Comparison of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies and Understanding Emotions in Obsessive Compulsive, Generalized Anxiety, and Social Anxiety Disorders

Subject Areas : Educational

Azam Davoodi ¹ , Hamid Taher Neshat Doost ² , Mohammad Reza Abdi ³ , Hooshang Talebi ⁴

1 - دانشجوی دکتری روان‌شناسی عمومی، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی اصفهان (خوراسگان)
2 - عضو هیأت علمی دانشگاه آزاد اصفهان (خوراسگان)
3 - عضو هیأت علمی دانشگاه اصفهان
4 - عضو هیأت علمی دانشگاه اصفهان

Received: 2017-10-17 Accepted : 2017-10-17 Published : 2014-03-21

Keywords: cognitive emotion regulation strategies, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, understanding emotions,

Abstract :

 The purpose of the present study was to compare the cognitive emotion regulation strategies and understanding emotions in obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and normal people. The research method was causal-comparative. The statistical population were all male and female patients with the disorders mentioned, in private psychiatric centers in Shiraz (2012 and 2013). 300 patients (100 patients in each disorder group) were selected through available sampling method. 100 people from those who accompanied patients considered as the normal participants. All participants completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski et al., 2001), the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby et al., 1994), and General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). The results of multivariate analysis of variance and Tukey post-hoc test showed that the three patient groups reported more maladaptive cognitive emotional regulation strategies, less adaptive strategies, and lower understanding of emotions than the normal group (P >0.001). There was a significant difference among the three patient groups in using adaptive strategies and low understanding of emotions (P >0.001). In general, cognitive emotion regulation strategies and understanding emotions appear differently in these disorders. 

References:

Aldao, A., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2010). Specificity of cognitive emotion regulation strategies: A transdiagnostic examination. Behavior Research and Therapy, 48, 974-983.
Amstadter, A. (2008). Emotion regulation and anxiety disorders. Journal of anxiety disorders, 22, 211-221.
Bagby, R.M., Parker, J.D.A., Taylor, G.J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38, 23-32.
Besharat, M.A. (2007). Reliability and factorial validity of Farsi version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale with a sample of Iranian students. Psychological Reports, 101, 209-220.
Borkovec, T.D., Newman, M.G., Pincus, A.L., Lytle, R. (2002). A component analysis of cognitive-behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety disorder and the role of interpersonal problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 288-298.
Dalbudak, E., Evren, C., Aldemir, S., Coskun, K.S., Yildirim, F.T., & Ugurlu, H. (2013). Alexithymi and personality in relation to social anxiety among university students. Psychiatry Research, 209, 167-172.
De Berardis, D., Serroni, N., Pizzorno, A.M., Moschetta, F.S., Sepede, G., Gambi, F., Aiello, G., D\'Albenzio, A., Mancini, E., Salerno, R.M., & Ferro, F.M. (2009). Alexithymia and suicide risk among patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. European Psychiatry, 24, 1030-1038.
Feldman-Barrett, L., Gross, J., Conner-Christensen, T., & Benvenuto, M. (2001). Knowing what you’re feeling and knowing what to do about it: mapping the relation between emotion differentiation and emotion regulation. Cognition and Emotion, 15, 713-724.
Garnefski, N., Kraaij, V., & Spinhoven, P. (2001). Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation and emotional problems. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 1311-1327.
Gross, J.J., & Levenson, R.W. (1997). Hiding feeling: the acute effects of inhibiting negative and positive emotion. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106, 95-103.
John, O.O., & Gross, J.J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulati on: Personality processes, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72, 1301-1334.
Kang, J.I., Namkoong, K., Woo Yoo, S., Jhung, K., & Kim, S.J. (2012). Abnormalities of emotional awareness and perception in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 141, 286-293.
Kashdan, T.B., & Breen, W.E. (2008). Social anxiety and positive emotions: a prospective examination of a self-regulatory model with tendencies to suppress or express emotions as a moderating variable. Behavior Therapy, 39, 1-12.
Kring, A.M., & Werner, K.H. (2004). Emotion regulation and psychopathology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Loas, G., Corcos, M., Stephan, P., Pellet, J., Bizouard, P., Venisse, J.L., & Perez-diaz, F. (2001). Factorial structure of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale confirmatory factorial analyses in nonclinical and clinical samples. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 50, 255-261.
Martin, R.C., & Dahlen, E.R. (2005). Cognitive emotion regulation in the prediction of depression, anxiety, stress, and anger. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 1249-126.
Mayer, J.D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D.R. (2004). Emotional intelligence: Theory, findings, and implications. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 197-215.
Mennin, D.S., Heimberg, R.G., Turk, C.L., & Fresco, D.M. (2005). Preliminary evidence for an emotion dysregulation model of generalized anxiety disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 1281-1310.
Mennin, D.S., Holaway, R., Fresco, D.M., Moore, M.T., & Heimberg, R.G. (2007). Delineating components of emotion and its dysregulation in anxiety and mood psychopathology. Behavior Therapy, 38, 284-302.
Mennin, D.S., McLaughlin, K.A., & Flanagan, T.J. (2009). Emotion regulation deficits in generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and their co-occurrence. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23, 866-871.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B.E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Rethinking rumination. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 400-424.
Novick-Kline, P., Turk, C.L., Mennin, D.S., Hoyt, E.A., & Gallagher, C.L. (2005). Level of emotional awareness as a differentiating variable between individuals with and without generalized anxiety disorder. Anxiety Disorders,19, 557-572.
O’Toole, M.S., Hougaard, E., & Mennin, D.S. (2013). Social anxiety and emotion knowledge: A meta-analysis. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 27, 98-108.
Parker, J.D.A., Taylor, G.J., & Bagby, R.M. (2003). The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale: III reliability and factorial validity in a community population. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 55, 269-275.
Pollatos, O., Werner, N.S., Duschek, S., Schandry, R., Matthias, E., Traut-Mattausch, E., & Herbert, B.M. (2011). Differential effects of alexithymia subscales on autonomic reactivity and anxiety during social stress. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 70, 525-533.
Rottenberg, J., & Gross, J.J. (2003). When emotion goes wrong: realizing the promise of affective science. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 10, 227-232.
Salovey, P., Stroud, L.R., Woolery, A., & Epel, E.S. (2002). Perceived emotional intelligence, stress reactivity, and symptom reports: Further explorations using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. Psychology and Health, 17, 611-627.
Sun, R., Boss, T., Pontier, M., & Treur, J. (2010). A computational model based on Gross’ emotion regulation theory. Cognitive Systems Research, 11, 211-230.
Stern, M.R., Nota, J.A., Heimberg, R.G., Holaway, R.M., Coles, M.E. (2014). An initial examination of emotion regulation and obsessive compulsive symptoms. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 3, 109-114.
Sung, S.C., Porter, E., Robinaugh, D.J., Marks, E.H., Marques, L.M., Otto, M.W., Pollack, M.H., Simon, N.M. (2012). Mood regulation and quality of life in social anxiety disorder: an examination of generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 435-441.

Turk, C.L., Heimberg, R.G., Luterek, J.A., Mennin, D.S., & Fresco, D.M. (2005). Emotion dysregulation in generalized anxiety disorder: A comparison with social anxiety disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 89-106.
Werner, K.H., Goldin, P.R., Ball, T.M., Heimberg, R.G., & Gross, J.J. (2011). Assessing emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder: The Emotion Regulation Interview. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 33, 346-358.
Williams, L.E., & Bargh, J.A. (2007). The nonconscious regulation of emotion, Handbook of emotion regulation. New York: Guilford Press.