Reading Report Written by Marine Galibert (E20B204M), Solène Hillion (E161492K) and Lara Pichon (E14E646L) (Master 2 PCPI)
Keywords : Emotion Regulation, Transdiagnostic, Cognitive Reappraisal, Positive Rumination, Negative Rumination, Cognitive Strategies, psychopathology.
“A process needs to meet at least two requirements to be considered transdiagnostic. First, it must be present (i.e., elevated when compared with healthy controls) across a range of different disorders. Secondly, the process must causally contribute to the development and/or maintenance of psychopathology, rather than being a mere epiphenomenon of these disorders.” (Harvey et al., 2004).
The purpose of this article is to question the potential transdiagnostic aspect of emotional regulation. On the one hand, it brings together arguments and conceptual basis in favor of the hypothesis that emotional regulation is a transdiagnostic process. On the other hand, it sheds light on gaps in the literature so as to guide future research. More specifically, this article is a literature review focusing on three specific cognitive strategies: cognitive reappraisal, positive rumination, and negative rumination. These emotional regulation strategies have been discussed here through two main angles. The first identifies evidences of the presence of these strategies in all disorders. The second highlights the causality between specific cognitive strategies and psychopathology.
Summary
Based on an extensive literature review, the authors have selected the most relevant empirical studies. Cludius and al. (2020) focus on emotional regulation as a transdiagnostic process. Starting from the fact that it is an aspect found in several mental disorders, they highlight that certain strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal and positive ruminations, can be considered more as transdiagnostic processes than others. This is because alterations in the frequency of selection of these strategies are indeed present in all disorders: depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorder, substance use disorder and insomnia. However, regarding the causality between specific cognitive strategies and psychopathology, there is little evidence and the evidence is nuanced. Thus, some disorders are characterised by problematic use of emotional regulation strategies but with intact efficacy, while others are defined by more fundamental deficits in negative emotion regulation. However, the conclusion of their work highlights a lack of precision in the object of the study. Indeed, looking at emotional regulation as a whole to see if it is a transdiagnostic process is very broad. The authors suggest that the processes of emotional regulation should be further clarified and that their role in more specific mental disorders should also be studied.
The critical evaluation
This article is based on an extensive literature research of longitudinal and experimental studies on emotional regulation. It chooses to focus on three emotional regulation processes. However, the definition of emotion regulation is not given by the authors. The talk about Gross’ definition : “ Emotion regulation refers to the processes by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions. Emotion regulatory processes may be automatic or controlled, conscious or unconscious, and may have their effects at one or more points in the emotion generative process” (Gross, 1998). Furthermore, other emotional regulation strategies remain to be studied, such as expressive suppression for instance. The article addresses the transdiagnostic issue of emotional regulation while new perspectives are to be considered. In particular, the distinction between the different types of emotional regulations and their specificities should be deep dived. Then the authors propose the study of the transdiagnostic role, specific to each emotional regulation, in relation to disorders. The authors propose five points to be considered in future studies, all through the lens of the need for a theoretical refinement: identifying the key components of emotional regulation, targeting and comparing several groups of disorders, testing causality in the development and maintenance of disorders, developing transdiagnostic interventions, and finally, improving assessment that offers diagnostic differentiation at the individual level.
The Conclusion
In this study, the researchers raise the point of the transdiagnostic aspect of emotional regulation. However, we question the specificity of this article. Indeed, the authors refer to emotional regulation, whereas in our opinion, the authors are studying dysfunctions of emotional regulation as a transdiagnostic process.
According to the authors’ conclusion, the existing literature leaves no doubt that alterations in emotional regulation can be observed in all disorders. Furthermore, the authors point out that research regarding the impact of emotional regulation on the development and maintenance of psychopathological symptoms is still limited. They conclude by proposing that research on the transdiagnostic nature of emotional regulation needs to be refined theoretically and methodologically to have a greater impact on our understanding and ultimately our treatment of psychological disorders.
The authors propose several openings to their work: theoretical refinement, studying emotional regulation across disorders, testing causality, emergence of ongoing transdiagnostic interventions, and improvement and development of emotional regulation assessment tools.
It may be simpler and more relevant to ask whether or not an emotional regulation strategy could be a transdiagnostic process. Indeed, when we look at all the techniques of emotion regulation, we are entitled to say that each one could intervene, and be used in several psychopathologies, but perhaps not necessarily the same from one strategy to another.
Vocabulary
- Cognitive Reappraisal (Réévaluation Cognitive) : According to Gross’ theory, it’s a process in which a situation is reinterpreted to modify the emotional impact of the situation.
- Multifinal (Multi fonctionnel): Said, for example, of a symptom found in several disorders. Relating to that which has different functions, which can perform several tasks.
- Overlap (Chevauchement) : In our case, this referred to symptoms that could overlap and be found in several disorders.
- To refine (affiner) : give more details, make something clearer.
- Scarce (rare) : Said when a phenomenon does not occur often.
Reading Report Written by Marine Galibert, Solène Hillion and Lara Pichon
Bibliography
Christophe, V., Antoine, P., Leroy, T. & Delelis, G. (2009). Évaluation de deux stratégies de régulation émotionnelle : la suppression expressive et la réévaluation cognitive. European Review of Applied Psychology, 59(1), 59‑67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erap.2008.07.001
Cludius, B., Mennin, D., & Ehring, T. (2020). Emotion regulation as a transdiagnostic process. Emotion, 20(1), 37‑42. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000646
Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271–299. http://dx.doi .org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271