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 project:

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