Beatriz M. Brandao , Madelyn Castro , Jacob B. Buergler , Kayla R. Clark , Bryan T. Denny , Stephanie L. Leal
{"title":"Emotion regulation strategies differentially impact memory in hormonal contraceptive users","authors":"Beatriz M. Brandao , Madelyn Castro , Jacob B. Buergler , Kayla R. Clark , Bryan T. Denny , Stephanie L. Leal","doi":"10.1016/j.yhbeh.2025.105805","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are widely used, yet their effects on emotional and cognitive processes remain poorly understood. This study examined how HC use may influence emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and emotional memory. Female participants (<em>N</em> = 179), either using HCs (<em>N</em> = 87) or naturally cycling (NC; <em>N</em> = 92), were randomly assigned to one of three groups: no emotion regulation (control), distancing and immersion, or reinterpretation and immersion. The emotion regulation groups completed emotion regulation training in which they viewed emotional images while applying different emotion regulation strategies, followed by a surprise memory test. Overall, HC users showed greater emotional reactivity to emotional images compared to NC participants. Both HC and NC groups successfully applied emotion regulation strategies as measured by changes in emotional affect; however, distancing led to a greater reduction in negative emotions compared to reinterpretation, particularly among HC users. Both HC and NC groups showed better memory for positive images after applying immersion. For negative images, HC users showed reduced memory performance when applying either distancing or reinterpretation, an effect not observed in NC participants. These findings suggest that HC use may influence specific aspects of emotional processing and memory, highlighting the need for more nuanced research on the cognitive and emotional effects of hormonal contraceptives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13001,"journal":{"name":"Hormones and Behavior","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 105805"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Hormones and Behavior","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0018506X2500131X","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are widely used, yet their effects on emotional and cognitive processes remain poorly understood. This study examined how HC use may influence emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and emotional memory. Female participants (N = 179), either using HCs (N = 87) or naturally cycling (NC; N = 92), were randomly assigned to one of three groups: no emotion regulation (control), distancing and immersion, or reinterpretation and immersion. The emotion regulation groups completed emotion regulation training in which they viewed emotional images while applying different emotion regulation strategies, followed by a surprise memory test. Overall, HC users showed greater emotional reactivity to emotional images compared to NC participants. Both HC and NC groups successfully applied emotion regulation strategies as measured by changes in emotional affect; however, distancing led to a greater reduction in negative emotions compared to reinterpretation, particularly among HC users. Both HC and NC groups showed better memory for positive images after applying immersion. For negative images, HC users showed reduced memory performance when applying either distancing or reinterpretation, an effect not observed in NC participants. These findings suggest that HC use may influence specific aspects of emotional processing and memory, highlighting the need for more nuanced research on the cognitive and emotional effects of hormonal contraceptives.
期刊介绍:
Hormones and Behavior publishes original research articles, reviews and special issues concerning hormone-brain-behavior relationships, broadly defined. The journal''s scope ranges from laboratory and field studies concerning neuroendocrine as well as endocrine mechanisms controlling the development or adult expression of behavior to studies concerning the environmental control and evolutionary significance of hormone-behavior relationships. The journal welcomes studies conducted on species ranging from invertebrates to mammals, including humans.