Physical Activity Predicts Emotion-Context-Sensitivity
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PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PREDICTS EMOTION-CONTEXT-SENSITIVITY A thesis submitted to the Kent State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for University Honors by Morgan Christina Shields May, 2014 Thesis written by Morgan Christina Shields Approved by _______________________________________________________________, Advisor __________________________________________, Chair, Department of Psychology Accepted by ___________________________________________________, Dean, Honors College ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 Emotion Regulation ................................................................................................2 Executive Functioning .............................................................................................4 Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Flexibility ....................................................5 Current Investigation ..............................................................................................6 Hypothesis I ....................................................................................................7 Hypothesis II ...................................................................................................7 METHODS ..........................................................................................................................8 Participants ..............................................................................................................8 Procedure .................................................................................................................8 Questionnaire Measures .................................................................................9 Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST).........................................................10 Rejection/Acceptance Task ...........................................................................11 Emotion-Context-Sensitivity ........................................................................13 RESULTS ..........................................................................................................................15 Analytic Plan .........................................................................................................15 Preliminary Analysis ............................................................................................15 Analysis for Hypothesis I.......................................................................................18 Analysis for Hypothesis II .....................................................................................20 Change in Positive Response from Rejection to Acceptance ................................21 DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................25 Limitations .............................................................................................................29 Future Directions and Implications ........................................................................30 Conclusion .............................................................................................................31 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................33 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Demographics Including Controls ...........................................................................9 2. Descriptives of Key Variables ...............................................................................14 3. Partial Correlation of Key Study Variables. Controlling for: Age, Gender, Handedness, BMI, and Distress. ............................................................................16 4. Regression Analysis Examining the Association between Negative Emotion during Rejection and Physical Activity...................................................19 5. Regression Analysis Examining the Association between Positive Emotion during Acceptance and Physical Activity ..............................................................22 6. Regression Analysis Examining the Association between the Change in Negative Emotion from Rejection to Acceptance and Physical Activity ..............23 7. Regression Analysis Examining the Association between the Change in Positive Emotion from Rejection to Acceptance and Physical Activity................24 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend the warmest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Karin Coifman, for giving me the freedom to pursue such an ambition project and for being readily available in moments of confusion and frustration. Although challenging, this journey has allowed me to flourish as a young research scientist and has prepared me for transition to graduate study. I would also like to express gratitude towards our Lab Manager, Danielle Halachoff, and my fellow Research Assistants for tirelessly aiding with data collection and management. Further, I would like to thank Drs. Mary Beth Spitznagel, Ellen Glickman, and Susan Roxburgh for serving on my thesis committee and for providing such thorough feedback. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Spitznagel for being available to meet with me on several occasions to discuss this project. I would like to express my appreciation to Jessica Flynn for encouraging and sympathizing with me during these past two years. In my moments of deepest despair and insecurity, she used her exceptional intellect and warmest compassion to help me process theory and lift both my confidence and spirits. I would like to thank Kelsey Kennedy, who has been my rock on the outside of these academic walls. She served to remind me of who I am, where I have been, and how amazing of an accomplishment this project is for me. Lastly, I am forever indebted to my parents for not extinguishing my imagination, for raising me around color and adventure, and for loving me. v INTRODUCTION It has been well-established that physical activity is beneficial for both psychological and physical well-being (Peluso & Andrade, 2005; Penedo & Dahn, 2005). The mechanisms by which physical activity improves physical health have been robustly documented (as reviewed in Warburton et al., 2006; Luft et al., 2009). However, the ways in which physical activity enhances psychological health are not completely understood. While, there has been substantial research linking physical activity to improved mood states (Peluso & Andrade, 2005) as well as decreased symptoms of psychopathology (Mota-Pereira et al., 2011; Brosse et al., 2002; Wolff et al., 2011), there has been very little research examining the connection between physical activity and adaptive and flexible emotional response. Though moods and emotions are at times referred to synonymously, and while they are indeed related, moods and emotions are actually distinct constructs. Moods are more long-lasting and enduring; whereas emotions are both rapidly produced and quickly dissolved in response to specific environmental and internal demands (Ekman, 1992). Moreover, emotions are more strongly linked to psychopathology and adaptive behavior as opposed to moods (Cole et al., 2004). In this investigation we explored whether physical activity might predict adaptive emotion regulatory responses by way of cardiovascular flexibility and neurocognitive functioning. 1 2 Emotion Regulation Emotions have evolved to serve specific functions that aid organisms to respond to internal and external demands in ways that are goal-relevant (Cole et al., 2004). The ability to appropriately regulate emotions is vital to well-being and survival (Thompson et al., 1994; Cole et al., 2004; Morris & Reilly, 1987), and maladaptive emotion regulation is thought to underlie many mental disorders, including depression and anxiety (Gross & Muñoz 1995). Adaptive emotion regulation is the process of implicitly and explicitly modifying emotional responses to environmental demands in order to promote healthy functioning (Cole et al., 2004; Gross, 1998). While we at times incorporate effortful-awareness to regulate certain emotions, most of our emotional responses and regulatory effects are too subtle for conscious awareness (Mauss et al., 2007; Thompson, 1994). These non- conscious regulatory responses have been shaped throughout development (Kopp, 1989) and can serve adaptive functions within a matched context. Campos and colleagues (2004) postulated that emotional states and regulatory processes are intimately dependent and predictive of one another, where one’s emotional state activates a certain emotion regulatory technique. This technique then affects the organism’s interaction with the environment in such ways that influence subsequent emotional responses. Dependent on whether the technique employed is adaptive to environmental demands, the consequences of one’s regulation can promote well-being or produce negative consequences. Emotion regulation has traditionally been studied at the trait level, where the focus has been on how various emotion regulatory techniques are generally applied, such 3 as reappraisal, which involves cognitively reinterpreting the meaning of an event or emotional response, or