Emotion regulation

Emotion regulation is the process by which people influence what emotions they have, when they have them and how they experience and express them. Changes in emotion regulation are observed and reported in many different mental disorders. However, sufficient longitudinal and experimental evidence for emotion regulation as a risk or maintaining factor for mental disorders is lacking. In various projects, we are investigating how emotion regulation is altered in mental disorders and whether these changes are causal for the development of mental symptoms. We are also looking at how emotion regulation can be changed by psychotherapy.

Current research projects

Meta-analysis: Can difficulties in emotion regulation predict later mental health symptoms?

Project participants: Barbara Cludius (University of Bremen), Pauline Tenbrüggen (University of Bremen), Celina Müller (University of Würzburg), Verena Semmlinger (LMU, Munich), Martin M. Smith (University of British Columbia)

Project leader: Nathalie Claus (University of Bremen)

Deficits in emotion regulation (also known as emotion dysregulation) are considered a factor that is fundamentally linked to a variety of mental health symptoms. Many people who suffer from a mental disorder also have difficulty dealing with their feelings. However, the temporal relationships here are still largely unclear: Can emotional dysregulation predict the severity of symptoms at a later point in time? Or do mental symptoms occur first, that predicting later emotional dysregulation? Does the relationship perhaps apply in both directions?

To this end, we are conducting a meta-analysis (pre-registered here) and systematically summarizing all studies that have dealt with these temporal relationships to date. The focus is not on individual emotion regulation strategies, but explicitly on global deficits in emotion regulation.

Pornography consumption for emotion regulation: What role could pornography play in dealing with negative feelings?

Project participants: Linus Bingger (University of Bremen)

Project leader: Nathalie Claus (University of Bremen)

A common motive for using pornography is to regulate negative feelings. However, it is unclear how effective this form of emotion regulation actually is and to what extent its effectiveness depends on other factors (e.g., the specific pornographic material or pornography consumption habits).

Our experimental study aims to investigate how viewing pornographic material affects the experience of negative emotions. We will examine: 1) What effect does pornographic material have in comparison to neutral film clips?; 2) What effect does mainstream film material have in comparison to feminist film material?; 3) Are there differences in the effect depending on the participants' previous usage habits? In particular, so-called problematic pornography consumption, i.e., consumption that can be understood as behavioral addiction, will be taken into account.

Emotion regulation in everyday life

Project participants: Barbara Cludius (University of Bremen), Nathalie Claus (LMU, Munich), Aleya Flechsenhar (LMU, Munich), Franziska Motka (LMU, Munich), Celina Müller (LMU, Munich), Verena Semmlinger (LMU, Munich), Julia Funk (LMU, Munich), Philipp Sckopke (LMU, Munich), Felix Schönbrodt (LMU, Munich), Angelika Stefan (LMU, Munich), Gabriela Werner (LMU, Munich), Caroline Zygar-Hoffmann (LMU, Munich)

As part of a larger project, we are investigating various questions in the area of emotion regulation. To this end, we are analyzing data from an Ecological Momentary Assessment study in which people from the general population answered questions on their smartphone three times a day.

The following questions are investigated: Does the intensity of negative emotions influence which emotion regulation strategies are chosen (intrapersonal vs. interpersonal: https://osf.io/dwnya; engagement vs. disengagement: https://osf.io/6ch3b)? Does emotion regulation variability protect against an increase in psychological symptoms (https://osf.io/d69rz)?

Publications

1. Herzog, E., Voß, M., Keller, V., Koch, S., Takano, K., & Cludius, B. (2022). The benefits of physical exercise on state anxiety: Exploring possible mechanisms. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 100478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2022.100478
2. Schumm, H., Krüger-Gottschalk, A., Dyer, A., Pittig, A., Cludius, B., Takano, K., Alpers, G. W., & Ehring, T. (2022). Mechanisms of Change in Trauma-Focused Treatment for PTSD: The Role of Rumination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 148, 104009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.104009
3. Cludius, B., Mannsfeld, A. K., Schmidt, A. F., & Jelinek, L. (2021). Anger and aggressiveness in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and the mediating role of responsibility, non-acceptance of emotions, and social desirability. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 271(6), 1179–1191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-020-01199-8
4. Cludius, B., Mennin, D., & Ehring, T. (2020). Emotion regulation as a transdiagnostic process. Emotion, 20(1), 37–42. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000646
5. Landmann, S., Cludius, B., Tuschen-Caffier, B., Moritz, S., & Külz, A. K. (2020). Changes in the daily life experience of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder following mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: Looking beyond symptom reduction using ecological momentary assessment. Psychiatry Research, 286, 112842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112842
6. Landmann, S., Cludius, B., Tuschen-Caffier, B., Moritz, S., & Külz, A. K. (2019). Mindfulness predicts insight in obsessive-compulsive disorder over and above OC symptoms: An experience-sampling study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 121, 103449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2019.103449
7. Külz, A. K., Landmann, S., Cludius, B., Rose, N., Heidenreich, T., Jelinek, L., Alsleben, H., Wahl, K., Philipsen, A., Voderholzer, U., Maier, J. G., & Moritz, S. (2019). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and residual symptoms after cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): A randomized controlled trial. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 269(2), 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-018-0957-4