Patterns of emotion regulation and psychopathology

Abstract

Emotion regulatory strategies such as higher expressive suppression and lower cognitive reappraisal may be associated with increased psychopathology (Gross & John, 2003). Yet, it is unclear whether these strategies represent distinct cognitive styles associated with psychopathology, such that there are individuals who are predominantly “suppressors” or “reappraisers.” Using cluster analysis, we examined whether women with and without exposure to potentially traumatic events evidence distinct patterns of emotion regulation frequency, capacity, suppression, and cognitive reappraisal. Four patterns emerged: high regulators; high reappraisers/low suppressors; moderate reappraisers/low suppressors; and low regulators. Individuals who reported infrequently and ineffectively regulating their emotions (low regulators) also reported higher depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In contrast, individuals who reported frequently and effectively using reappraisal and low levels of suppression (high reappraisers/low suppressors) reported the lowest levels of these symptoms, suggesting that this specific combination of emotion regulation may be most adaptive. Our findings highlight that the capacity to regulate emotions and the ability to flexibly apply different strategies based on the context and timing may be associated with reduced psychopathology and more adaptive functioning.

The interactive effects of emotional clarity and cognitive reappraisal in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

“…In fact, PTSD has been characterized in part as a disorder of emotional avoidance (Feeny & Foa, 2005;Marx & Sloan, 2005), which further suggests that individuals with PTSD under-utilize active emotion-regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal. Two studies investigating the use of cognitive reappraisal in the context of PTSD support this hypothesis, finding that less frequent use of cognitive reappraisal was associated with higher levels of PTSD symptom severity (Eftekhari et al, 2009;Ehring & Quack, 2010).…”

Prefrontal dysfunction during emotion regulation in generalized anxiety and panic disorders

“…Future work should examine the neural bases of emotion regulation in other disorders. For example, emotion dysregulation in PTSD has been frequently noted (Roemer et al , 2001; Eftekhari et al , 2009; New et al , 2009; Bonn-Miller et al , 2011), suggesting that a better understanding of the neural bases of reappraisal in PTSD could be especially fruitful.…”

The effects of prolonged exposure and sertraline on emotion regulation in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder

“…It is often considered a key component of mental health (Gross, 2001; Gross & Munoz, 1995). Impaired emotion regulation is thought to be present in most personality disorders and in most DSM-IV Axis I disorders (Gross & Levenson, 1997), including PTSD (e.g., Benoit et al, 2010; Cloitre, Miranda, Stovall-McClough, & Han, 2005; Eftekhari, Zoellner, & Vigil, 2009; Ehring & Quack, 2010; Frewen, Dozois, Neufeld, & Lanius, 2012; Kashdan, Breen, & Julian, 2010; Litz & Gray, 2002; McDermott et al, 2009; Moore, Zoellner, & Mollenholt, 2008; New et al, 2009; Tull, Barrett, McMillan, & Roemer, 2007; Weiss et al, 2012, 2013; Wisco, Sloan, & Marx, 2013). …”