevalent, yet perceived as equally or more harmful to its targets than physical aggression. The present study explored whether reactive and proactive subtypes of relational aggression were associated with an inability to empathize with others, regulate emotional states, and hold attitudes that it is acceptable to manipulate and harm others. Empathy, emotion regulation, and Machiavellianism’s roles in predicting reactive and proactive relational aggression was examined using Crick and Dodge’s (1994) reformulated Social Information-Processing Theory’s framework. Reactive relational aggression was expected to be associated with low empathy and high emotion dysreglation. Proactive relational aggression was expected to be predicted by high empathy, low emotion dysregulation, and high Machiavellianism. Low empathy was expected to predict overt aggression indices. One hundred and thirty-three children (73 females, 60 males, Mage = 12.84 years) in grades 6 through 8 from five schools in a public Ontario schoolboard were recruited. Caregivers completed a measure of their child’s emotions and behaviours (The Emotion Regulation Checklist; Shields & Cicchetti, 1995). Participating students completed four self-report measures assessing relational and overt aggression (Children’s Social Behaviour Scale – Self-Report; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995), proactive and reactive subtypes of aggression (Little, Jones, Henrich, & Hawley, 2003), empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index; Davis, 1980), and Machiavellianism (Kiddie Mach Scale; Christie & Geis, 1970) during one 60 minute session. Empathy, Machiavellianism, and emotion dysregulation scores were associated with total, reactive, and proactive relational aggression scores. When contrasting subtypes of aggression were controlled, however, these emotional and cognitive variables did not predict total and reactive relational aggression. There was a non-significant trend for higher levels of empathy to predict proactive relational aggression. Low empathy significantly predicted total and reactive overt aggression indices. Machiavellianism predicted reactive and proactive overt aggression. Emotion regulation was not a significant predictor in analyses. Results provide support for the role of Machiavellianism and empathy in relational aggression, particularly proactive or goal-oriented instances.

Background: Previous research indicates that for some individuals, quality of life (QoL) post-cardiac surgery (CABG or PTCA ) declines from pre-surgery levels. Using the framework of Leventhal's Common-Sense Model, this longitudinal study examined the associations between patients' illness perceptions and coping strategies, their QoL, attendance at cardiac rehabilitation and lifestyle changes. It was hypothesised that a more negative profile of illness beliefs (weaker control beliefs, belief in more severe consequences, poorer understanding of the condition, and negative emotional representations) together with the use of more emotional coping strategies would be associated with poorer QoL. It was also hypothesised that attendance at cardiac rehabilitation would be associated with greater control beliefs, more severe consequences and a causal attribution of lifestyle. Sample and Methods: 113 patients (93 male, mean age 66 (8.93) who were about to undergo cardiac surgery were recruited from two hospitals. Questionnaire measures of illness perceptions (IPQ-R), coping (CHIP) and cardiac-specific QoL (MacNew) were administered at four time points: pre-surgery, post-surgery, post cardiac rehabilitation, and one-year follow up. Data on attendance at rehabilitation and health behaviours were collected via hospital records and patient report. Results: The best predictors of QoL were not cognitive representations of the cardiac problems, but negative emotional representations and associated emotion-focussed coping strategies, implying that an emotion-regulation intervention could be targeted to improve outcome. The predictive ability of initial QoL on QoL at later stages implies this might be best introduced pre-surgery. Having less severe consequence beliefs prior to surgery predicted greater attendance at cardiac rehabilitation. A better understanding of the cardiac condition predicted attendance at cardiac rehabilitation. There was no evidence of change in lifestyle post-rehabilitation.Discussion: The findings that emotional representations of cardiac problems and the use of emotion focussed coping strategies were predictors of quality of life suggest that interventions to foster adaptive emotion regulation may improve outcome in these patients. Findings with respect to attendance at rehabilitation varied somewhat from the previous literature, possibly because the present study sampled patients who were having elective surgery, rather than those who had recently had a heart attack. The importance of studying defined populations and also the issue of when measures are obtained in relation to cardiac events were also highlighted.

