The Journal of Emotion and Psychopathology is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing high quality research on all aspects of emotion, psychopathology, and especially the intersection between these phenomena. The focus is interdisciplinary, accepting submissions relevant to clinical psychology, psychiatry, affective science, personality, and neuroscience. Studies may include clinical or nonclinical populations. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to: The role emotional constructs (e.g., emotion regulation, alexithymia, emotional reactivity, beliefs about emotions) play in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. Illuminating factors that contribute to emotional problems or psychopathology. Understanding the structure/nature of emotional constructs or psychopathology. The development or validation of psychometric measures relevant to the field. Links with high-risk behaviours (e.g., substance use, self-injury). Clinical trials or treatment studies. Psychophysiology. Neural correlates.
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A Latent Variable Approach to Affect Variability in Daily Life Accurately Predicts Psychopathology, Especially Depression Symptoms in a Non-Clinical Sample
Background: Ecological momentary assessments (EMA) have contributed to an increase in research correlating affect dynamics to mental health and wellbeing. While many metrics can be calculated to characterize affect dynamics from EMA data, researchers often opt for a ‘battle royale’ approach whereby only the best individual predictor is kept. The present work addresses the possibility that shared variance across indicators, namely for affect variability, may be better captured using latent models that also could better predict psychopathology. Methods: A 14-day EMA protocol was used to examine affect dynamics in 109 college-aged participants. Measures of psychopathology were collected on the first and last days. A minimum of 12 observations of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule reports were needed for each participant. Measures of affect variability, granularity, and co-occurrence were derived. Results: Depression, anxiety, stress, and neuroticism were positively associated with latent negative affect variability and negatively associated with latent positive affect variability. Granularity and co-occurrence were not significant predictors. Importantly, latent factors were significantly stronger predictors of depression than within-person mean and standard deviations. Limitations: As with any latent variable study, the factorization is sample-specific and may have limited generalizability. Replication with a clinical sample and larger battery of psychopathology assessments is recommended. Conclusions: Latent factors coalesce the strengths of several EMA-derived indicators while maintaining statistical and construct validity. Clinical implications are discussed regarding short-burst daily affect assessments to track potential risk for depression onset.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lucas J. Hamilton, Prabhvir Lakhan, Lauren A. Rutter https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Indirect Effect of Mentalized Affectivity on the Relationship Between Perceived Narcissism in Others and View of Oneself
Mentalized affectivity, a component of mentalization, is a more complex form of emotion regulation which requires self-reflection and looking at current experiences through the lens of one’s past experiences. It consists of three components of emotional experience: identifying, processing, and expressing. Healthy levels of mentalized affectivity can act as a protective buffer from adverse experiences and psychological distress. Therefore, without this system functioning properly, it may leave one vulnerable to psychological distress, especially when exposed to dysfunctional relationships such as those in relationships where one is perceived to have narcissism. The present study investigates how the capacity for mentalized affectivity might mediate the potential impact of relationships with perceptions of narcissism, both grandiose and vulnerable, on individual levels of self-criticism and fear of happiness. Participants (N = 297; 69.4% female) completed measures of perceptions of narcissism in others, and self-criticism, fears of happiness, and mentalized affectivity in themselves. Parallel mediation analysis reveals patterns of indirect effects of mentalized affectivity, suggesting unfavorable outcomes if systems are not in place to protect against these harmful relationships. Mentalized-based treatment may help bring awareness to the importance of these functions, stabilize mentalized affectivity abilities, and mitigate these experiences for such individuals.
Copyright (c) 2025 Georgia Bush, Andrew F. Luchner https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Deconstructing Emotion Regulation in Schizophrenia: The Nature and Consequences of Positive Emotion Up-Regulation Abnormalities
Many forms of psychopathology display abnormalities in down-regulating negative affect (NA). In schizophrenia (SZ), these abnormalities occur at all stages of emotion regulation (identification, selection, implementation) and the nature of these impairments predicts individual differences in clinical presentation. While NA down-regulation is important, regulatory goals can also focus on up- or down-regulating positive affect (PA). It is unclear whether the same pattern of abnormalities observed for NA down-regulation also occurs for PA regulation and whether it predicts negative symptoms (e.g., anhedonia). The current study used ecological assessment (EMA) to examine PA regulation abnormalities in SZ in real-world contexts. Participants included 39 outpatients diagnosed with SZ and 34 healthy controls (CN) who completed 6 days of EMA surveys assessing NA, PA, emotion regulation, and anhedonia. PA down-regulation rates were similarly low in both groups. The intensity of PA did not interact with group for identification rate, strategies selected, or implementation effectiveness, suggesting that PA up-regulation was relatively normal in SZ. However, the intensity of NA predicted the need to up-regulate PA, suggesting that regulation of PA was initiated in response to NA. Further, this relationship differed between the groups such that SZ regulated PA more frequently and with more effort at lower levels of NA. Yet, these regulatory attempts were ineffective at decreasing the severity of anhedonia, and SZ were less effective than CN at decreasing the intensity of NA. Overall, the pattern of emotion regulation abnormalities observed in SZ differs based upon regulatory goals. Abnormalities in regulating NA may be more central to psychopathology in SZ than abnormalities in PA.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ian M. Raugh, Lauren Luther, Gregory P. Strauss https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Unveiling the Network and Community Structures of Emotion Dysregulation: Sex Differences and Implications for Anxiety
As aberrant emotion regulation is evident in anxiety disorders, elucidating the relationships between emotion dysregulation processes and anxiety symptoms is of great clinical and theoretical relevance. The goal of the current study is to investigate sex differences in the relationships between emotion dysregulation processes and between emotion dysregulation and anxiety symptoms, using graph-based analyses. Using data from a large and diverse sample (N = 1373, Mage = 19.6 years, female: 67.4%, Hispanic/Latinx: 58.7%) collected in 2021-2022 at a regional university, the findings indicated that: 1) “limited access to emotion regulation strategies” was most strongly associated with the other aspects of emotion dysregulation; 2) emotion dysregulation processes were clustered into antecedent- and response-focused dimensions; 3) there existed minimal biological sex differences in the relationships between different emotion dysregulation processes and how they clustered; and 4) “worrying too much about different things and “becoming easily annoyed or irritable” were the most salient anxiety symptoms associated with emotion dysregulation. The potential directional effects between emotion dysregulation processes and anxiety symptoms were explored. The findings suggested that “limited access to emotion regulation strategies” was the most influential aspect of emotion dysregulation, especially in the context of anxiety, which should be the target for intervention.
