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Self-as-Context (SAC) is one of the six core components of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy model (ACT). The aim of the current study was to investigate whether SAC is effective in reducing negative affect and maintaining positive affect in response to a personally relevant stressor relative to cognitive reappraisal (CR) and spontaneous coping strategies. An undergraduate sample (N = 105) completed baseline measures and were asked to discuss a recent personally relevant stressor which was audiotaped, before being randomized to one of three conditions. Participants randomized to the SAC and CR conditions received 5-minutes of training, whilst participants allocated to the control condition were asked to read a brochure for 5-minutes. All participants then listened to their recorded stressful experience before completed follow-up measures. The SAC group reported significantly less negative affect than participants in the control group post-training induction; although the CR group did not differ from the SAC or control participants in reductions in negative affect post-induction. There were no significant group differences for positive affect. The findings provide preliminary evidence that SAC is an effective emotion regulatory strategy in reducing acute distress in a stress-exposed young adult sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent theoretical work suggests that self-reflection on daily stressors and the efficacy of coping strategies and resources is beneficial for the enhancement of resilient capacities. However, coping insights emerging from self-reflection, and their relationship to resilient capacities, is an existing gap in our understanding. Given that insights come in many forms, the objective of this paper is to delineate exemplar coping insights that strengthen the capacity for resilience. After providing an overview of self-reflection and insight, we extend the Systematic Self-Reflection model of resilience strengthening by introducing the Self-Reflection and Coping Insight Framework to articulate how the emergence of coping insights may mediate the relationship between five self-reflective practices and the enhancement of resilient capacities. We explore the potential for coping insights to convey complex ideas about the self in the context of stressor exposure, an awareness of response patterns to stressors, and principles about the nature of stress and coping across time and contexts. This framework adds to existing scholarship by providing a characterization of how coping insight may strengthen resilient capacities, allowing for a guided exploration of coping insight during future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: This study investigated the efficacy of guided self-reflection to strengthen resilience in adults over 50 by exploring the effects of the training on mental health and positive emotional outcomes. Design: A nested clustered-randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the efficacy of the training. Measures occurred at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at four to five months follow-up. Method: Two samples of participants were recruited. First, older employees from a consumer goods company took part in the clustered-randomized controlled trial. Ninety-three employees (mean age = 54.02 years; 36.56% females) were assigned to the intervention (n = 52) or active control (n = 41) group. Second, older adults from the community (n = 51) were recruited (mean age = 58.63 years; 80.40% female) and assigned to the intervention only. Results: Improvements were observed in the community sample, compared to the active control group, across a range of wellbeing outcomes. When training engagement was used as a moderator, positive benefits for the corporate intervention group emerged for highly engaged participants. Mediation analyses indicated that stress-as-enhancing mindset, stressor benefit, and coping self-efficacy acted as possible mechanisms for change in primary outcomes. Conclusions: Findings provide support for the use of guided self-reflection for resilience training with older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, little attention has been paid to the processes by which resilience is developed, and how the likelihood of a resilient outcome may be enhanced over the life course. Objective: This study investigates the potential for adaptive systematic self-reflection to support the development of situation resilience via stressor exposure. Design: An experimental randomized controlled design was conducted. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Systematic Self-reflection intervention (n = 61) or disengagement control group (n = 60). Method: Participants were 121 university students (female = 68%) ranging in age from 18 to 56 years. Participants experienced two psychosocial stressors and completed a baseline survey, a second survey occurred post-stressor 1, and a third post-stressor 2. Salivary cortisol was taken pre stressor 2, immediately post stressor 2, and at 10 min intervals until 30 min. Results: The intervention was associated with greater reductions in negative affect, than a disengagement control task, and prevented the continued reduction in positive affect observed in the disengagement control condition. Moreover, the intervention promoted a steeper cortisol recovery trajectory, than the control condition for those with higher pre-stressor cortisol. Conclusions: This study provides further evidence that certain self-reflective practices may be involved in the development of resilience from stressor exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]