What empathizers do: Empathy and the selection of everyday interpersonal emotion regulation strategies.

Background: Empathic behavior is crucial in promoting positive social outcomes and strengthening interpersonal bonds. Research on how empathy modulates responses to others' emotions remains scarce yet is fundamental for elucidating mechanisms of impaired social functioning in psychopathology and its treatment.

Methods: Two ecological momentary assessment studies (Ns = 125 and 204) investigated participants' empathy and usage of interpersonal emotion regulation strategies in 5537 social interactions.

Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Despite the existence of effective treatments, many individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN) do not receive evidence-based therapies. Integrating digital interventions into routine care might reach more patients and reduce the clinical burden of BN.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based cognitive behavioral self-help intervention for individuals with BN.

Effectiveness of a Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Self-Help Intervention for Binge Eating Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Binge eating disorder (BED) is one of the most frequent eating pathologies and imposes substantial emotional and physical distress, yet insufficient health care resources limit access to specialized treatment. Web-based self-help interventions emerge as a promising solution, offering more accessible care.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of a web-based cognitive behavioral self-help intervention for individuals with BED.

Empathy is associated with interpersonal emotion regulation goals in everyday life.

Responding to the emotions of the people around us is a phenomenon traversing human lives; however, research has only recently started exploring the predictors of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER). In two ecological momentary assessment studies conducted in 2021 and 2022, we tested whether facets of empathy (i.e.

If it Ain't Broke, Don't Fix it: Positive Versus Negative Emotion Regulation in Daily Life and Depressive Symptoms.

Background: Despite the importance of positive emotions for affective psychopathology, prior research primarily focused on negative emotion regulation. To address this gap, this ecological momentary assessment study compared a broad set of emotion regulation strategies in the context of positive versus negative emotions regarding their effectiveness and associations with depressive symptoms.

Methods: We analyzed data from 1066 participants who were notified five times daily for seven consecutive days to complete a smartphone survey assessing their predominant emotions, strategies to regulate them, and subsequent emotional outcomes.

Accuracy and Bias in Facial Trustworthiness Appraisals in Borderline Personality Disorder.

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have shown a negativity bias, whereas the general population has shown a positivity bias in their trustworthiness appraisal of others. We tested if individuals with BPD are more negative but also more realistic with their appraisals. Trustworthiness was objectified on an external criterion.

Contextual variations in emotion polyregulation: How do regulatory goals shape the use and success of emotion regulation strategies in everyday life?

Emotion regulation strategies are frequently combined within one emotional episode, a phenomenon labeled emotion polyregulation. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of studies examining which regulatory strategies are commonly combined across different contexts and how effective these combinations are in everyday life. Targeting this research gap, the present ecological momentary assessment study modeled emotion polyregulation and its success for contexts of (a) downregulation, (b) upregulation, and (c) maintenance goals in = 321 adults.

Evaluation of a Web-Based Self-Help Intervention for Patients With Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a highly prevalent and severely distressing condition that can lead to functional impairments and is considered one of the most difficult anxiety disorders to treat. Following new technological developments, a highly structured cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach that has already shown success in face-to-face psychotherapy can be implemented: internet-delivered CBT (iCBT). There is now evidence for the efficacy of both guided and unguided iCBT interventions for GAD regarding symptom reduction.

Examining the strategy-situation fit of emotion regulation in everyday social contexts.

The strategy-situation fit hypothesis suggests that emotion regulation strategies are only beneficial to mental health if they meet contextual demands. Previous studies support this assumption but focused on properties of the emotional stimulus and reported cross-sectional associations with mental health, thus neglecting the social context and long-term mental health outcomes. To address these limitations, we examined (1) whether reappraisal, social sharing, and suppression varied depending on the social context (i.

Neural correlates of emotional reactivity predict response to cognitive-behavioral therapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Examining predictive biomarkers to identify individuals who will likely benefit from a specific treatment is important for the development of targeted interventions. The late positive potential (LPP) is a neural marker of attention and elaborated stimulus processing, and increased LPP responses to negative stimuli are characteristic of pathological anxiety. The present study investigated whether LPP reactivity would prospectively predict response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), the first-line treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Integrating a web-based intervention into routine care of binge-eating disorder: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Although binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating pathology and carries a high mental and physical burden, access to specialized treatment is limited due to patient-related barriers and insufficient healthcare resources. Integrating web-based self-help programs into clinical care for BED may address this treatment gap by making evidence-based eating disorder interventions more accessible.

Methods: A two-armed randomized controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based self-help intervention for BED in routine care settings.

Applying a web-based self-help intervention for bulimia nervosa in routine care: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN) experience persistent episodes of binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behavior associated with impaired physical and mental health. Despite the existence of effective treatments, many individuals with BN remain untreated, leading to a high burden and an increased risk of chronicity. Web-based interventions may help facilitate access to evidence-based treatments for BN by reducing barriers to the health care system.

Emotion Regulation as a Mediator between Childhood Abuse and Neglect and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Women with Substance Use Disorders.

A history of childhood abuse and neglect (CAN) is significantly associated with psychopathologies in adulthood, including comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD). Difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) might influence the association between CAN and PTSD. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between CAN and PTSD symptom severity in women with SUD and to investigate the mediating role of general difficulties in ER and its specific dimensions.