Copyright (c) 2025 Caesar Liu, Siya Peng, Lili Wu, Yuyao Zhao, Sara R. Berzenski https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Emotional Reactivity and Regulation: Associations with Heart Rate Variability During Experimental Worry and Relaxation Inductions
Introduction: Emotionality and emotion dysregulation both influence cardiovascular health, putting individuals at a heightened risk for increased morbidity and mortality. Heart rate variability (HRV) is influenced by the frequency and intensity of our emotions (e.g., emotionality) as well as how we regulate our emotions. This study tested whether negative and positive affect covaried with HRV across a baseline resting period along with experimentally induced worry and relaxation conditions to assess the interplay among emotionality, emotion regulation, and cardiovascular function among physically healthy adults. Methods: Community participants (n = 85) completed a resting baseline HRV assessment followed by experimentally induced worry and relaxation conditions. Participants completed the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) to measure emotionality at baseline and following each experimental condition. HRV was also measured during the worry and relaxation conditions. Linear mixed models were used to assess covariation between affect and HRV across conditions. Results: Negative affect was significantly linked to HRV across conditions. As hypothesized, when participants reported higher negative affect, their HRV was significantly lower. In contrast, positive affect did not significantly covary with HRV across the study conditions. Conclusion: Findings highlight how negative affect and HRV are linked throughout a lab-based task of emotionality and emotion regulation. These findings provide insight into a potential pathway through which negative emotionality may be linked to poor health and how implementing emotion regulation skills training can mitigate these effects.
Copyright (c) 2025 Megan Renna, Phillip Spaeth, Michal Clayton, Douglas Mennin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Illuminating the Association Between Intolerance of Uncertainty and Health Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Worry
Background: Cognitive theories of health anxiety emphasize the critical importance of general Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU-general) in the development and maintenance of health anxiety. There is, however, a dearth of research on the mechanisms through which IU-general leads to health anxiety. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that intolerance of uncertainty specific to health (IU-health) and worry may sequentially mediate the association between IU-general and health anxiety. Methods: Three hundred and fifty-eight students completed a battery of questionnaire including measures of health anxiety, IU-general, IU-health, and worry. Results: Consistent with predictions generated by the hypothesis under test, a serial mediation model confirmed that the association between IU-general and health anxiety was mediated by IU-health (first mediator) and worry (second mediator). Conclusions: The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions were offered concerning how future research could serve to discriminate alternative causal accounts of the presently observed associations. Limitations: Due to the cross-sectional design of the study, causal inferences cannot be made. Additionally, as the sample was non-clinical, the generalizability of the results to clinical populations may be limited.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mahdi Mazidi, Maryam Kami, Colin MacLeod https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
An Experimental Investigation of the Causal Role of Mental Imagery in the Experience of Involuntary Memories
Involuntary memories are thought to affect emotion, cognition, and behaviour, and it is often assumed that their impact is amplified when they are rich in mental imagery. However, this assumption has yet to be directly investigated. The current study tested a newly-developed paradigm designed to induce involuntary memories and provide a means to test the role of mental imagery directly. In a within-subject design, an unselected young adult (mostly student) sample (N = 53) participated in a lab-based study. Participants generated emotionally-valenced mental images or sentences via combining ambiguous pictures with positive or negative word captions. They then completed tasks designed to trigger involuntary memories of the previously generated images and sentences. Voluntary retrieval of the picture-word pairs was also assessed. Participants reported experiencing involuntary memories of previously generated images and sentences, but there were no detectable effects of mental imagery on measures of involuntary memory. However, participants recalled more word captions from picture-word pairs used to generate images than those used to generate sentences. Overall, the newly developed paradigm provides a means to test assumptions about the impact and functions of involuntary memories directly via experimental manipulation, opening up a number of opportunities for future research.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mahdi Bagheri, Marcella L. Woud, Ilker Fachri Oglou, Fatma Fachri Oglou, Julian D. J. Ratzkowski, Jürgen Margraf, Simon E. Blackwell https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Maternal Ambivalence about Overprotective Parenting during Early Childhood: Relations to Observed Parenting and Mother and Child Emotion-Based Characteristics
