Emotion Regulation Choice in Internet Addiction: Less Reappraisal, Lower Frontal Alpha Asymmetry

Individuals with internet addiction (IA) show difficulties in emotion regulation. However, they could effectively employ emotion regulation strategies when instructed. We speculate that this discrepancy might be caused by maladaptive emotion regulation choices. Recent studies indicated that decrease...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical EEG and neuroscience 2022-07, Vol.53 (4), p.278-286
Main Authors: Yan, Xinyu, Gao, Wei, Yang, Jiemin, Yuan, Jiajin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictions
Asymmetry
Cortex (frontal)
Electroencephalography - methods
Emotional Regulation
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Frontal Lobe
Humans
Internet Addiction Disorder
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Summary:Individuals with internet addiction (IA) show difficulties in emotion regulation. However, they could effectively employ emotion regulation strategies when instructed. We speculate that this discrepancy might be caused by maladaptive emotion regulation choices. Recent studies indicated that decreased activity of the left frontal cortex could be a neural marker of reappraisal use. To address this problem, individuals with IA (n = 17, IA group) and healthy individuals (n = 23, healthy control [HC] group) were required to choose an emotion regulation strategy between reappraisal and distraction to regulate their emotions varying in emotional intensity and valence. We also compared the resting state frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) of these 2 groups. The results replicated more choices of reappraisal in low- versus high-intensity emotional contexts across groups. More importantly, the IA group chose reappraisal less frequently compared with the HC group, irrespective of emotional intensity. Furthermore, we found individuals with IA have lower FAA than healthy controls, and FAA shows a positive correlation with the use of reappraisal. These findings suggest that IA alters individuals’ patterns of emotion regulation choice and impairs frontal activities, causing difficulties in emotion regulation.
ISSN:1550-0594
2169-5202
DOI:10.1177/15500594211056433