Task 4 - Dealing with Emotions Flashcards
Mindfulness
being present from moment-to-moment, on purpose, non-judgementally (Jon_kabat Zinn)
- paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally
- cultivating awareness & acceptance of the present moment
- psychological construct from Buddhist traditions
- associated with healthy emotion regulation
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
an 8-week program involving mindfulness meditation (MM) ,discussions, and home practice
-MBSR underlies most contemporary clinical interventions that use formal MM
Body Scan (Part of MBSR)
- increase awareness of body
- where in the body do you feel emotions?
yoga
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
- combination of cognitive therapy, meditation and mindfulness
- builds upon the principles of cognitive therapy by using techniques such as mindfulness meditation to teach people to consciously pay attention to their thoughts without judging them
- aims to help to review thoughts without getting caught up or ruminating
- M helps to observe and identify own feelings while BT teaches to interrupt automatic thought processes & work through feelings in a healthy way
Mindfulness Meditation
- a family of meditation practices that shares emphasis on reducing distraction and enhancing awareness of mental experience
- seated, upright position
- body scan technique etc.
–> facilitates attentional self-regulation & emotion regulation
meta-awareness
key component of mindfulness
capacity to monitor current contents & processes of the mind, in a way that allows conscious report
present-centered awareness
key component of mindfulness
sustaining focus of attention in present moment, rather than thoughts about past/future
- facilitated in MM by focusing on bodily sensations and breathing
non reactivity to experience
key component of mindfulness
delay in the affective assessment of the current experience, facilitated by viewing current experiences in a curious, accepting, non judging way
dereification
key component of mindfulness
shift in one’s relationship with thougts –> psychological distancing (decentering) in that thoughts are no longer perceived as representations of reality, but as subjective mental objects
Compassion
key component of mindfulness
Motivation to relieve suffering, towards self and others
Focused Attention (FA)
style of meditation emphasising sustained focus on a chosen object of meditation
Open Monitoring (OM)
A style of meditation emphasising present-centered awareness and the monitoring of experience, without restricting attention to a fixed focus
Mindfulness self-report measures
- mindfulness attention awareness scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003)
- toronto mindfulness scale (Lau et al., 2006)
- fivefacet mindfulness questionnaire (Baer et al., 2006)
Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation
- enhanced attention/awareness of the moment –> improved detection to adjust emotion regulation; enhanced inhibitory learning
- quality of awareness –> reduced intensity of emotions; increased positive reappraisal, reduced self-referential processing; flexible use of strategies
–> M associated with adaptive ER; may play crucial role in these effects
Criticism to Mindfulness (mind the hype)
- no universal definition (alternative systematic interpretation, scientific implications of semantic ambiguity in the meaning)
- methodological issues in M-based research (uniformity needed)
research must increasingly be based on all findings not only the ones reported (biased reporting –> only the ones with significance are reported) - adverse effects (unwanted or harmful side effects; induction of psychosis, mania etc.)
- the benefits and the safety of meditation are likely exaggerated beyond available evidence
–> much work should go toward improving the rigor of methods used, along with the accuracy of news, media, publicity and eliminating public misunderstanding
Emotion Regulation (ER)
focuses on process which permit individuals to influence which emotions they have, when they have them and how they experience & express these emotions
- -> antecedent focused (reappraisal) / response focused (suppression)
- -> emphasis on modulation rather than elimination of emotional responses
Gross’ Process Model of Emotion Regulation
Describes process through which individuals regulate their emotions at different points in the emotion-generative process.