Overprotective parenting behavior warrants attention as a construct relevant to parents with young children. Little is known about parents’ own evaluations of, or attitudes about, these behaviors. Ambivalent attitudes, reflecting a mix of positive and negative evaluations, may reflect different motivations than purely positive or negative attitudes for engaging in overprotective parenting. Understanding parent attitudes about overprotection in early childhood could augment theory on the development of overprotective parenting and the parent-child dynamics relevant to children’s outcomes. In a sample of 140 mothers and their 2-year-old children (39% female), the current study used a person-centered approach to identify a group of mothers expressing ambivalence (n = 72) about overprotective parenting, as well as groups expressing uniformly positive (n = 34) and uniformly negative (n = 19) attitudes. Methods included a variety of observational, behavioral, and survey approaches. Mothers characterized by ambivalence about overprotective parenting demonstrated as much overprotective behavior as those with positive attitudes about protective parenting. The ambivalent group had toddlers showing the highest level of temperamental risk for anxiety, whereas the positive group showed some evidence of being highest on maternal anxiety. Maternal ambivalence about overprotective parenting has implications for both the development of and interventions for child anxiety, given its relevance to overprotective parenting and mother and child characteristics related to risk.
Copyright (c) 2025 Elizabeth Kiel, Sydney M. Risley, Kim L. Gratz https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Beyond Main Effects? Affect Level as a Moderator in the Relation Between Affect Dynamics and Depressive Symptoms
The current study examined the role of mean levels of affect in the relation between affect dynamics and depressive symptoms. We analyzed data from seven studies that measured affect in daily life in adolescents and young adults (N = 1,448, age range = 11.7-29.9 years, 64.8% females). We tested main and interaction effects of affect dynamics (variability and inertia) and affect level on depressive symptoms, separately for positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). For PA, we found mostly main, but no interaction effects. Depressive symptoms were associated with more PA variability and less PA inertia, indicating that depressive symptoms in young people may be characterized by more variable and less lingering PA, independent of PA mean levels. For NA, we found a significant moderation effect between NA variability and NA levels for depressive symptoms at baseline. For individuals with low NA levels, high NA variability was associated with more depressive symptoms. In contrast, for individuals with high NA levels, high NA variability was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. These results suggest that the relative adaptiveness of NA variability depends on overall NA levels and underscores the need for a more nuanced understanding of affect variability in depression.
Copyright (c) 2023 Dominique Maciejewski, Eeske van Roekel, Thao Ha, Kalee DeFrance, Lauren Lin, Hannah Lennarz, Hester Trompetter, Wim Meeus, Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff, Susan Branje, Tom Hollenstein, Maaike Verhagen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Inter-Personal Affect Regulation Test (IPART): Development and Validation of a Performance-Based Assessment of the Ability to Improve the Emotions of Others
The ability to intentionally improve the emotional states of others, or inter-personal affect regulation ability, is considered an important component of emotional intelligence. While multiple self-report scales have been developed to assess self-perceived capacities within this domain, few objective performance measures exist. In this article we describe two studies which outline the creation and validation of a performance-based assessment of this ability: The Inter-Personal Affect Regulation Test (IPART). Study 1 demonstrates that the IPART shows good internal reliability and that test items appear to primarily load onto a single latent factor. It also provides evidence of convergent validity by demonstrating significant relationships with existing self-report scales in expected directions. Study 2A replicates results of Study 1 and extends them by showing relationships to performance-based measures. Study 2B examines longitudinal data to show test-retest reliability, assess relationships with change in other measures over time, and demonstrate how IPART scores are appropriately sensitive to emotional intelligence training. The IPART represents a novel, reliable, and valid tool for assessing individual differences in this important social-cognitive skill – including both the ability to recognize optimal responses and how often one in fact chooses those responses.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ryan Smith, Claire A. Lavalley, Michelle R. P. Durham, Jeff Skalamera, Meltem Ozcan, Adam Raikes, Sarah Berryhill, Jacqueline Marquez, Courtney Smith, Anna Sanova, Anna Alkozei, William D. S. Killgore https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
How Personalized Behavioral Activation Interventions Improve the Behaviors of Individuals with Anhedonia
Background. Interventions for anhedonia often focus on re-engagement in pleasurable activities. We aimed to examine how anhedonic individuals changed their lifestyle behavior (i.e., physical activity, time outside, worrying, and social activity) after a personalized lifestyle advice session, and how these changes in behavior where associated with improvement. Methods. Participants were 69 young adults with persistent anhedonia, who filled out 3 assessments per day about lifestyle behaviors and affect for 3 months. After an observation month, participants received personalized lifestyle advice. Results. Results showed that only changes in social interaction, physical activity, and worrying were associated with improvement in positive affect (PA) and pleasure. Further exploration of the reciprocal associations between behaviors and PA and pleasure showed that physical activity and worrying were reciprocally associated with PA or pleasure, indicating a positive feedback loop. Conclusions. Results indicate that momentary assessments are an effective tool to detect mechanisms of change in interventions.
