Predictors of polyregulation and its effectiveness following exposure to One's most personally distressing intrusive thought.

J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry

Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. Electronic address:

Published: March 2025

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study examines "polyregulation," or the use of multiple emotion regulation strategies to cope with a single stressor, particularly in individuals with repetitive negative thinking (RNT) disorders like worries, ruminations, and obsessions.
  • A total of 60 participants were tested on their responses to distressing intrusive thoughts, revealing that 90% used multiple strategies, with a greater need to control thoughts predicting higher strategy use.
  • Despite the findings, factors related to RNT and the immediate effectiveness of these strategies did not show significant relationships, emphasizing the need for further investigation to aid clinical interventions targeting intrusive thinking.

Article Abstract

Background And Objectives: Using multiple emotion regulation strategies in response to a single stressor-known as polyregulation-is an understudied but common event. The role of polyregulation in psychological disorders characterized by repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is unexplored, despite well-documented difficulties in emotion regulation and strong urges to avoid and escape one's intrusive thoughts in RNT.

Methods: Participants (N = 60) either had clinical levels of RNT (n = 15 with worries, n = 14 with ruminations, n = 16 with obsessions) or non-clinical levels of RNT (n = 15) and were exposed to their most personally distressing intrusive thought during an in-lab task. Proportional odds logistic regressions were used to test if RNT group and situation-level factors predicted greater polyregulation following the thought exposure. Multilevel regressions were used to test the short-term effectiveness of polyregulation on subjective distress and psychophysiological responding (heart rate, skin conductance).

Results: Ninety percent of participants reported using two or more strategies following intrusive thought exposure. Extent of polyregulation was not significantly predicted by RNT group, most situation-level factors, or short-term regulatory effectiveness. Endorsing a greater need to control one's intrusive thought did, however, predict use of more strategies.

Limitations: This is a secondary analysis in a small sample.

Conclusion: Given treatments for psychological disorders characterized by RNT attempt to disrupt the connection between a person's urge to control their distressing thoughts and efforts to escape or avoid those thoughts, continued investigation into the role of polyregulation in intrusive thinking may guide clinical intervention.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.102001DOI Listing

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