Reappraisal is a cognitive emotion regulation strategy that induces a reduction in the arousal response elicited by both unpleasant and pleasant stimuli.One form of reappraisal is that of temporal distancing. Temporal distancing is the cognitive tool that allows the individual to perceive the stimuli in a broader temporal perspective.Reappraisal’s impact on the arousal response can be measured by assessing the amplitude of the event-related potential (ERP) component the late positive potential(LPP), a centro-parietal slow-wave ERP beginning around 350 ms post-stimulus and sustaining for up to several seconds. The aim of this study was to test various temporal-related perspectives in order to see their effect on the LPP. The analysis of the data suggests that a decrease in the amplitude of the LPP in response to emotionally unpleasant facial stimuli corresponds to adopting a temporal distancing strategy, regardless of the exact temporal distance chosen.

This exploratory enquiry into the effectiveness of an in-patient psychotherapy program measured the changes in mood and anxiety symptoms, difficulty with emotion regulation, and dispositional mindfulness in a clinical population with diverse psychiatric morbidity. Participants were 53 adults (74.5% female, mean age = 35 years) who participated in a 4-week in-patient psychotherapy program offering a variety of interventions, including mindfulness skills training, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy-psychosocial skills training. Program input data, demographic variables, psychiatric morbidity, and medication on discharge were tracked. There was an average improvement of 29.86 ± 20.56 on the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire-D30 and 12.43 ± 17.75 on the Difficulty with Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form, indicating an improvement in mood and anxiety symptoms and emotion regulation post-intervention. There was an average improvement of 17.6 ± 23.66 on the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire, indicating an increase in dispositional mindfulness post-intervention.

Extensive research has shown that childhood adversity impacts development across the lifespan and has been linked to numerous negative health outcomes. Depression symptoms are one such outcome that has been associated with ACE exposure. The literature also indicates emotion regulation may be a mediator between ACEs and depression outcomes. The primary aim of this study (N = 766) is to investigate pathways leading from ACEs to depression and potential protective factors. It was hypothesized that difficulties in emotion regulation would mediate the link between ACEs and later depressive symptoms, social support would moderate the pathway between difficulties in emotion regulation and depression, and social support would have a greater buffering effect in individuals with more severe ACE exposure. Results supported emotion regulation as a mediator between ACEs and depression. Social support was not found to significantly buffer against depression. Future research may benefit from examining transdiagnostic emotion regulation treatments.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with maladaptive outcomes, including difficulties with emotion regulation (ER). ER difficulties, in turn, increase risk for experiencing physical and mental health problems. Parental emotion socialization is one factor that has been associated with ER skills across development. No known studies, however, have examined whether parental emotion socialization moderates the relationship between ACEs and ER difficulties. In the current study, undergraduates (N = 678) completed questionnaires about their history of ACEs, parental emotion socialization experiences, and current ER difficulties. Correlational results indicated a positive correlation between ACEs and ER difficulties. Results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses found a significant moderation effect only within the context of distress reaction (DR) parenting. Results suggested that the link between ACEs and adult ER difficulties was stronger in the context of low to moderate DR parenting and relatively weak in circumstances of high DR parenting.

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Attachment theory states that emotion regulation is one of the central features of attachment system. The current study adopted an attachment perspective to investigate how mother-child attachment at 36 months and teacher-child relationships at 54 months influence children’s emotion regulation in 3rd grade, and whether teacher-child relationships moderate the associations between mother-child attachment and children’s emotion regulation. Longitudinal data from the first three phases of the National Institute of Child Health and Human development Early Child Care Research Network of Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD) were used in the study. The results showed that the association of teacher-child conflict and child’s negative engagement with peers was statistically significant. Additionally, teacher-child relationships significantly moderated the impacts of mother-child attachment on children’s emotion regulation. Specifically, the relationship between teacher-child conflict and negative engagement with peers for children with secure attachment and for those with disorganized attachment were in opposite directions. The relationship between teacher-child closeness and negative engagement with peers was significant for children with disorganized attachment, but not for children with secure attachment. And, the results showed that the levels of conflict in teacher-child relationships for children with ambivalent and with disorganized attachment were statistically different from those for children with secure attachment. The present study fills in the research gap with regard to the effects of teacher-child relationships on children’s emotion regulation. It also suggests that children’s experiences of positive teacher-child relationships may compensate for the negative impacts of insecure early mother-child attachment patterns on emotion regulation development.