Copyright (c) 2023 Eeske van Roekel, Albertine J. Oldehinkel https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
A Double-Edged Sword? Unpacking the Effects of Rumination on Emotional Clarity
Rumination, or thinking passively and repetitively about one’s distress, and low emotional clarity, or not understanding one’s emotions, are risk factors for psychopathology. It has been suggested that people attempt to increase emotional clarity by ruminating, but whether ruminating works to help or harm emotional clarity in the moment is unknown. In N = 74 adults, following an idiographic negative mood induction, we experimentally manipulated rumination and two comparison conditions – distraction and mindfulness – to assess their effects on negative emotion, subjective and implicit indices of emotional clarity, and self-insight. Manipulation checks showed that conditions produced a pattern of distinct experiences theoretically consistent with each response style. Compared to comparison conditions, rumination was less effective in alleviating negative emotion. However, all conditions produced similar effects on emotional clarity and self-insight. Whereas each condition failed to influence subjective emotional clarity, they increased implicit clarity and perceived self-insight. Results underscore the importance of incorporating multiple measures of emotional clarity and suggest that, compared to other cognitive emotion response styles, rumination may function as a double-edged sword that keeps one entrenched in negative emotion but without impairing implicit emotional clarity and self-insight. Findings may have implications for why people ruminate despite its negative impact on well-being.
Copyright (c) 2025 Cameron P. Pugach, Blair E. Wisco, Vera Vine https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Experience-Sampling Approach to Emotion Differentiation and Bipolar Mood Risk in Emerging Adults
Despite the prominence of emotion disturbance in bipolar disorder, few studies have assessed emotion differentiation. The present investigation used an experience-sampling approach to test the utility of emotion differentiation in predicting bipolar mood-related difficulties. Across two studies, emerging adults participated during a normative first year of college (Spring 2019; Study 1; n = 136) or during their first year of college marked by a naturalistic global pandemic stressor, which may have provided a context for amplified emotional experiences (Spring 2020; Study 2; n = 136). Results suggested that lower global emotion differentiation was associated with increased trait bipolar risk in Study 2, but not in Study 1. Secondary analyses in Study 1 suggested that greater positive emotion differentiation was associated with increased mania symptom severity. Taken together, results suggest that emerging adults at higher risk for bipolar disorder had more difficulty differentiating emotions in their daily life compared to those at lower risk during—but not before—the COVID-19 pandemic. These results highlight the importance of context when examining emotion processes and dimensions of mood disorder risk. This initial work could improve early risk identification for bipolar disorder and may have important treatment implications.
Copyright (c) 2025 Cynthia M. Villanueva, Stevi G. Ibonie, Emily Jensen, Lucca Eloy, Jordi Quoidbach, Angela Bryan, Sidney D'Mello, June Gruber https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Associations Between Emodiversity and Mental Health in University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Emodiversity refers to the breadth and scope of emotions a person experiences day to day and may be uniquely related to mental health mean levels of positive and negative emotion. We examined the associations between positive and negative emodiversity, mean positive and negative emotion, and three mental health indicators: depressive symptoms, anxious symptoms, and overall wellbeing in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 592, 80% women, mode of age = 20 years) during different phases of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants completed a 14-day daily diary survey to assess their daily positive and negative emotions. Results indicated significant interactions between negative emodiversity and mean levels of negative mood in predicting symptoms of depression and anxiety and overall wellbeing. Specifically, for individuals who reported greater mean levels of negative mood, low negative emodiversity was associated with greater depressive and anxious symptoms and lower wellbeing. Results for positive emodiversity were not significant. These associations did not differ across changing pandemic restrictions. Results suggest that rigidity in negative emotions in daily life (i.e., high levels of negative emotion with low diversity in negative emotion states) are an important feature of mental health and wellbeing among university students.
