In an attempt to understand girls' involvement conduct problems, this dissertation first reviews two existing theoretical approaches that provide an explanation for the development of conduct problems. Specifically, the available literature on the development and correlates of conduct problems in boys suggests the subtypes of conduct disorder represent two developmental trajectories. The adolescent-onset pathway is associated with deviant peers and few characterological problems, where as the childhood-onset pathway is associated with emotion regulation deficits, negative parenting, callous and unemotional traits, and neurological deficits. Research also suggests a gender-specific model, the delayed-onset model, for the development of conduct problems in girls. Following this theoretical review, differential predictions made by the competing theoretical models are tested in a community sample of school-aged girls and boys. Participants were 202 children (87 males and 115 females) in grades 5-9. The students ranged in age from 10 to 17 years old (M = 13.16). Similar to the total student body, the ethnic breakdown of the sample was as follows: African-American (60%), Caucasian (24%), Hispanic (6%), and Other (5%). Data was also collected from the students' parents and teachers. Results indicated that girls conduct problems did not follow either model in a consistent manner. Specifically, adolescent-onset conduct problem girls, childhood-onset conduct problem boys, and adolescentonset conduct problem boys differed from non-conduct problem children but did not differ significantly amongst themselves on study variables (e.g., deviant peer association, hyperactivity/impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, callous/unemotional traits). However, results suggest that gender-specific risk factors should be taken into account when developing theoretical models for girls' conduct problems. For example, early pubertal maturation is a particularly salient risk factor for conduct problems in girls, and pubertal development interacts with emotion regulation problems to place girls at high risk for deviant behavior. Finally, implications for prevention and intervention as well as future research are discussed.

This chapter investigates ways in which civility and mindful speech within the library workplace can improve the quality of employees’ interactions with each other. While most examinations of communication within libraries focus on the exchange between patrons and providers, this case study focuses on the vehicle of communication among co-workers and examines how civil discourse coupled with mindful speech reinforced by mindful actions can foster an atmosphere of cooperation, leading ultimately to empathy. We highlight common points within national and local civility initiatives which allow institutions to preserve their own unique culture while adhering to accepted benchmarks of civil dialogue. Although we present a mix of suggested strategies for cultivating mindful words and actions, based on empirical research limited to our own institution, we recommend civility and mindful speech leading to mindful action as gateways toward the adaptation of healthy shared values. Emphasizing civility, one of the cornerstones of civilization and peaceful coexistence, has widespread practical and social implications for countering the detrimental effects of poor communication. This effective, affordable, and attainable practice can repair the underdeveloped, fractured, and even dysfunctional relationships which lead to low workplace morale.

L'annonce d'une mauvaise nouvelle en cancérologie constitue un exercice anxiogène pour les médecins. La théorie de la régulation émotionnelle laisse à penser que les médecins vont avoir recours à des stratégies afin de réguler leurs émotions au moment de l'annonce. Nous nous sommes interrogés sur l'impact des stratégies de régulation émotionnelle des médecins confrontés à l'annonce d'une mauvaise nouvelle, sur l'ajustement psychologique de leurs patients. Pour y répondre, quatre études ont été menées. La première visait à analyser l'anxiété des médecins et deux stratégies de régulation émotionnelles ( la réévaluation cognitive et la suppression expressive), à l'annonce d'une mauvaise nouvelle. Dans la seconde étude, les résultats de l'analyse quantitative d'entretiens menés auprès de médecins nous ont permis d'élargir l'éventail des émotions (négatives et positives) et des stratégies de régulation émotionnelle des médecins à l'annonce d'une mauvaise nouvelle. Dans la troisième étude, l'analyse IPA du discours des médecins a fait émerger deux éléments clés de compréhension de l'expérience subjective des médecins face à l'annonce : le sens que les médecins donnent à l'annonce et à leur rôle, et le lien établi avec leurs patients. La dernière étude s'est focalisée sur l'analyse des liens entre l'anxiété, les stratégies de régulation émotionnelle et les compétences relationnelles des médecins au moment de l'annonce, et l'ajustement psychologique de leurs patients quinze jours après l'annonce. Les résultats de ces quatre études apportent de nouveaux éléments de réflexion concernant les formations à l'annonce de mauvaises nouvelles proposées aux médecins. / Breaking bad news in oncology is a difficult task for physicians, generating anxiety. The theory of emotion regulation suggests that physicians are using emotion regulation strategies to influence their emotions when breaking bad news to patients. The literature has led us to question the impact of the emotion regulation strategies of physicians facing giving bad news in oncology, on their patient's psychological adjustment. To address this topic, four studies were carried out. The first one enables us to analyse physicians' anxiety and two emotions regulation strategies (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal) at three different stages of the announcement : just before, just after and a week later. In the second study, the results of qualitative analysis from semi-structured interviews with physicians allow us to expand the range of emotions (negative and positive) and physicians' emotion regulation strategies when announcing a bad news. In the third study, the interpretative phenomenological analysis of the physicians' interviews enables us to understand two key elements of the subjective experience of physicians facing the announcement : the importance that physicians give to the announcement and their role, and the relationship established with their patients. Tha last study focusses on the analysis of the link between anxiety, emotion regulation strategies and the physicians' interpersonal skills when breaking bad news in oncology, and the patient's psychological adjustment fifteen days after the announcement. The results of these four studies allow to provide new lines of approach regarding the training in breaking bad news currently available for physicians.

