The struggle to regulate one's emotions can sometimes be difficult. Two emotion regulation strategies are to reappraise an emotional stimulus or to distract oneself from the stimulus. While there have been many investigations of both strategies, previous research suffers from methodological problems. Reappraisal conditions might be confounded by non-reappraisal-related cognitive processes, resulting in effects of distraction rather than reappraisal. In the current exploratory within-subjects study, participants completed an online survey where the conditions were held as equal as possible to avoid any differences in non-task-related cognitive processes. I measured variables that have been associated with an electrophysiological response correlated to the intensity level of emotions: the late positive potential. First, participants watched emotionally negative film clips in a reappraisal, distraction, and control condition, followed by ratings of experienced feeling. Second, participants rated the threat level of angry and neutral faces. It was hypothesized that applying ER during emotion induction compared to no ER should result in more positive ratings of experienced feeling after induction and lower threat-ratings of angry faces due to a more positive emotional state. The results showed no significant differences between conditions, most likely due to either methodological limitations or an actual lack of emotion regulation effects. I discuss future directions and improvements of the method.

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Maternal depression is a robust risk factor for heightened internalizing symptoms in offspring. Studies also suggest that maternal depression is associated with greater maternal emotion regulation (ER) difficulties. However, emotion regulation has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct, and few studies have identified specific components of ER related to maternal depression and the role these components may play in the relationship between maternal depression and child internalizing symptoms. Mothers (n = 73) of young children (ages 4–9; 42 females), recruited from both clinical and community settings, reported their depression symptoms and emotion regulation difficulties. Children’s internalizing symptoms were assessed using both parental report and a semi-structured clinical interview. Regression analyses revealed that maternal depression symptoms were positively related to maternal ER, specifically, limited access to emotion regulation strategies and non-acceptance of emotional responses. Structural equation models revealed that the relation between maternal depression and child internalizing problems was mediated only through mother’s limited access to emotion regulation strategies. Our findings offer new insight for targeting mothers’ limited access to emotion strategies as a novel early intervention method to help break the intergenerational transmission of internalizing symptoms from mother to child.

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Emotion Regulation refers to the process of controlling our emotions. However, the brain regions which are involved in emotional processes, such as the prefrontal cortices, are the last regions to be developed throughout the human brain. Those who are most affected by this slow development are adolescents especially since they undergo hormonal and neural changes. Previous research has shown mindfulness meditation improves emotional stability and inhibitory control. Since our brain is not fully developed until the age of 25, it is particularly interesting to get knowledge of the effect of mindfulness on emotion regulation in adolescents, which is the aim of this thesis. A total of three studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. The results showed a larger reaction in the amplitude of P2, N2, and late positive potentials on both negative and positive stimuli but not neutral stimuli. Differences were observed in the high vs low mindfulness adolescents in frontal EEG asymmetry during emotion regulation tasks. These findings suggest that even brief mindfulness can have a positive effect on emotion regulation processes by enhancing prefrontal cortices. These findings contribute to the understanding of whether mindfulness affects emotional regulation in a developing brain. However, future research is needed to clarify the effects of mindfulness on emotion regulation in adolescents.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD), a complex disorder linked to adverse behavioral outcomes and impaired functioning, is associated with difficulties in emotion regulation (ER)—including both ER abilities and use of ER strategies. BPD commonly co-occurs with other disorders that are themselves linked to emotion dysregulation. Thus, it is important to consider the potential role of these comorbidities when examining ER difficulties in BPD. The present study investigated relationships between ER abilities, ER strategies, and BPD, while considering key comorbidities, among a sample of participants: (a) diagnosed with BPD, (b) without BPD but matched to BPD group members on key classes of psychopathology (i.e., mood, anxiety, substance use, trauma-related, and other personality disorders; matched psychiatric control [MPC] group), or (c) free of assessed psychopathology (healthy control [HC] group). Results revealed few significant differences between the BPD and MPC groups, who both demonstrated greater impairments than the HC group across most ER abilities and strategies. Notable exceptions were greater impulse control difficulty (ability) and anger rumination (strategy) in the BPD relative to both other groups. Additionally, lower composite maladaptive ER strategies and higher composite adaptive strategies distinguished the HC from BPD group, with neither composite ER abilities nor strategies differentiating the MPC from BPD group, though this result is limited by statistical overlap between variables. By elucidating the potential role of psychiatric comorbidity in two key components of ER in BPD, this study contributes to a growing literature that may help inform therapeutic interventions targeting the severe emotional and behavioral dysregulation commonly seen in this complex disorder. / Psychology