Copyright (c) 2025 Keaghan M. Forster, Jessica Lougheed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Unpacking the Anhedonia Paradox Across the Psychosis Continuum: The Role of the Positivity Offset
Conceptual models of negative symptoms evolved to explain how seemingly intact hedonic capacity fails to translate to motivated behavior in SZ; however, Cacioppo’s Evaluative Space Model indicates that hedonic deficits are apparent in the form of a reduced positivity offset (i.e., experiencing lower levels of positive relative to negative emotion when affective input is absent). Prior evidence indicates that the positivity offset is reduced across the psychosis continuum and associated with negative symptoms, suggesting it may contribute to the disjunction between hedonic and volitional responding in SZ, as well as differences in hedonic capacity along the psychosis continuum. The current study examined the positivity offset during a laboratory-based emotional experience task in two samples: (1) individuals with SZ (n = 98) and healthy controls (CN: n = 84); (2) individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis (n = 45) and CN (n = 51). Results indicated that SZ is best characterized by intact hedonic capacity, as well as a reduced positivity offset that is associated with more severe anhedonia and avolition. CHR demonstrated an intact positivity offset that was not associated with anhedonia or avolition. Findings add to current conceptual models of negative symptoms by demonstrating distinct emotional abnormalities that may underlie anhedonia at different phases of psychotic illness.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lisa A. Bartolomeo, Gregory P. Strauss https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Examining the Joint Factor Structure of Mania, Internalizing, and Thought Disorder Symptoms in a Large Online Sample
The optimal classification of mania symptoms within dimensional models of psychopathology remains unclear, due in part to most prior research using composite categorical ratings of mania/bipolar disorder rather than ratings of specific symptoms. We addressed this gap by examining the structure of self-reported symptom-level ratings of mania, internalizing, and thought disorder in adults (N = 1,112) recruited online who self-identified as having significant mental health histories. Although prior research suggests that mania symptoms overlap strongly with both internalizing and thought disorder, our results indicated much closer alignment with thought disorder than internalizing when examining a two-factor structure. Even when examining a three-factor structure, manic symptoms such as grandiosity loaded strongly onto a common factor with positive psychosis symptoms. However, symptoms such as racing thoughts and excessive energy loaded strongly onto a separate Agitation factor potentially representing a subspectrum within thought disorder. Agitation showed some unique correlates (e.g., with stimulant medication use), indicating heterogeneity within the broader thought disorder spectrum. Future directions extending this research include incorporating assessment of other psychopathology (e.g., externalizing), examining the cross-method consistency of results (e.g., when using interviews), and determining symptom course and interrelations using intensive longitudinal designs.
Copyright (c) 2023 Kasey Stanton, Janan Mostajabi, Warner Myntti, Liana Willis, Juyoung Yun, Hanna Osborne, Kasidee L. Brewer https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Impact of Psychological Stress on Emotion Regulation Strategies during COVID-19 in Young Adults with Self-Reported Social Anxiety
Background: This study sought to evaluate the relations among expressive suppression (ES), cognitive reappraisal (CR), and stress during COVID-19 in young adults with self-reported social anxiety. We hypothesized that social anxiety would positively relate to ES but negatively relate to CR. Furthermore, we predicted that stress severity would moderate the relation between social anxiety and emotion regulation, where higher reports of stress and social anxiety would predict greater ES and lower CR. Methods: Participants were young adults (N = 84; 18-24 years old) who completed self-report measures of social anxiety, stress, and emotion regulation amid COVID-19. Zero-order correlations assessed relations among these variables. Moderation analyses assessed stress as a moderator of the relation between social anxiety and emotion regulation. Results: Results indicated that social anxiety was significantly correlated with ES but not CR. The relation between social anxiety and ES was moderated by stress severity, such that as stress increased, individuals with higher social anxiety engaged in less ES. Stress did not moderate the relation between social anxiety and CR. Conclusions: The current study suggests that self-reported social anxiety is positively associated with ES (but not CR) during COVID-19; however, individuals with high social anxiety and perceived stress engaged in less ES.
Copyright (c) 2023 Katelyn M. Garcia, Corinne N. Carlton, Mara Villalongo Andino, Thomas H. Ollendick, John A. Richey https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Impact of Emotion Regulation Improvements on Intolerance of Uncertainty During Emotion Regulation Therapy
Both intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and impoverished emotion regulation repertoires characterize generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Across two treatment studies, we explored relationships between two emotion regulation skills, decentering and reappraisal, and IU during emotion regulation therapy (ERT). Participants were treatment-seeking individuals diagnosed with GAD. Study 1 included data from two open trials of ERT (N = 52), and Study 2 examined data from a randomized controlled trial of ERT (n = 28) versus a minimal attention control (n = 25). IU and emotion regulation skills were measured at pre-, mid-, and post-treatment. Mediation models explored indirect effects of emotion regulation skills on the relationship between time (Study 1) or group (Study 2) and intolerance of uncertainty. Results demonstrated improvements in emotion regulation skills and reductions in IU during ERT. Greater use of reappraisal and decentering was associated with reduced IU over time. Tests of indirect effects suggested that observed between-group differences in IU can be explained by changes in emotion regulation skills. The findings from these studies highlight the utility of non-IU-specific interventions to help individuals tolerate uncertainty. Exploring the impact of emotion regulation skills on IU could lead to improvements in treating GAD.
