Search

Cultural differences in desirable emotions powerfully impact brain activation and responses to specific stimuli. However, how people from different cultures process emotions in social contexts similarly and differently have not been adequately studied. Therefore, the present study examined cross-cultural differences in emotional processing of positive emotions in social contexts by using event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavior measurements. A total of 29 Chinese and 23 white Caucasians participants were recruited. A 2 (culture) X 2 (stimuli type) ANOVA was employed for both the neuro and behavioral data. The results showed P2 amplitudes were larger for Chinese than for Caucasians in the positive emotion in the social context condition. There were no significant differences in P2 amplitudes when processing positive emotion and neutral stimuli. For Chinese, the amplitudes of LPP 600–1000 of Chinese positive emotion in the social context stimuli were larger than positive emotion stimuli. For Caucasians, there was no significant difference among different stimuli. The higher P2 and LPP 600–1000 amplitudes suggested the salience and significance of positive emotions in social contexts for Chinese. Findings indicated that neural activation occurring during the processing of different positive emotions is moderated by participants' own cultural background. Further implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Mindfulness improves psychological and mental health by reducing negative emotional experiences and facilitating attentional processes and cognitive control during emotion regulation. However, little neurological evidence links mindfulness and emotion regulation in adolescence, which is often described as an emotionally turbulent period. Methods: Forty-three adolescents (Mage = 12.02, SD = 0.63) were recruited to examine the relationship between trait mindfulness of negative emotion regulation and event-related potentials (ERPs) in the brain. Results: (1) The amplitudes of P2, N2, late positive potential (LPP) 600–1000 ms, and LPP 1000–1500 ms recorded during the negative no regulation condition negatively correlated with observing. (2) The amplitude of LPP 600–1000 ms recorded during the negative downregulation condition also negatively correlated with observing. (3) The amplitudes of N2 and LPP 600–1000 ms recorded during the negative no regulation condition positively correlated with nonjudging. Conclusions: The results provide neurological evidence that trait mindfulness influences the regulation of negative emotions and affects how negative emotions are processed. Different facets of trait mindfulness have different impacts on adolescents during emotion regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present study was to empirically examine different conceptual mechanisms previously postulated to underlie the development of social avoidance in childhood. Participants were N = 601 children (321 boys, 280 girls) attending elementary schools (Mage = 10.21 years) and middle schools (Mage = 12.77 years) in Shanghai, P.R. China. Measures of motivations for social withdrawal (shyness, unsociability, social avoidance) and socio-emotional adjustment were collected using self-reports and peer nominations at two time-points separated by 9 months. Results from cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that: (1) social avoidance and symptoms of social anxiety were not reciprocally related over time; (2) Time 1 social avoidance predicted incremental change in Time 2 peer problems (whereas Time 1 peer problems did not predict incremental change in Time 2 social avoidance); and (3) Time 1 symptoms of depression significantly predicted incremental change in Time 2 social avoidance (whereas Time 1 social avoidance did not predict incremental change in Time 2 symptoms of depression). These results provide evidence in support of depressive symptoms (but not symptoms of social anxiety or peer problems) as a salient predictor of social avoidance. Results are discussed in terms of the development and implications of social avoidance in Chinese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late positive potential (LPP) has been well documented in predicting the effect of emotion regulation in previous developmental literature. However, few studies have examined age-related changes in emotion regulation from adolescence to adulthood using this biomarker. To test this, Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task was used to test 18 young adolescents and 22 adults to examine the modulation of LPP during emotion regulation. Results revealed that (a) on the behavioral level, adults reported higher intensity of emotional experience than adolescents when they were asked to use up-regulation. Down-regulation showed no age effect for self-reported rating; (b) adolescents showed higher amplitudes of LPP than adults when using different regulatory strategies in all windows; (c) In late time window, regulation effect was larger when using up-regulation strategy than down-regulation strategy for adolescents, while the difference between the two strategies was negligible for adults. (d) In early time window, reactivity effect was larger in negative conditions than in positive conditions for adolescents, while the difference between the two conditions was again negligible for adults. Differences in the amplitudes and time courses of LPP during emotion regulation between adolescents and adults suggested that age-related changes in emotion regulation may occur during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]