- situation selection
- situation modification
- attentional deployment (distraction, rumination)
- cognitive change (reappraisal, acceptance)
- response modulation
–> emotion one has + how they are expressed is influenced by the type and timing of ER strategy –> focus on strategies
–> importance of context in judging whether strategy is adaptive or maladaptive
Ability Model of ER
- focus on emotion regulation abilities
- extent to which people approach emotions which acceptance, willingness and tolerance
suppression
- altering internal states
- active control, reduction of discrepancy between current states and future goal state
acceptance
people accept and experience emotion fully, without attempt to alter, avoid or control it
- -> no goal
- -> no reduction of discrepancy
suppression vs acceptance
Hypothesis: acceptance is different process ans does not require active control of emotion –> may require few resources
study by Albert: ego depletion paradigm
- watch sad movie –> suppress or accept
- stop signal task
results:
- ppl in acceptance condition better than suppression and control condition –> differential monitoring process
- suppression –> rebound effect
Acceptance and emotions
-ppl who accept neg. emotions and thoughts:
- less likely to ruminate
- less likely to suppress mental experiences, which can backfire
- less likely to experience neg. meta-emotional reactions
- mediators: daily stressors
(look at figure 1 of Ford et al. article)
Consensual Model of Emotion
- Antecedent-focused ER: construing a potentially emotional situation in a way that decreases its emotional relevance (i.e. reappraisal)
- evoked early on in emotion-generative process
- keeps emotions from spilling in the first place - Response-focused ER: evoked after an event has been appraised in emotional terms + thus has triggered emotional response tendencies (i.e. suppression)
- occurs after emotion response tendencies have been triggered
- model focuses on processes by which E is generated & distinction between 2 broad classes of ER
Cognitive costs of ER
- different ER strategies have different cognitive costs
- ppl who used suppression had poorer memory performance
- ppl who used reappraisal had no diminished memory
Mindfulness meditation
- influence on self-regulation
- Mindfulness = strong mediator of these processes
- self-regulation may improve due to mindfulness meditation
Mindfulness meditation –> attentional control / emotion regulation / self-consciousness –> self-regulation
mindfulness and health behaviour
ppl who are mindful tend to be more physically active, eat healthier, sleep better, drink less alcohol
further outcomes of mindfulness
more connectedness, better communication, more physical contact
Control-based strategy
to deal with emotion e.g. suppression
- aim: decrease frequency & intensity of unwanted emotions
- requires resourced for applying this strategy (limited strength model & ego depletion)
- Result: more effortful/resource-depleting strategy
- ->Study: no change in mood directly after video but results in significant decrease in mood at end of experiment = rebound effect
Acceptance-based strategy
to deal with emotion e.g. acceptance
- aim: people accept & experience their emotion fully, without attempting to alter, avoid or control it (focus in present)
- non-judgemental attitude towards emotion & willingness to stay in contact with uncomfortable, negative feelings accompanying emotion, without reacting
- entails overriding automatic responses
- acceptance & commitment therapy = interventions
Result:
- more restorative strategy
- -> sig decrease directly after experiment, but restored at last measurement already
Emotion Regulation & Memory
two possibilities
- Automaticity view: ER is overleanred & cognitively inexpensive
- Ego-depletion Model (Baumeister) = ER consumes self-regulatory energy or attentional resources
Mindfulness to cope efficiently with negative emotions
Mindfulness associated with healthy emotion regulation
- reduced intensity to distress
- reduced negative valuation of emotional responses
- enhanced emotional recovery
- enhanced inhibitory learning –> decreed anxious responding to previously feared stimulus
- reduced negative self-referential processing
- and/or enhanced ability to engage in goal-directed behaviours
Correlational Studies of Mindfulness
unidimensional measures of M showed reduced cortisol response to social stress task & more rapid recovery after task
- mindfulness was uniquely associated with reduced self-reported distress after hyperventilation task
- state mindfulness was associated with reduced emotional interference
Experimental Studies
- mindfulness manipulation is associated with more positive self-reported emotional response
- reduced negative mood & reduced amygdala activation in response to positive and negative slides compared to baseline
- meditation naive participants may reduce negative emotional responses & reduced behavioural avoidance
Treatment Studies
- MBSR ans MBCT lead to self-reported decreases in ER difficulties
- mindfulness training leads ti greater decreases in reports of distraction and rumination (compared to relaxation treatment)
- client with depression treated with MBCT had more rapid recovery after social stressor (lab induced)
- social anxiety disorder patients (treated with MBST) showed reduced amygdala activity in response to negative self-beliefs
differences between mindfulness & acceptance
Mindfulness: includes meditation practice & awareness thoughts
Acceptance: does not necessarily come with awareness
