Emotional Regulation (part 2)

Mentalisation is concerned with the capacity to do what?

Verbally represent ‘intentional’ (possibility of action) states or Mindreading

What is metacognition?

Thoughts about thoughts

What are other key family influences on the development of emotion regulation? (name at least 3)

• Direct intervention to manage emotion from birth

• Parental evaluations of child’s emotions

• Emotional climate of family life

• Parent-child conversations

• Children’s developing emotion representations

• Parent-child relationship quality

What are the four stages of Gross’s Modal Model of Emotion?

Situation

Attention

Appraisal

Response

What are the two components of the situation aspect of the Modal Model of Emotion?

Situation selection and Situation modification

What is situation selection?

Taking action that makes it more or less likely we will end up in the situation leading to desirable or undesirable emotions

What is situation modification?

Changes aspects of situation to make it more manageable

What does the attention stage of the modal model of emotion include?

Attentional Deployment - how we direct our attention within given situations to influence our emotions

What does the appraisal stage of the modal model of emotion include?

Cognitive change - Changing how we appraise the situation we are in to alter its emotional significance

What does the response stage of the Modal Model of Emotion include?

Response modulation - trying to influence the experiential, physiological, or behavioural response as directly as possible

What are other forms of dysregulation? (4)

Relationships

Self-concept

Behaviour

Attentional capacities

What is particularly impaired in BPD patients?

Secondary Affect Regulating System

What are social cognition deficits in BPD patients’ receiving social signals? (demonstrating relationship dysregulation)

• Can correctly classify facial emotions @ lower levels of intensity, but recognition accuracy is impaired for fearful, angry, and sad faces

• Negative interpretation bias for neutral or mixed expressions

• Neutral faces seen as less trustworthy

Those with a dysregulated self-concept exhibit what? (4)

• Discontinuity of self

• Susceptibility to fragmentation and rupture of self-structure

• Hyper-permeability of self - sponge for other people’s demands, needs

• Susceptibility to contagion of the mind of others - whatever they think, i think

What disorders might reflect a dysregulated self-concept?

Eating disorders, Body dysmorphic disorder, Dissociative disorders

What are social cognition deficits for a BPD patient’s sending of social signals?

Reduced facial activity

React with fewer positive expressions and more mixed emotional expressions

Thoughts and feelings of high BPD symptom subjects more difficult to infer

How do social cognitive deficits relate to relationships? (4)

• Less autoregulatory capacity, with more ready activation of attachment

• Attachment arousal switches off social cognition, impairing social judgement

• Relationships initiated more readily with poor judgement

• Explanation of relationship instability

What are examples of behavioural dysregulation? (5)

• Impulsivity

• Risk taking

• Drug and alcohol use

• Promiscuity

• Self harm and para-suicidal behaviours

What are dysregulated attentional capacities?

• Deficits in self-control and attentional capacities well demonstrated

• May account for impulsivity or incapacities to direct attentional resources to interpersonal conflicts

How does attachment relate to dysregulated attentional capacities?

Caretaker’s regulatory activity and joint attention serve a self-organising function

How might ER difficulties present clinically?

Externalising, internalising disorders in children

Anxiety disorders

Mood disorders

Personality disorders

Substance use disorders

Trauma disorders

Social disorders

Stress and Stress-related health issues

What do clinical interventions need to consider in regards to ER difficulties?

Which aspect of the emotion regulation system needs work

Adaptation of therapeutic techniques

Mentalising can only occur with a settled PARS

How might we treat ER difficulties clinically? (at least 5)

• Affect education

• Cognitive restructuring

• Relaxation

• Behavioural activation

• Goal setting

• Emotional schemas

• Affect tolerance

• Behavioural changes

• Modifying problematic validation attempts

• Mindfulness/attention training

• Restructuring defenses

• Building a more adaptive psychological structure