Emotional Reactivity

Although past theoretical work has proposed age-related gains in emotion regulation, the empirical evidence is not entirely consistent. In two laboratory studies, we investigated age differences in regulating negative emotions through attentional deployment by instructing participants to direct their attention either toward negative (up-regulation) or neutral (downregulation) pictorial content. The regulation process (visual attention) was measured via eyetracking and the regulation outcome (emotional experience) was assessed via self-report. We tested emotional arousal and attentional functioning as factors that may affect age differences in attentional deployment. The main analyses revealed that, first, during down-regulation trials, older adults were less likely to direct their attention toward neutral stimulus content than younger adults, but did not experience greater unpleasantness than younger adults. This indicates that older adults may use attentional deployment more efficiently to decrease negative emotions than younger adults. Second, emotional arousal did not affect age differences in emotion regulation process and outcome. Third, we obtained preliminary evidence that for older but not for younger adults, low cognitive control may impair the implementation of attentional deployment. Additional findings suggested that neither younger nor older adults were able to increase unpleasantness by attending toward negative stimulus content. Together, these findings suggest multidirectional age differences in attentional deployment process and outcome and underline the importance of considering age-related vulnerabilities in predicting changes in emotion regulations across the lifespan.

Background: Theoretically, two types of emotional responding could underlie individual differences in trait affect: 1) a disposition reflecting increased probability of experiencing positive or negative emotions (emotional reactivity), and 2) a disposition to experience prolonged emotional reactions once elicited (emotional perseveration). We developed a measure of these dimensions and investigated whether emotional reactivity and perseveration 1) account for unique variance in trait affect, and 2) are differentially associated with symptoms of psychological distress. Method: In Study 1, participants (T1: n = 90; T2: n = 51) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Emotional Reactivity and Perseveration Scale (ERPS, adapted from the PANAS). In study 2, participants (n = 228) completed the PANAS, ERPS, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Results: Study 1 established the basic psychometric properties of the ERPS and demonstrated that emotional reactivity and perseveration accounted for unique variance in trait positive and negative affect. Study 2 confirmed these findings and established that emotional reactivity and perseveration are differentially associated with depression, anxiety, and stress scores. Conclusion: Emotional reactivity and perseveration represent independent dimensions of trait affect. Considering these dimension in future research could further the understanding of both normal emotional responding and emotional vulnerability.

The aim of the study was to examine the effects of emotional reactivity and support from different sources for the well-being of teenagers on different stages of development. Data on emotional reactivity, perceived social support from different sources and subjective well-being (SWB) was gathered from 180 younger and 135 older adolescents. Regression analyses included emotional reactivity and social support from different sources as predictors of SWB (positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction). Analyses showed that emotional reactivity predicted all components of SWB. Support was a signifi cant predictor for positive affect and satisfaction, but its specifi c functions depended on age group and its analyzed source. Interaction effects of support with emotional reactivity were signifi cant only among older adolescents - positive affect depended on interaction between emotional reactivity and support from friends, life satisfaction depended on interplay between emotional ...