Copyright (c) 2023 Michal Clayton, Megan E. Renna, Leah Weingast, Aliza A. Panjwani, Phillip E. Spaeth, Richard G. Heimberg, David M. Fresco, Douglas S. Mennin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Differences in Emotion Regulation Difficulties in Partially Hospitalized Sexual Minority Patients with Eating Disorders
Prior research indicates that emotion regulation (ER) difficulties may contribute to or maintain eating disorders (EDs), and that sexual minorities (SM) are at elevated risk for both phenomena. However, limited research has examined the dimensional variability of ER in SM individuals with EDs. Patients from an ED partial hospitalization program (N = 344) completed surveys of ED symptoms and ER difficulties at treatment admission. SM patients with EDs reported greater difficulties in ER compared to non-clinical SM participants from a previous study (ps < .001). Patients with EDs that identified as a SM demonstrated greater difficulties compared heterosexual patients across all ER dimensions (ps < .018); however, the effect sizes were smaller when comparing SM patients to heterosexual patients with EDs. ER difficulties were significantly associated with more severe ED symptoms across all dimensional scores. However, DERS Clarity was the only ER dimension that demonstrated a significant interaction effect with sexual orientation (p = .048), such that difficulties identifying one’s emotions was only significantly associated with ED symptom severity in heterosexual patients (p = .027). Findings help provide additional context regarding ER difficulties in SM patients with EDs.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dominic M. Denning, Anthony M. DeBendetto, Leslie K. Anderson, Walter H. Kaye, Christina E. Wierenga, Tiffany A. Brown https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Experiences of Interpersonal Emotion Regulation for People with Heightened Emotions: An Examination in People with Bipolar Disorder and Those with High Aggression
Most research on interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) has focused on nonclinical samples. On one hand, people with clinically significant emotion, mood, or interpersonal difficulties may encounter more challenges with IER. On the other hand, IER could potentially be a useful resource for addressing challenges related to intrapersonal emotion dysregulation. We analyzed data from two samples characterized by heightened emotionality: people who self-reported a history of bipolar disorder (N = 51) and people seeking treatment for aggression and emotional impulsivity (N = 199). For comparison, we analyzed data from two samples recruited without regard to clinical status: undergraduates (N = 389) and online respondents (N = 116). We assessed multiple aspects of participants’ experiences of intrinsic IER, including frequency of seeking and receiving IER, perceptions of provider responsiveness and provider hostility, perceptions of helpfulness, and reports of feeling ashamed due to receiving IER. We used two complementary methods: participants were first asked to report on their general experiences of seeking and receiving IER and were then asked to recall a rate a recent instance of receiving IER. Results were largely consistent across the two methods and the two comparison samples, providing a replication in-kind. Relative to the comparison samples, the aggression sample reported more negative experiences of IER, on average, including more difficulty obtaining IER, receiving less responsive support, encountering more hostility, and perceiving IER as less helpful. In contrast, the bipolar disorder sample appeared to be less distinct from the comparison samples. We discuss the implications of this apparent divergence.
Copyright (c) 2023 Benjamin A. Swerdlow, Lesley Berk, Sheri L. Johnson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Depressive Symptoms and Binge Eating in Children: Examining Symptom Specificity in a Population-based Sample of Male and Female Children
Introduction: Binge eating and compensatory behaviors have significant adverse health implications and are understudied among children. Studies have shown overlap between depressive symptoms and binge eating and compensatory behaviors, but little research has examined sex differences in depressive symptom specificity and binge eating and compensatory behaviors. The present study examined the associations between depressive symptoms and binge eating and compensatory behaviors among male and female children. Methods: Population-based data of 6,975 children ages 9 – 10 years and their caregivers from the multisite Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were analyzed. The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) was utilized to measure binge eating, compensatory behavior, and depressive symptoms. Results: There was an association between presence of anhedonia with increased likelihood of binge eating among females and males. There were no significant associations between individual depressive symptoms and compensatory symptoms among females or males. Lifetime DSM-5 major depressive disorder was associated with binge eating in males and females and compensatory behaviors in females. Discussion: This study provides new knowledge of the specificity of the association between depressive symptoms and binge eating in female compared to male children. Anhedonia may be a key clinical target to reducing binge eating in female and male children.
Copyright (c) 2023 Tyler B. Mason, Diana Zhang, Diana Castillo, Rachel Dayag, Kathy Lam, Jeremy C. Morales, Kathryn E. Smith https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Role of Emotion Dysregulation in Problematic Exercise in those with Eating Disorders
Problematic exercise is common in eating disorders (EDs) and is associated with poor treatment prognosis; thus, understanding factors associated with problematic exercise may help improve treatment outcomes. In non-clinical samples, emotion dysregulation has been associated with problematic exercise; however, longitudinal associations between emotion dysregulation and problematic exercise have not been examined in clinical ED samples. This study examined if (1) emotion dysregulating was associated with problematic exercise symptom severity and frequency of problematic exercise, and (2) early changes in emotion dysregulation during treatment predicted problematic exercise symptom severity and frequency of problematic exercise in a clinical ED sample. ED patients (N = 207) completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire, and the Excessive Exercise subscale of Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory at admission, 1-month post-admission, and discharge. DERS total score was correlated with symptom severity and frequency of problematic exercise at admission. Furthermore, early changes in DERS total score from admission to 1-month predicted problematic exercise symptom severity but not frequency of problematic exercise at discharge. Thus, emotion dysregulation may maintain symptoms of problematic exercise but not frequency in EDs, providing initial evidence that targeting emotion dysregulation may help reduce symptom severity of problematic exercise.