A cognitive control framework for understanding emotion regulation flexibility.

What are the cognitive processes that allow flexible responses to the changing demands of varying emotional contexts? Previous research suggests that higher levels of cognitive control are linked to successful emotion regulation. In particular, the implementation of emotion regulation strategies has been associated with individual differences in cognitive control, including (a) inhibiting prepotent responses, (b) updating information in working memory, and (c) shifting mental sets. Although most of this work has focused on the relationship between cognitive control and the short-term implementation of regulatory strategies, cognitive control may be even more important for understanding the dynamic adaptation to varying emotional contexts, that is, emotion regulation flexibility.

HPA axis stress reactivity and hair cortisol concentrations in recently detoxified alcoholics and healthy controls with and without childhood maltreatment.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a strong risk factor for alcohol dependence (AD) and is associated with a more severe course of the disease. Alterations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may play an important role in this relationship. The aim of the present study was to systematically investigate potential alterations in HPA functioning associated with AD diagnosis and CM.

Mindfulness and progressive muscle relaxation as standardized session-introduction in individual therapy: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: There is scarce research on the effects of mindfulness in individual therapy. As many practitioners integrate mindfulness exercises into individual therapy, empirical evidence is of high clinical relevance.

Method: We investigated the effects of a session-introducing intervention with mindfulness elements (SIIME) in a randomized, controlled design.

Neural correlates of reappraisal considering working memory capacity and cognitive flexibility.

Cognitive reappraisal of emotion is strongly related to long-term mental health. Therefore, the exploration of underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms has become an essential focus of research. Considering that reappraisal and executive functions rely on a similar brain network, the question arises whether behavioral differences in executive functions modulate neural activity during reappraisal.

Development and Validation of the Heidelberg Form for Emotion Regulation Strategies (HFERST): Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity.

The Heidelberg Form for Emotion Regulation Strategies (HFERST) was developed to complement previous emotion regulation (ER) questionnaires and addresses some of their limitations by measuring eight ER strategies. An initial item pool was developed in German following expert discussions and adaptation of the items from existing ER scales. Following a stepwise selection based on the experts' judgments, 32 items with the best content validity were chosen.

Understanding the role of childhood abuse and neglect as a cause and consequence of substance abuse: the German CANSAS network.

: Substance use disorders (SUD) belong to the most frequent behavioural consequences of childhood abuse and neglect (CAN). If parents are concerned, SUD are also an important risk factor for CAN. The relationship between CAN and SUD remains poorly understood.

One Size Does Not Fit All in Psychotherapy: Understanding Depression Among Patients of Turkish Origin in Europe.

Over the last decades, Europe has become an immigration country hosting an estimated 56 million international immigrants. Yet, a large amount of literature suggests that migration is associated with a higher risk of common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety. As representatives of one of the largest immigrant groups in Europe, various studies have shown that Turkish immigrants exhibit a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders than do the background population.

Stress-related salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) activity in alcohol dependent patients with and without a history of childhood maltreatment.

Rationale: Alcohol-dependent (AD) patients with a history of childhood maltreatment (CM) have shown a more severe clinical profile and a higher risk of relapse than those without CM. It was hypothesized that stress responsivity plays an important role in moderating the relationship between CM and AD. Surprisingly, systematic investigations about the stress responsivity in AD patients with CM are rare.

[Trauma, Resilience, and Emotion Regulation].

History of childhood abuse and neglect is considered to be a relevant risk factor for adult psychopathology. A functional emotion regulation (ER) can account for resilience despite of traumatic experiences in childhood. This study compares the habitual use of specific ER strategies among mentally healthy individuals with (=61) and without (=52) experience of childhood abuse and neglect by using the self-rating instrument Heidelberg Form for Emotion Regulation Strategies (H-FERST).

From Childhood Trauma to Adult Dissociation: The Role of PTSD and Alexithymia.

Background: The mechanism of how childhood trauma leads to increased risk for adult dissociation is not sufficiently understood. We sought to investigate the predicting effects and the putatively mediating roles of PTSD and alexithymia on the path from childhood trauma to adult dissociation.

Methods: A total of 666 day-clinic outpatients were administered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and controlled for sex, age, and the Global Symptom Index (GSI).

Emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between child maltreatment and psychopathology: A structural equation model.

The present study investigated the mediating effects of emotion dysregulation on the relationship between child maltreatment and psychopathology. An adult sample (N=701) from diverse backgrounds of psychopathology completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and the negative affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in a cross-sectional online survey. Correlational analyses showed that all types of child maltreatment were uniformly associated with emotion dysregulation, and dimensions of emotion dysregulation were strongly related to psychopathology.

Adolescent harm avoidance as a longitudinal predictor of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation in adulthood: The mediating role of inhibitory control.

The current study investigates the effect of adolescent harm avoidance (HA) on maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (mCER) in early adulthood. The mediating role of inhibitory control and the moderating effect of gender on this link were also examined. Longitudinal data from 261 adolescents (147 female) were collected in three phases (T0, T1 and T2) over approximately 10 years.