Background and objectives

Effective emotion regulation is an important marker of mental health. However, only a sparse number of studies have examined emotion regulation within the context of different emotion type and intensity levels among individuals with elevated depressive symptoms.

Method

We investigated emotion regulation in response to happiness and sadness experienced in the context of everyday memories of 23 dysphoric and 20 non-depressed participants. Participants completed a diary indicating the intensity of these emotions when thinking about a personal memory, as well as their employment of five emotion regulation strategies at that moment.

Results

Multilevel models indicated that dysphoric and non-depressed individuals differed in how they employed three emotion regulation strategies depending on the intensity of the emotions. Relative to non-depressed individuals, dysphoric individuals employed greater brooding, expressive suppression, and memory suppression when experiencing less intense happiness, and employed more brooding for more intense sadness. These effects were maintained after controlling for habitual emotion regulation, and controlling for the opposite concurrent emotion. The findings suggest that dysphoric individuals adjust the use of emotion regulation strategies differently from non-depressed individuals depending on the intensity level of happiness and sadness experienced. These patterns may be indicative of reduced emotion regulation flexibility or fear of emotional shifts.

Limitations

The sample consisted of mostly young women.

Conclusions

Clinical implications, particularly concerning emotion-focused interventions, are discussed.

中文翻译：

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情境中的情绪调节：对焦虑期间日常快乐和悲伤记忆的情绪调节的自然主义研究

背景和目标

有效的情绪调节是心理健康的重要标志。然而，只有少数研究检查了抑郁症状升高的个体在不同情绪类型和强度水平的背景下的情绪调节。

方法

我们调查了 23 名烦躁和 20 名非抑郁参与者的日常记忆中快乐和悲伤的情绪调节。参与者在思考个人记​​忆时完成了一份日记，表明这些情绪的强度，以及他们当时使用的五种情绪调节策略。

结果

多层次模型表明，烦躁和非抑郁的个体在使用三种情绪调节策略的方式上有所不同，具体取决于情绪的强度。相对于非抑郁的个体，烦躁的个体在经历不那么强烈的幸福时使用更多的沉思、表达抑制和记忆抑制，而在更强烈的悲伤中使用更多的沉思。在控制习惯性情绪调节和控制相反的并发情绪后，这些效果得以维持。研究结果表明，焦虑症患者调整情绪调节策略的使用与非抑郁症患者不同，具体取决于所经历的快乐和悲伤的强度水平。这些模式可能表明情绪调节灵活性降低或对情绪变化的恐惧。

限制

样本主要由年轻女性组成。

结论

讨论了临床意义，特别是关于以情绪为中心的干预措施。