Copyright (c) 2023 Taylor R. Perry, Dominic M. Denning, Walter H. Kaye, Christina E. Wierenga, Tiffany A. Brown https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Micro-Longitudinal Examination of Emotion Dysregulation and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms among Community Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Modeling Reciprocal Relationships Using Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling
Research examining emotion dysregulation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. However, past investigations have almost exclusively relied on cross-sectional designs and have neglected to consider the potential role of dysregulation stemming from positive emotions. The current study utilized rigorous methodology (experience sampling) and statistics (dynamic structural equation modeling) to explicate daily reciprocal associations between negative and positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms. Participants were 145 community women (M age = 40.66, 40.7% white) experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and using substances who participated in a baseline interview and then completed surveys three times a day for 30 days. Results at the between-person level showed that women who reported higher negative and positive emotion dysregulation also reported more PTSD symptoms. At the within-person level, findings supported a significant contemporaneous effect between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms. Further, there was a significant cross-lagged effect from negative emotion dysregulation to next-interval PTSD symptoms. Results suggest that positive emotion dysregulation co-occurs with PTSD symptoms and that negative emotion dysregulation predicts PTSD symptoms. Findings provide additional support for the utility of addressing both negative and positive emotion dysregulation in the treatment of PTSD among women experiencing IPV.
Copyright (c) 2023 Nicole Weiss, Alexa Raudales, Ateka Contractor, Shannon Forkus, Reina Kiefer, Leslie Brick, Tami Sullivan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Mind the Gap? Emotion Regulation Ability and Achievement in Psychological Health Disorders
Why do so many people fail to manage their emotions successfully even though they can do so? This review begins by noting a surprising gap between emotion regulation ability and achievement apparent across individuals with emotional disorders, many of whom appear to be able to effectively regulate emotions when cued. Recently, clinical science has begun to take stock of this puzzling gap between intact emotion regulation ability and challenges with emotion regulation achievement. We refer to this as the ‘emotion regulation ability-achievement’ (or ER-AA) gap, and discuss clinical implications, including alternative approaches to closing this gap.
Copyright (c) 2023 June Gruber, Sarah Hagerty, Douglas Mennin, James Gross https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Compulsively seeking certainty: Clarifying the association between intolerance of uncertainty and compulsion severity in OCD
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), the dispositional tendency to fear the unknown, has clinical implications across a variety of disorders. While research has linked IU and OCD, relatively little is known about this association. Previous studies have focused on IU’s association with overall OCD severity and specific symptom dimensions, but we do not yet understand to what degree this cognitive vulnerability is associated with each of the two cardinal symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. Additionally, few studies have examined the established IU subtypes—prospective and inhibitory IU—as unique contributors to OCD severity. Given the ubiquity of uncertainty in daily life and the potential for IU to influence obsessive-compulsive processes, further investigation of this cognitive vulnerability in OCD is warranted. In a sample of patients diagnosed with OCD, partial correlations were conducted to determine the association between OCD severity (separately examining obsessions and compulsions) and IU (separately examining prospective and inhibitory IU). These analyses revealed positive correlations between IU and compulsion severity, specifically. And of the IU subtypes, this link was specifically associated with prospective IU. The results of this correlational study contribute to the literature on IU in OCD, suggesting prospective IU as a cognitive mechanism that may be involved in the maintenance of compulsions.
Copyright (c) 2023 Alexis Moore, Michael G. Wheaton, Carolyn I. Rodriguez, Hannah Raila, Hanyang Shen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Why Loneliness Matters in Clinical Practice: A Primer for Clinical- and Neuro-Psychologists.
Aims: Loneliness has an adverse impact on mental health, yet it is often overlooked in psychological services. To inform clinical practice, we provide an overview of research hotspots on loneliness and mental health, the ‘state of the art’ in assessment and treatment, and workforce implications. Methods: Narrative synthesis. Results: Loneliness occurs in all age groups, with peaks in younger and older adults. It is a well-established risk factor for mental ill-health, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, and other problems prompting people to seek psychological care. A variety of psychometrically sound self-report measures are available for assessment purposes, though some lack structural or cross-cultural validity. The most promising interventions use cognitive-behavioural therapy to change maladaptive social cognitions. Recent studies are focused on identifying mechanisms of change, the role of social networks, and the use of digital technologies to augment treatment. The stigma of loneliness can prevent clients and healthcare professionals from talking openly about it, but the best strategies for combating loneliness stigma are unclear. Conclusion: Loneliness and mental ill-health are mutually reinforcing; hence, loneliness should be routinely considered in clinical practice. Psychological interventions are moderately effective at alleviating loneliness but further research and practice-based evaluation of solutions for loneliness is needed.
