Automatic control of negative emotions: Evidence that structured practice increases the efficiency of emotion regulation

Emotion regulation (ER) is vital to everyday functioning. However, the effortful nature of many forms of ER may lead to regulation being inefficient and potentially ineffective. The present research examined whether structured practice could increase the efficiency of ER. During three training sessi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognition and emotion 2015-02, Vol.29 (2), p.319-331
Main Authors: Christou-Champi, Spyros, Farrow, Tom F. D., Webb, Thomas L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Automatic regulation
Brief Report
Emotional Intelligence - physiology
Emotions
Female
Heart Rate
Heart rate variability
Humans
Implicit emotion regulation
Learning
Male
Middle Aged
Photic Stimulation
Practice
Training intervention
Young Adult
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Summary:Emotion regulation (ER) is vital to everyday functioning. However, the effortful nature of many forms of ER may lead to regulation being inefficient and potentially ineffective. The present research examined whether structured practice could increase the efficiency of ER. During three training sessions, comprising a total of 150 training trials, participants were presented with negatively valenced images and asked either to "attend" (control condition) or "reappraise" (ER condition). A further group of participants did not participate in training but only completed follow-up measures. Practice increased the efficiency of ER as indexed by decreased time required to regulate emotions and increased heart rate variability (HRV). Furthermore, participants in the ER condition spontaneously regulated their negative emotions two weeks later and reported being more habitual in their use of ER. These findings indicate that structured practice can facilitate the automatic control of negative emotions and that these effects persist beyond training.
ISSN:0269-9931
1464-0600
DOI:10.1080/02699931.2014.901213