An Experimental Investigation of the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation Flexibility, Negative Affect and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

IF 2.8 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Cognitive Therapy and Research Pub Date : 2025-01-01 Epub Date: 2024-10-04 DOI:10.1007/s10608-024-10536-3

Madeleine Lim, Angela Nickerson, Philippa Specker

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose: Emerging research investigating mechanisms underpinning PTSD has identified emotion regulation (ER) flexibility - the ability to flexibly use ER strategies according to contextual demands - as one promising mechanism. To date, however, no study has investigated whether brief training in ER flexibility can minimise negative affect elicited from evocative stimuli. This study investigated the impact of instructed ER flexibility on emotional responding in probable PTSD.

Methods: Participants (N = 148) viewed images that differed in negative emotional intensity (high or low). For each image, participants followed instructions to adopt either a flexible or inflexible ER approach through randomisation to either an ER flexible condition or one of three control conditions (Inflexible Reappraisal, Inflexible Distraction, Context Insensitive). In the ER Flexible condition, participants were instructed to switch between distraction and reappraisal according to the emotional intensity of the image. The control conditions required participants to either employ a single ER strategy (Inflexible Distraction and Inflexible Reappraisal) or switch between strategies in a way that did not align with image intensity (Context Insensitive). Negative affect was rated after each image.

Results: Participants with probable PTSD in the ER Flexible condition demonstrated the lowest levels of negative affect. For participants without probable PTSD, negative affect did not differ between the ER conditions.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that individuals with probable PTSD benefitted from being instructed in ER flexibility. This finding supports the adaptiveness of ER flexibility and provides a preliminary temporal link between instructed ER flexibility and improved emotional responding for those with PTSD.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-024-10536-3.

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情绪调节灵活性、负性情绪与创伤后应激障碍关系的实验研究。

目的：研究PTSD机制的新兴研究已经确定了情绪调节（ER）灵活性——根据情境需求灵活使用ER策略的能力——是一种有前景的机制。然而，到目前为止，还没有研究调查短期内质网灵活性训练是否可以最大限度地减少唤起性刺激引起的负面影响。本研究探讨指导性内质网灵活性对可能的PTSD患者情绪反应的影响。方法：参与者（N = 148）观看不同负性情绪强度（高或低）的图像。对于每张图像，参与者按照指示采用灵活或不灵活的ER方法，随机分配到ER灵活条件或三种控制条件之一（不灵活的重新评估，不灵活的分心，上下文不敏感）。在ER Flexible条件下，参与者被指示根据图像的情绪强度在分心和重新评估之间切换。控制条件要求参与者要么采用单一的ER策略（不灵活的分心和不灵活的重新评估），要么以与图像强度不一致的方式在策略之间切换（上下文不敏感）。在每张图片之后对负面影响进行评分。结果：可能患有创伤后应激障碍的参与者在ER Flexible条件下表现出最低水平的负面情绪。对于没有可能的PTSD的参与者，在不同的急诊室条件下，负面影响没有差异。结论：研究结果表明，可能患有创伤后应激障碍的个体从ER灵活性的指导中受益。这一发现支持了内质网灵活性的适应性，并提供了创伤后应激障碍患者内质网灵活性与改善情绪反应之间的初步时间联系。补充资料：在线版本提供补充资料，网址为10.1007/s10608-024-10536-3。

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来源期刊

Cognitive Therapy and Research PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Cognitive Therapy and Research (COTR) focuses on the investigation of cognitive processes in human adaptation and adjustment and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It is an interdisciplinary journal welcoming submissions from diverse areas of psychology, including cognitive, clinical, developmental, experimental, personality, social, learning, affective neuroscience, emotion research, therapy mechanism, and pharmacotherapy.