Copyright (c) 2023 Johanna Badcock, David Preece, Anna Badcock https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
I can take my eyes off of you: Effect of alexithymia and perceptual load on processing emotional faces
Alexithymic individuals have difficulties processing emotional stimuli, including faces, and may require more resources to process such stimuli. Alexithymia may interact with task characteristics, like perceptual load, which modulates the processing capacity allocated to task-relevant, versus task-irrelevant stimuli. We examined effects of load and distractor type (face, object) and valence (threatening, neutral), and alexithymia on performing a letter-search task. We assessed reaction time, accuracy, and heart rate to index arousal and cognitive effort. Perceptual load, distractor presence, type and valence showed expected effects. Alexithymia did not meaningfully affect reaction time, but was associated with decreased accuracy when distractors were threatening, under low perceptual load. HR did not suggest changes in resources mobilized depending on alexithymia level. Results suggest that alexithymic individuals perceived emotional stimuli and were able to maintain intact reaction time, though this came with a cost in accuracy. Absence of HR effects suggests that no additional resources were recruited to remedy this difficulty. Overall, results suggest that emotional stimuli are perceived in alexithymia at early stages, but resources are not appropriately allocated to prevent performance impairment.
Copyright (c) 2023 Georgia Panayiotou, Marios Theodorou, Scott R. Vrana, Nikos Konstantinou https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Role of Family-Level Factors in Childhood Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused pervasive disruptions to family life. In light of the established role of parent-child dynamics in the maintenance of pediatric anxiety, we conducted a multilevel, multimodal study to examine how family-level factors moderate anxious youths’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic (“pre-pandemic”), children with anxiety disorders (n = 28; ages 6-12) completed an fMRI task probing parental modulation of amygdala reactivity to fearful faces. During the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (“mid-pandemic”), parents completed questionnaires about their family’s exposure to COVID-19-related stress, their child’s COVID-19-related fears and behaviors, and their own (parental) functioning. Pre-pandemic parental modulation of amygdala reactivity moderated the association between children’s exposure to COVID-19-related stress and their COVID-19-related fears and behaviors. Furthermore, greater mid-pandemic parental assistance with their child’s use of venting and with their child’s use of expressive suppression as emotion regulation strategies exacerbated the effects of COVID-19-related stress on children’s COVID-19-related fears and behaviors, respectively. These results provide preliminary insight into the ways in which distinct family-level factors may buffer or exacerbate the effects of COVID-19-related stress on youth with a history of anxiety disorders.
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
parental assistance with child emotion regulation
Copyright (c) 2023 Elizabeth R. Kitt, Emily M. Cohodes, Sarah McCauley, Grace Hommel, Cristina Nardini, Sadie J. Zacharek, Alyssa Martino, Tess Anderson, Hannah Spencer, Paola Odriozola, Georgia F. Spurrier, Alexis Broussard, Carla E. Marin, Wendy K. Silverman, Eli R. Lebowitz, Dylan G. Gee https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
False Memory and Borderline Personality Features
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental disorder characterized by significant impairment in intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning, as well as patterns of personality pathology. Memory deficits are not recognized as a core symptom of BPD, but individuals with BPD symptoms have long been suspected to have inaccurate perceptions, disturbed memory processes, and an increased tendency to develop false memories. In the present study, we examined whether there was an association between BPD features and the production of false memories in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm—a laboratory-based procedure that is frequently used to investigate false memory. We also compared the traditional categorical BPD criteria (DSM-5 Section II) with the alternative model of personality disorders BPD criteria (DSM-5 Section III) in predicting memory performance. A total of 298 university students completed the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder, SCID-II Personality Questionnaire, Borderline Personality Disorder Impairment Scale, Personality Inventory for DSM-5, Beck Depression Inventory, Dissociative Experiences Scale, and Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire. Participants were also tested using both traditional DRM word lists as well as word lists that were specifically associated with BPD features. Using the traditional diagnosis of BPD, BPD features were correlated with higher false memory for positive information; in the alternative model of BPD, identity impairment and anxiousness were correlated with the overall false memory score. We also found that trauma and dissociation mediated the relation between BPD and false memory. These findings are discussed in terms of how the consequences of trauma, such as dissociation and identity disturbance, are associated with false memory. Whether false memory rates are higher in a clinical population of BPD patients than in non-clinical volunteers remains to be determined.
Borderline personality disorder, Alternative model of personality disorders, False memory, DRM paradigm
Copyright (c) 2023 S. Fatemeh Sajjadi, Martin Sellbom, Julien Gross , Harlene Hayne https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Psychometric Properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and Shortened Versions in Dutch Speaking Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Most studies on the psychometric properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) were done in adolescents and adults. The scarce studies in older adults were mainly limited to associations of CERQ scales with internalising symptoms and wellbeing. Only one study explored the underlying factor structure in Spanish older adults and concluded that only a 27 item CERQ version showed adequate fit when tested with confirmatory factor analysis. The present study analyses the psychometric properties of all three versions of the CERQ in a sample of 451 community-dwelling older adults: the original 36 item CERQ, the short 18 item CERQ developed by the original authors and a Spanish 27 item CERQ version. Because gender differences among strategies used have been reported, the present study examined and provided first evidence for the gender invariance of the CERQ structure. Moreover, cognitive emotion regulation strategies correlated like hypothesized with clinical symptoms in general, and behavioural inhibition and activation systems and coping styles. The nomological net was highly similar for the original CERQ and shortened versions. The shortened versions of the CERQ consequently can be viable alternatives to the CERQ in settings where short assessment instruments are needed.
Copyright (c) 2023 Gina Rossi, Xenia Brancart, Carmen Diaz-Batanero https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0