Understanding the Relationship Between Emotional and Behavioral Dysregulation: a Cascade of Emotions Edward A
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2007 Understanding the Relationship Between Emotional and Behavioral Dysregulation: A Cascade of Emotions Edward A. Selby Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DYSREGULATION: A CASCADE OF EMOTIONS By EDWARD A. SELBY A Thesis sub itted to the Depart ent of Psychology in partial fulfill ent of the re,uire ents for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Su er Se ester. 2001 Copyright 2001 Edward A. Selby All Rights Reser2ed The e bers of the Co ittee appro2e the thesis of Edward Andrew Selby on 3une 24. 2001 ____________________________________ Tho as 3oiner Professor Directing Thesis ____________________________________ Nor an B. Sch idt Co ittee Me ber ____________________________________ Chris Schatschneider Co ittee Me ber The Office of Graduate Studies has 2erified and appro2ed the abo2e na ed co ittee e bers ii This Thesis is dedicated to y belo2ed father. 3oseph D. Selby. He taught e to be passionate about understanding the world. and he inspired e to dedicate y life to e6panding that understanding of the world for e2eryone. iii AC7NOWLEDGEMENTS I would li8e to than8 y entor. Tho as 3oiner. for all of his support and help with this pro9ect and for his dedication to y growth as a researcher and acade ician. I would also li8e to than8 the other e bers of y co ittee. Bradley Sch idt and Christopher Schatsneider. for their in2aluable help in a8ing this Thesis an e2en better pro9ect than originally concei2ed. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ............................................................................................................... 2i List of Figures .............................................................................................................. 2ii Abstract ................................................................................................................. 2iii Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Study 1 ........................................................................................................................ 8 Study 2 ....................................................................................................................... 21 General Discussion ..................................................................................................... 24 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 45 BIOGRAPHICAL S7ETCH .......................................................................................... 51 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Correlations. Means. Standard De2iations Study 1.................. 34 Table 2: Factor Loadings of Measure ent Model .................................. 35 Table 3: Standardized Regression Weights Study 1 .............................. 34 Table 4: Correlations. Means. Standard De2iations Study 2 – T1.......... 31 Table 5: Correlations. Means. Standard De2iations Study 2 – T2.......... 38 Table 4: Intercorrelations between T1 and T2 Variables........................ 3A Table 1: Ru ination Predicting Urgency ................................................ 40 Table 8: Ru ination Predicting Reassurance See8ing........................... 41 Table A: Ru ination Predicting Binge-eating Beha2iors......................... 42 Table 10: Ru ination Predicting Drin8ing to Cope................................. 43 Table 11: Ru ination Predicting Beha2ioral Co posite......................... 44 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Hypothesized Model ............................................................... 30 Figure 2: Hypothesized Model Without AER ......................................... 31 Figure 3: Re2erse Mediational Model .................................................... 32 Figure 4: Best Fitting Model ................................................................... 33 vii ABSTRACT Recent research suggests that any dysregulated beha2iors. such as binge-eating and non-suicidal self-in9ury. often occur during ti es of e otional distress. These beha2iors also appear to decrease negati2e affect. Why is it. howe2er. that indi2iduals engage in these beha2iors to reduce e otional distress rather than ta8ing a shower or tal8ing to a friendC This study proposes the role of e otional cascades. an e otional pheno enon that occurs when an indi2idual intensely ru inates on negati2e affect. thus intensifying that negati2e affect to the point that an indi2idual engages in a dysregulated beha2ior in order to distract fro that ru ination. The purpose of these studies was to e6a ine the relationship between ru ination and dysregulated beha2iors. and in doing so deter ine if there is so e support for the e otional cascade odel. Using two different studies we were able to de onstrate that ru ination is associated with so e dysregulated beha2iors. both cross-sectionally using structural e,uation odeling. and te porally using a two ti e-point ethod. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ID2e always felt these things. I donDt thin8 there are any words that describe the e6actly. but they are a co bination of rage. anger. e6tre e pain. They i6 together into what I call the FuryE I a starting to learn how to deal with it. but until recently. the only way I 8new was through drin8ing and drugs. I too8 so ething. whate2er it was. and if I too8 enough of it. the Fury would subside. The proble was that it would always co e bac8. usually stronger. and that would re,uire ore and stronger substances to 8ill it. and that was always the goal. to 8ill it. - 3a es Frey. A Million Little Pieces Fp. 212) Do we really ha2e control o2er our e otions. or do our e otions ha2e control o2er usC Perhaps a synthesis of the two suppositions is ore accurate than either alone. E otion regulation is defined as the e6trinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for onitoring. e2aluating. and odifying e otional reactions. especially their intensi2e and te poral features. to acco plish oneDs goal FTho son. 1AA4) – in short. e otion regulation is how you anage and alter your e otions so that they are consistent with your ob9ecti2es. Gross F1AA8) has proposed a odel of e otion regulation that indicates that both cogniti2e and beha2ioral strategies ay be used to regulate e otions. either before or after an e otion occurs. Both cogniti2e and beha2ioral e otion regulation strategies ha2e recei2ed attention separately. but there ha2e been few studies e6a ining both for s together – especially in the case of aladapti2e e otion regulation. For e6a ple. cogniti2e e otion regulation strategies such as ru ination FNolen-Hoe8se a H Morrow. 1AA1) and thought suppression FWegner et al.. 1A81) ha2e been lin8ed to a nu ber of negati2e psychological outco es. Recent e2idence is also beginning to indicate that certain beha2iors such as non-suicidal self- in9ury FChap an et al.. 2004). binge-eating FWegner et al.. 2002). and other i pulsi2e beha2iors FWhiteside H Lyna . 2001) ay all be a result of e otion dysregulation. and 1 they ay ser2e as e otion regulatory functions as well. The ,uestion re ains. howe2er: why does e otion dysregulation appear to result in beha2ioral dysregulationC The connection ay lay in the use of certain cogniti2e e otion regulation strategies Fcogniti2e e otion dysregulation) that actually increase the intensity of negati2e e otions and cause an indi2idual to engage in aladapti2e beha2ioral e otion regulation strategies Fbeha2ioral dysregulation) in order to down-regulate these intense e otions. In essence. the way we regulate our e otions ay actually cause us to lose control of the . In order to understand the connection between e otional and beha2ioral dysregulation. it is i portant to 8now which aladapti2e beha2iors are theorized to result fro e otion regulation. as well as current theories of why they happen. Perhaps the ost 2i2id e6a ple of dysregulated beha2ior that has been suggested to ha2e e otion regulatory functions is non-suicidal self-in9ury FNSSI). the deliberate infliction of in9ury upon oneself without suicidal intent. Noc8 and Prinstein F2004) e6a ined the functional aspects of NSSI and identified ultiple functions for this beha2ior. with a2oidance of e otional e6perience being a ong the ost fre,uent reasons for engaging in NSSI. NSSI has also been indicated as a ethod with which indi2iduals with borderline personality disorder FBPD) regulate negati2e affect and relie2e tension FBrown. Co tois. H Linehan. 2002). Although conclusi2e e2idence is lac8ing for how NSSI regulates affect. there are a nu ber of theories on how NSSI ay reduce negati2e affect. Linehan F1AA3) has proposed that indi2iduals with BPD engage in self- har ing beha2ior as a result of e otion dysregulation. which causes intense e otional states. Chap an et al. F2004) ha2e suggested that deliberate self har ser2es the purpose of helping an indi2idual a2oid the e6perience of negati2e e otion. Another beha2ior that has recei2ed attention because of its relation to negati2e affect is binge-eating. Heatherton and Bau iester F1AA1) ha2e proposed a odel of binge-eating that suggests affect regulating propertiesI they suggest that an indi2idual who engages in binge-eating uses this beha2ior to a2oid negati2e e otions by narrowing their