Specifying the Mechanisms and Targets of Emotion Regulation: A Translational Framework from Affective Science to Psychological Treatment [post]

Matthew W. Southward, Shannon Sauer-Zavala, Jennifer S. Cheavens
2020 unpublished
Emotion dysregulation is fundamental to a range of psychiatric disorders. Leading psychological treatments are often designed to teach several emotion regulation strategies. However, teaching a wide range of strategies may be an inefficient way to enhance emotional functioning. We propose a framework of emotion dysregulation to guide the development of more efficient and flexible interventions. We review motivational (i.e., self-efficacy), between- situation (i.e., increasing frequency,
more » ... , or quality of adaptive strategy use; decreasing frequency of maladaptive strategy use), and within-situation mechanisms (i.e., using more or fewer strategies in a given situation; optimally ordering strategies) as well as temporal targets of emotion regulation interventions (i.e., short-term effectiveness vs. long-term adaptiveness). Throughout, we detail recommendations for researchers to test these mechanisms and targets.
doi:10.31234/osf.io/7w3ed fatcat:plyewp5pozhd7ktuj6hdezji64