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There is little neurological evidence linking sensation seeking and emotion regulation in adolescence, which is characterised as an emotionally fluctuant period. The present study examined the relationship between sensation seeking and emotion regulation in adolescents. Electroencephalograms were recorded from 22 high sensation‐seeking adolescents (HSSs, Mage = 12.36) and 24 low sensation‐seeking adolescents (LSSs, Mage = 12.84) during the reactivity and regulation‐image task. Group differences in event‐related brain potentials (ERPs) associated with the regulation of negative and neutral stimuli were analysed. The results showed that (a) the P2 of HSSs were larger than LSSs during emotion regulation; (b) in down‐regulation conditions, the LPP in all time windows were smaller than no‐regulation in LSSs. However, there was no significant difference in HSSs; (c) the LPP 300–600 and LPP 1000–1500 of down‐regulation were smaller in LSSs than HSSs; (d) for LPP 600–1000, HSSs induced larger LPP than LSSs in the negative down‐regulation and negative no‐regulation conditions. The results provide neurological evidence that higher sensation seeking is related to the high reactivity to emotional stimuli and poor cognitive control during the regulation of emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study identified profiles of trait mindfulness in a sample of 514 early Chinese adolescents (mean age = 10.54 years), and examined their associations with emotion regulation. Latent profile model was built on five facets of mindfulness (observing, non-judging, acting with awareness, describing, and non-reactivity). Results showed negative correlations of the five facets among the four identified profiles: Judging & High Mindfulness (Profile 1, 43.1%), Non-reacting Observing (Profile 2, 6.7%), Non-judging & Low Mindfulness (Profile 3, 20.4%), and Non-judgmental Awareness (Profile 4, 29.7%). Judging & High Mindfulness and Non-reacting Observing profile used significantly more reappraisal than the other profiles. Besides, Non-reacting Observing applied significantly more behavioral suppression than the other profiles. The result indicated diverse patterns of trait mindfulness among the early adolescents, and the associations of trait mindfulness with emotion regulation should be considered comprehensively with all facets, rather than separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture has a strong influence on how people evaluate and regulate their emotions. Previous findings suggest that Easterners tend to prefer controlling their emotions more than do Westerners. However, there is still little evidence on the prevalence of cultural differences in implicit attitudes towards emotion regulation. The goal of the present study is to investigate cross-cultural differences in the implicit and explicit attitudes towards emotion regulation to help bridge this gap in the literature. The sample consisted of 61 Chinese and 54 European Americans. Emotion Regulation Implicit Association Test (ER-IAT) was used to examine the implicit attitudes towards emotion regulation. Results showed that (1) Chinese implicitly evaluated emotional expression as more negative than European Americans; (2) Similarly, Chinese explicitly valued emotional expression as less important than European Americans. Further implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing interest in understanding how beliefs about emotion regulation are related to individual emotional experiences. Extant studies have mainly focused on explicit beliefs about emotion regulation among individuals in Western societies. The current study examined implicit emotion regulation and explored their contributions to emotional outcomes in 147 Chinese adolescents. Participants were tested on their implicit beliefs about emotion regulation and their negative emotion experiences. Results showed that the down-regulation was implicitly evaluated as more positive than up-regulation. Moreover, positive implicit beliefs about down-regulation increased with age. Among younger adolescents, those who evaluated down-regulation more positively had less negative emotional experiences. These results suggest that down-regulation may have important implications in Chinese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing interest in emotion regulation is reflected in the studies of cognitive and social development. However, the extant studies mainly highlight how emotion regulation develops based on a western value system. This study utilised a longitudinal design to examine the development of emotion regulation and explored the contributions of different regulatory strategies to emotion experience regarding the early adolescent development period in a Chinese population. A total of 303 Chinese adolescents (age range = 10-14 years) were followed up in a three-phase longitudinal study for 3 years. In each phase of the study, participants completed Adolescents Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and Daily Emotion Scale. Results of hierarchical linear regressions revealed that Chinese adolescents reported more down-regulation. Down-regulation is more effective than up-regulation in enhancing desirable emotion experience and reducing undesirable emotion experience during adolescents' development. Also, the adaptive functions of emotional regulatory strategies in Chinese background were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research on emotion regulation has shown that cognitive reappraisal is a healthier and more effective emotion regulation strategy than expressive suppression. However, there are few studies in this field that combine real-time emotion regulation with the use of habitual emotion regulation strategies to observe the patterns of brain activity, and fewer studies focusing on adolescents. Frontal electroencephalography (EEG) asymmetry reflects the difference between brain activation in left and right frontal areas and is widely viewed as an effective biomarker of emotional reactivity and regulation. The present study investigated the asymmetry of the frontal EEG activity during adolescents' emotional regulation, and explored its relationship with adolescents' habitual use of emotional regulation strategies. Habitual use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression was measured with the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ). EEG was recorded from 54 adolescents (24 boys & 30 girls, M age = 12.59), during the Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task. Results showed that adolescents who used cognitive reappraisal strategies more habitually exhibited greater left frontal asymmetry during real-time enhancement or reduction of negative emotions. In contrast, no significant correlation was found between habitual use of suppression and frontal alpha asymmetry. The results provide neurological evidence that, for adolescents, the use of habitual emotion regulation strategies may affect real-time emotion regulation, adolescents who use cognitive reappraisal more frequently are more capable or more prone to recruit appropriate brain regions in situations that need to regulate negative emotions. This reinforces the importance of the formation and use of correct emotion regulation habits for adolescents. • Cognitive reappraisal is a healthy and effective emotion regulation strategy. • Frontal electroencephalography (EEG) asymmetry is an effective biomarker of emotional reactivity and regulation. • Adolescents' habitual use of emotion regulation strategies affects their frontal EEG asymmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Frontal EEG asymmetry is a reliable index of effective emotion regulation. • High mindfulness adolescents exhibit greater left asymmetry during emotion regulation. • Adolescents showed greater right asymmetry when up-regulating negative emotions. • High trait mindfulness is associated with greater regulatory capacity. The present study examined the differences in frontal EEG asymmetry during emotion regulation between participants who had different levels of trait mindfulness. EEG recordings were taken from 23 high mindfulness adolescents (M age = 12.34) and 22 low mindfulness adolescents (M age = 12.53) during the Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task. The results showed that (1) high mindfulness adolescents had greater left (relative to right) asymmetry than low mindfulness adolescents in down-regulation and up-regulation conditions; however, there was no significant difference in the non-regulation condition; (2) In the up-regulating condition, adolescents showed greater right (relative to left) asymmetry for negative stimuli compared to neutral stimuli; however, there was no significant difference in down-regulation and non-regulation conditions. The results provide neurological evidence that trait mindfulness was highly related to the regulation of emotions and affects how emotions are processed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]