Reappraisal and mindfulness: A comparison of subjective effects and cognitive costs

Abstract

The present study investigated the relative effects of mindfulness and reappraisal in reducing sad mood and whether trait mindfulness and habitual reappraisal moderated the effects. The study also compared the extent to which implementation of these strategies incurred cognitive resources. A total of 129 participants were randomly assigned to receiving training in mindfulness, reappraisal, or no training prior to undergoing an autobiographical sad mood induction. Results showed that mindfulness and reappraisal were superior to no training, and equivalent in their effects in lowering sad mood. Compared to mindfulness, reappraisal resulted in significantly higher interference scores on a subsequent Stroop test, reflecting greater depletion of cognitive resources. Higher trait mindfulness, but not habitual reappraisal, predicted greater reductions in sadness across conditions. The study suggests that although mindfulness and reappraisal are equally effective in down-regulating sad mood, they incur different levels of cognitive costs.

The Mediating Role of Emotional Exhaustion in the Relationship of Mindfulness with Turnover Intentions and Job Performance

“…This leads to mindfulness being associated with reduced reactivity to emotional and stressful stimuli (Arch & Craske, 2010). Mindfulness has also been shown to shorten the lifecycle of emotional 6 reactions, leading to a quicker recovery from the experience of negative emotions (e.g., Keng, Robins, Smoski, Dagenbach, & Leary, 2013). These differences in appraising and reacting to potentially stressful events help individuals avoid emotional exhaustion (Hülsheger et al, 2013).…”

Effects of Mindful Acceptance and Reappraisal Training on Maladaptive Beliefs About Rumination

“…The sample and procedure of this study have been described in detail in Keng et al (2013), which reported on the emotional and cognitive sequelae of reappraisal and mindful acceptance. Because the outcome variables in this study are psychopathological processes relevant to depression, we recruited individuals with elevated depressive symptoms.…”

“…At the end of the experiment, all participants completed a color-word Stroop task. Results associated with the task and participants' sad mood ratings were reported in Keng et al (2013).…”

“…First, following Keng et al (2013), participants who reported a mood shift of less than 1 point (1 cm on a 10-cm line) were considered nonresponders to the mood induction procedure and excluded from the subsequent analyses. Participants assigned to the mindfulness and reappraisal conditions who reported less than a minimum score of 4 on a 7-point scale on their respective manipulation check question were considered non-adherent to the instructions and also excluded from subsequent analyses.…”

“…This analysis addresses the question of whether the three groups demonstrated different amounts of change from pre-to post-regulation. Because the data from this study have been used in a previously published study (Keng et al 2013), resulting in a total of five dependent variables being tested (including those in this study), we applied the Benjamini and Hochberg procedure Benjamini and Hochberg (1995) to correct for experimentwise error inflation. We first conducted the primary analyses using the per-protocol sample (n = 100) and repeated the analyses using the intent-to-treat (ITT) sample (n = 108), which included participants who failed to engaged in the mindful acceptance or reappraisal condition.…”