Personen unterscheiden sich in dem, wie sie sich im Allgemeinen fühlen. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, die Prozesse, die diesen Personenunterschieden zugrunde liegen, zu verstehen. Es wurden insbesondere die affektiven Prozesse affektive Reaktivität und Emotionsregulation untersucht. In drei Studien wurden die folgenden Forschungsfragen untersucht: (1) Haben Personen mit höherem subjektiven Wohlbefinden einen stärkeren Anstieg in positivem Affekt, wenn sie auf positive Stimuli im Labor reagieren oder ihre positiven Emotionen hochregulieren? (2) Welches sind die neuronalen Korrelate, die diesen kurzfristigen Veränderungen in positivem Affekt zugrunde liegen, insbesondere während der Hochregulation positiver Emotionen? (3) Hängt ein höheres subjektives Wohlbefinden mit einer stärkeren oder geringeren Reaktion auf positive Ereignisse im Alltag zusammen? Die Befunde haben gezeigt, dass ein stärkerer Anstieg in positivem Affekt (durch eine stärkere Reaktion auf positive Ereignisse oder durch das Hochregulieren positiver Emotionen) nicht mit einem höheren subjektiven Wohlbefinden zusammenhängt. Stattdessen hatten Personen mit einem höheren subjektiven Wohlbefinden eine geringere Reaktivität auf positive Ereignisse im Alltag. Auf der neuronalen Ebene spiegelten sich die Veränderungen in positivem Affekt durch eine verstärkte neuronale Aktivierung in emotionsbezogenen Regionen (insbesondere des ventralen Striatums) wieder, sowie durch eine Deaktivierung in einem fronto-parietalen Kontrollnetzwerk. Ein Zusammenhang von neuronaler Aktivierung und Veränderungen in positivem Affekt im Alltag wurde nicht gefunden. Die Arbeit dieser Dissertation zeigt, dass nicht besonders intensives positives Erleben, sondern eher weniger Schwankungen in momentanen positiven Affekt wichtig für das Wohlbefinden sind. Darüber hinaus zeigt diese Dissertation die Wichtigkeit auf verschiedene Analyseebenen und Untersuchungsmethoden in die Erforschung von affektivem Erleben zu integrieren. / This dissertation investigates the affective processes – affective reactivity and emotion regulation – underlying short-term changes in positive affective experiences and their relation to interindividual differences in subjective well-being. The main research objectives that were addressed in the empirical studies of this dissertation concerned (1) whether stronger increases in positive affect when reacting to and when up-regulating in response to positive stimuli in the laboratory relate to higher subjective well-being, (2) which brain regions underlie changes in positive affective experiences, particularly during the up-regulation of positive emotions, and (3) whether enhanced or reduced affective reactivity to positive events in daily life relates to higher subjective well-being. Findings showed that greater increases in positive affect were not related to higher subjective well-being, both when investigated in the laboratory and in daily life. Instead, people with higher levels of subjective well-being showed reduced affective reactions to positive events in daily life, pointing to the importance of a relative greater emotional stability. At the neural level, changes in positive affective experiences were mirrored by increased activations in emotion-related (e.g., ventral striatum) regions as well as deactivation in a fronto-parietal control network. These neural activations were not related to changes in positive affective experiences in daily life. The work in this dissertation indicates that not the experience of particularly intense positive affective states, but rather less fluctuation in momentary positive affective experiences seems to be essential to the overall composition of subjective well-being. The present dissertation further emphasizes the need to integrate different methods in the study of emotion. Concluding, this dissertation advances our understanding of the processes underlying subjective well-being.

