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The present experience sampling study investigated the effect of age on emotion regulation patterns (i.e., emotion regulation strategy effectiveness, variability, and differentiation) in daily life. The study further explored the implications of potential age differences in emotion regulation patterns for well‐being. A sample of 406 adults (age range: 18–81, 62.8% female) were prompted five times a day for seven days to rate momentary emotions, emotion regulation strategy use, and emotion regulation strategy effectiveness. Based on these ratings, indicators of emotion regulation variability and differentiation were calculated. Well‐being outcomes included daily positive and negative emotions, and symptoms of depression and anxiety assessed at baseline. The findings revealed reduced emotion regulation variability with age and a negative association between emotion regulation variability and well‐being. There were no associations between age and emotion regulation effectiveness or differentiation. Emotion regulation effectiveness was associated with more positive and less negative daily emotions, and these associations were stronger for younger adults compared to older adults. Drawing on prominent lifespan theories, the findings may indicate that as people age, they select and apply a few strategies that they know will be effective given the context and their resources which leads to reduced emotion regulation variability but ultimately more well‐being. Concerning emotion regulation effectiveness, the findings suggest that effectiveness is less important for emotional well‐being in daily life in older adulthood possibly because well‐being is determined by other factors (e.g., less frequent and more predictable stressors) with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we introduce a constructionist approach to understanding emotional aging in adulthood. The purpose of the paper is to show how constructionism offers a promising avenue for gaining new insights into age-related changes in emotional experiences. We begin by introducing the constructionist theoretical framework and illustrating how constructionism may shape conceptualizations of emotional aging in adulthood. We compare the constructionist conceptualization of emotional aging with existing conceptualizations of emotional aging derived from prominent theories of emotional aging, focusing on how such conceptualizations highlight different aspects of emotional aging (e.g. different mechanisms) and overlook or downplay other aspects. We conclude by explicating what constructionism may offer research on emotional aging, including considerations of research agendas, study designs, and method of measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim was to explore mediators of change in parent training (PT) for 3- to 8-year-old children with ADHD difficulties. Method: Parents of 64 children received PT with Incredible Years® and assessed child ADHD symptoms and conduct problems and their parenting strategies, parental self-efficacy, and therapeutic alliance before, during, and after PT. Product-of-coefficients mediation analyses in multilevel models were applied, and causal relations between mediators and outcome were investigated in time-lagged analyses. Results: Increased parental self-efficacy and reduced negative parenting statistically mediated reductions in ADHD and conduct problems in the product-of-coefficient analyses. However, time-lagged analyses were unable to detect a causal relation between prior change in mediators and subsequent child symptom reduction. There was limited evidence of therapeutic alliance as mediator of child symptom reduction or change in parenting variables. Conclusion: Parental self-efficacy and reductions in negative parenting may mediate change in PT, but more fine-grained time-lagged analyses are needed to establish causality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Question: Is expressive writing intervention (EWI) efficacious in reducing distress and improving pregnancy rates for couples going through ART treatment?Summary Answer: Compared to controls, EWI statistically significantly reduced depressive symptoms but not anxiety and infertility-related distress.What Is Known Already: ART treatment is considered stressful. So far, various psychological interventions have been tested for their potential in reducing infertility-related distress and the results are generally positive. It remains unclear whether EWI, a brief and potentially cost-effective intervention, could be advantageous.Study Design Size, Duration: Between November 2010 and July 2012, a total of 295 participants (163 women, 132 men) were randomly allocated to EWI or a neutral writing control group.Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: Participants were couples undergoing IVF/ICSI treatment. Single women and couples with Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis or acute change of procedure from insemination to IVF, were excluded. EWI participants participated in three 20-min home-based writing exercises focusing on emotional disclosure in relation to infertility/fertility treatment (two sessions) and benefit finding (one session). Controls wrote non-emotionally in three 20-min sessions about their daily activities. The participants completed questionnaires at the beginning of treatment (t1), prior to the pregnancy test (t2), and 3 months later (t3). In total, 26.8% (79/295) were lost to follow-up. Mixed linear models were chosen to compare the two groups over time for psychological outcomes (depression, anxiety and infertility-related distress), and a Chi2 test was employed in order to examine group differences in pregnancy rates MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: One hundred and fifty-three participants received EWI (women = 83; men = 70) and 142 participants were allocated to the neutral writing control group (women = 83; men = 62). Both women and partners in the EWI group exhibited greater reductions in depressive symptoms compared with controls (P = 0.049; [CI 95%: -0.04; -0.01] Cohen's d = 0.27). The effect of EWI on anxiety did not reach statistical significance. Overall infertility-related distress increased marginally for the partners in the EWI group compared to the partners in the control group (P = 0.06; Cohen's d = 0.17). However, in relation to the personal subdomain, the increase was statistically significant (P = 0.01; Cohen's d = 0.24). EWI had no statistically significant effect on pregnancy rates with 42/83 (50.6%) achieving pregnancy in the EWI group compared with 40/80 (49.4%) in the control group (RR = 0.99 [CI 95% = 0.725, 1.341]; P = 0.94).Limitations, Reasons For Caution: The results for depressive symptoms corresponded to a small effect size and the remaining results failed to reach statistical significance. This could be due to sample characteristics leading to a possible floor-effect, as we did not exclude participants with low levels of emotional distress at baseline. Furthermore, men showed increased infertility-related distress over time.Wider Implications Of the Findings: EWI is a potentially cost-effective and easy to implement home-based intervention, and even small effects may be relevant. When faced with infertility, EWI could thus be a relevant tool for alleviating depressive symptoms by allowing the expression of feelings about infertility that may be perceived as socially unacceptable. However, the implications do not seem to be applicable for men, who presented with increased infertility-related distress over time.Study Funding/competing Interests: The present study was supported by research grants from Merck Sharpe and Dohme and The Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation as part of a publicly funded PhD. The funding bodies had no influence on the data collection, analysis or conclusions of the study. None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.Trial Registration Number: Clinicaltrials.gov, trial no. NCT01187095.Trial Registration Date: 7th September 2010 DATE OF FIRST PATIENT'S ENROLMENT: 23rd November 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The effect of state factors on neuropsychological performance in social anxiety disorder (SAD) has not been thoroughly investigated and the overall neuropsychological profile remains poorly understood. Aims: The primary objective of the study was to investigate the effect of state anxiety and state emotion suppression on neuropsychological performance in SAD. Methods: A neuropsychological test battery was administered before and after an anxiety manipulation (instruction to give a video-recorded speech) to 42 patients with SAD and to a gender and education matched group of 42 healthy controls (HCs). Results: Overall, participants with SAD performed worse than HCs on processing speed, visuospatial construction, visuospatial memory, verbal learning and word fluency, of which only the decreased visuospatial construction performance was considered clinically significant. State anxiety was not associated with neuropsychological performance at baseline, whereas state emotion suppression predicted decreased visuospatial memory in HCs and decreased verbal learning in the SAD group. Both groups performed better on working memory, processing speed and spatial anticipation, and worse on verbal learning and memory following the anxiety manipulation. The increase in state anxiety was associated with the decrease in verbal learning in both groups. Conclusions: Participants with SAD showed clinically significant difficulties with visuospatial construction and may experience verbal learning difficulties when suppressing emotions and experiencing an increase in anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been associated with cluster A personality disorder (PD) traits, mainly paranoid and schizoid traits. Aim: The aim of the study was to further investigate cluster A personality pathology in patients with SAD. Methods: Self-reported PD traits were investigated in a clinical sample of 161 participants with SAD and in a clinical comparison group of 145 participants with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PAD). Results: A diagnosis of SAD was associated with more paranoid and schizotypal PD traits, and an association between depression and personality pathology could indicate a state-effect of depression on PD traits. Conclusions: Patients with SAD had more cluster A personality pathology than patients with PAD, with the most solid indication for paranoid personality pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]