Awareness, Attention, Acceptance: How Mindfulness As An Emotion Regulation Strategy Could Reduce Anxiety
Rebekah C. Knight
NC Digital Online Collection of Knowledge and Scholarship September 11, 2018 DOI: 10.71889/5fylantbak.29863235 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Mixed experimental design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Participants classified as high-anxiety or low-anxiety |
| Interventions | Suppression Mindful regulation |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Key findings | No long-term effects of emotion regulation on arousal were found; the high-anxiety group remained more aroused regardless of instruction or time point. The authors suggest that short-term use of emotion regulation does not impact feelings of arousal long-term. |
Abstract
This study examines how emotion regulation (suppression and mindfulness) during stimulus encoding impacts feelings of anxiety at re-exposure. Prior research suggests that suppression is ineffective at changing negative feelings short-term, instead prolonging or exacerbating negative emotions over time. Mindfulness-based therapies, however, have been shown to reduce chronic negative affect in those suffering from various disorders. Prior research in our laboratory found that although mindfulness and suppression did not differ in short-term effectiveness, mindfulness improved stimulus memory in people who were highly anxious. This improved memory may in turn decrease arousal felt upon stimulus re-exposure. To test this, I conducted a 2 (High vs. Low Anxiety) x 2 (Time 1 vs. Time 2) x 3 (Suppression vs. Natural vs. Mindful regulation) mixed experimental design. At Time 1, participants viewed a series of pictures under different emotion regulation strategies, rating each for levels of arousal and valence experienced. At Time 2, participants viewed and rated these and novel pictures without instruction conditions. Hypotheses were unsupported: There were no long-term effects of regulation on arousal. The high-anxiety group remained more aroused regardless of instruction or time point, suggesting that short-term use of emotion regulation does not impact feelings of arousal long-term.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A PILOT STUDY OF GROUP MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY (MBCT) FOR COMBAT VETERANS WITH POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) Veterans with chronic combat posttraumatic stress disorder seeking treatment at a VA... | 2013 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual comparison group | n = 37 |
| Being present in the face of existential threat: The role of trait mindfulness in reducing defensive responses to mortality salience. | 2010 | Experimental study | |
| Neural correlates of mindfulness meditation-related anxiety relief Healthy adults with no prior meditation experience | 2013 | Within-subjects experimental study | n = 15 |
| Intensive mindfulness training-related changes in cognitive and emotional experience Community adults | 2009 | Quasi-experimental and longitudinal | n = 69 |
| Prospective examination of synthetic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine inhalation: effects on salivary IL-6, cortisol levels, affect, and non-judgment Volunteers | 2019 | Within-subjects experimental study | n = 11 |