This thesis aimed to extend the existing psychological and neural basis of social processing in Major Depressive Disorder. This investigation was an attempt to resolve current conflicts and gaps in the social affective neuroscience literature regarding social functioning in depression. Chapter 1 consisted of a general introduction to the current evidence-base and theoretical frameworks surrounding social processing more generally, and in depression more specifically. ‎Chapter 2 provided an exploration of the systemic behavioural biases in in those with depression compared to mentally healthy individuals using a range of social, affective and process measures implemented across the remaining chapters. Then followed a behavioural and neural investigation into self-relevant social processing in depression. Chapter 3 described the process of memory generation implemented across ‎ Chapter 4-6 using a script-driven paradigm. It further discussed the ecological validity of this paradigm using social autobiographical memories. Chapter 4 investigated the neural and behavioural responses to self-relevant autobiographical memories of social rejection and social inclusion in individuals with depression and in healthy controls. The next two chapters discussed the behavioural and neural basis of social processing in depression in response to others’ memories of social rejection and inclusion, using traditional and novel fMRI analysis methodologies in ‎Chapter 5 and ‎‎Chapter 6, respectively. The latter applied a novel intersubject correlation analysis to the same population of depressed and healthy controls as in Chapter 5. Then, Chapter 7 presented a future application of the script-driven imagery paradigm by investigating the effectiveness of different emotion regulation strategies in response to socially salient autobiographical memories in a population of healthy controls. Finally, Chapter 8 provided a general discussion bringing together behavioural and neural findings to provide a clearer understanding of social processing in Major Depressive Disorder. Current theoretical frameworks were used to guide the interpretation of these findings.

The adverse consequences of posttraumatic stress on quality of life have been well documented. It is, however, possible that it is not the intrusive re-experiencing and hyperarousal posttraumatic stress symptoms that have an impact on quality of life per se, but the inflexible efforts to avoid internal experiences and emotions related to the traumatic event, and the way these emotions are expressed and experienced. Previous research shows that both experiential avoidance and emotion regulation have been found to be etiologically central to the development and maintenance of psychological problems in trauma survivors. The degree to which experiential avoidance and emotion regulation act together as toxic underlying mechanisms to explain the relationship between posttraumatic stress and quality of life is, however, yet to be examined. Quality of life is now regarded as an important outcome variable across a broad range of conditions and problem areas. The quality of life concept has generated a large body of research and yet its assessment has been a challenge for researchers. The WHOQOL-BREF is considered to be one of the few genuine quality of life measures but it has received much criticism, especially regarding the poor psychometric performance of its social relationships domain. The aim of the current thesis was twofold. The first aim involved the revision of the WHOQOL-BREF through the enhancement of the social relationships domain. In Study I 986 ill and healthy individuals from five countries worldwide completed the Pilot Revised WHOQOL-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF-R) along with measures of life satisfaction, anxiety, and depression for the detailed psychometric analysis of the scale. Study I confirmed the limitations of the social relationships domain, and despite its improvement, the performance of the overall scale was found to be poor. In fact, findings from modern and robust techniques challenged the 4-factor structure of the WHOQOL-BREF. Instead, results supported the performance of a 3-factor solution, which led to the development of a psychometrically sound measure. Study II is preceded by a systematic review of the literature investigating experiential avoidance as a mediator in trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress. Ten studies were identified and organised in two categories assessing experiential avoidance as a mediator between: 1) trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress, and 2) posttraumatic stress and maladaptive behaviours. Findings suggest that the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms and maladaptive behaviours in the aftermath of trauma can be explained through the use of experiential avoidance. Methodological limitations and future directions for research are discussed. The WHOQOL-BREF-R was then used in Study II, which explored an integrative mediation model whereby experiential avoidance and emotion regulation were tested as mediators in the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptomatology and quality of life in trauma exposed adults. The two mediators were also explored for their overlapping relationship. A total of 360 participants from the community completed self-report measures of posttraumatic stress, experiential avoidance, emotion regulation, and quality of life. With the use of path analysis Study II found experiential avoidance and emotion regulation to be two distinct constructs that together act as an underlying mechanism explaining the impact of posttraumatic stress on quality of life. Alternative mediating models were explored. The current study makes an important contribution in the area of trauma and in the conceptualisation and assessment of quality of life. Findings can be considered as a first step towards an integrative mediation model of toxic mechanisms in trauma and quality of life. Additionally, the favourable psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF-R make it a powerful tool for use in quality of life research.

En la presente investigación se buscó establecer una relación entre la regulación emocional y la expresividad emocional, así como realizar correlaciones y comparaciones entre las variables de estudio y demográficas. Para ello, se evaluaron a 163 docentes del género femenino, tanto profesoras como auxiliares, con una media de 33 años de edad, que ejercían en diez diferentes jardines de educación inicial privados de Lima. Se utilizó el Cuestionario de Autorregulación Emocional (ERQ-P), el cual mide dos estrategias, la reevaluación cognitiva y la supresión emocional. Además, se aplicó el Cuestionario de Expresividad de Berkeley (BEQ) para medir la expresividad emocional, que abarca la expresión de emociones positivas, negativas y la fuerza del impulso. Se comprobó que sí existe una relación significativa entre la reevaluación cognitiva y la expresividad positiva, demostrando así la hipótesis principal. Además, se encontró una correlación negativa entre dicha estrategia y la edad de los niños a cargo, así como también se hallaron diferencias significativas al realizar comparaciones entre la muestra, obteniendo que el grupo de las docentes que son madres, y las del cargo de profesoras, expresan más emociones positivas. Es de gran valor el rol de las docentes para el aprendizaje de la regulación y la expresión emocional en los niños, resultando necesario que las mismas logren regularse adecuadamente, ya que cumplen de modelos en dicho aprendizaje observacional. Finalmente, se señalan las limitaciones del estudio, como lo fue descartar la supresión por baja confiabilidad, y las implicancias prácticas en la labor y formación docente. / The present investigation intended to establish a relation between emotion regulation and emotional expressivity in private Pre-School teachers and helpers of Lima, as well as correlate and compare the study and demographic variables. Therefore, 163 female teachers and helpers from ten different Pre-Schools were measured, and the mean age was 33 years old. There are two main regulation strategies, cognitive reappraisal and emotional suppression. On the other hand, emotional expressivity covers positive expressivity, negative expressivity, and impulse strength. These variables were measured with the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire. Results showed that cognitive reappraisal correlated positively with positive expressivity, demonstrating the main hypothesis. Also, this strategy correlated negatively with children’s age, and as of the comparisons, there were significant differences between teachers and helpers, and between mothers and non-mothers, regarding positive expressivity. Since teachers and helpers play the valuable part of being models in children’s learning process of regulation skills, it is crucial they manage to regulate their own emotions adequately, given its impact on their socioemotional development. At last, limitations and future implications are mentioned, so as the removal of emotional suppression due to low reliability, and the practical implications of this study regards the work, training and education of teachers and helpers. / Tesis

Heart rate variability (HRV), a physiological marker of autonomic nervous system (ANS) engagement, has been associated with a wide variety of clinical and psychological processes. High frequency (HF) HRV power, specifically, has been linked with the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and self-regulation. The current inquiry used a random effects growth model to study the HF HRV response to an emotional task and to predict individual differences in HF HRV as a function of trait hostility, neuroticism, and emotion regulation strategies (e.g., positive reappraisal, positive refocusing). Results indicated that the task engaged both branches of the ANS. HF HRV was not related to either hostility or neuroticism. However, positive reappraisal was associated with both high baseline values of HF HRV (i.e., greater initial parasympathetic activation) and lower rates of reactivity (i.e., less parasympathetic withdrawal). Overall, these results add to the evidence that positive reappraisal is a powerful component of emotion regulation and may be an important intervention target.

A preliminary measure of affect regulation strategies was developed from Parkinson and Totterdell’s (1999) provisional classification of deliberate strategies for improving negative affect. Four broad categories of strategies including Cognitive Engagement, Cognitive Diversion, Behavioural Engagement, and Behavioural Diversion were represented by the measure. Using this measure, relationships between self-reported use of affect regulation strategies and difficulties in emotion regulation and emotion processing variables were investigated. Participants included 186 adults. Participants completed a 20 minute online survey consisting of the measure of affect regulation strategies, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Subjective Experience of Emotions Scale (SEE), and a demographic information questionnaire. Weak correlations were found for the majority of the difficulties in emotion regulation and emotion processing subscales and individuals’ self-reported use of affect regulation categories. Results also provide evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the DERS and SEE.

A preliminary measure of affect regulation strategies was developed from Parkinson and Totterdell’s (1999) provisional classification of deliberate strategies for improving negative affect. Four broad categories of strategies including Cognitive Engagement, Cognitive Diversion, Behavioural Engagement, and Behavioural Diversion were represented by the measure. Using this measure, relationships between self-reported use of affect regulation strategies and difficulties in emotion regulation and emotion processing variables were investigated. Participants included 186 adults. Participants completed a 20 minute online survey consisting of the measure of affect regulation strategies, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Subjective Experience of Emotions Scale (SEE), and a demographic information questionnaire. Weak correlations were found for the majority of the difficulties in emotion regulation and emotion processing subscales and individuals’ self-reported use of affect regulation categories. Results also provide evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the DERS and SEE.