RELATIONS BETWEEN SELF-REPORT, BEHAVIORAL, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES OF EMOTION REGULATION IN ANXIOUS COLLEGE STUDENTS
Abstract
Functionalist theorists of emotion posit that emotional responding produce coherence in response systems. However, it’s also been suggested that individual differences may vary widely for emotional experiences on a subjective, behavioral, and physiological level, resulting in observable measurement difference. Utilizing a three-systems model of emotion framework, the purpose of this study is to identify emotional response coherence or discordance of stress and emotion regulation (ER), across emotional systems. Stress and ER were assessed with self-report, behavioral, and physiological (heart rate variability or HRV) measures in a sample of self-identified highly-stressed college students (n=41). Self-report measures included the State and Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI) and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Behavioral measures included facial expressivity during a challenging cognitive task relative to a simple cognitive task (Stroop congruent and incongruent tasks).
Physiological measures included HRV reactivity and baseline HRV. Correlations and hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to examine relations between different measures and their unique contributions to each mode of measurement of ER and stress. Results indicate response discordance in an anxious sample of college students. Further, results suggest equivalent method of measurements accounts for the largest sources of explained variance (i.e., behavioral ER on behavioral stress, self-reported ER on self-reported stress). Thus, it is important to utilize the same measurement method in outcome variables and predictors when trying to understand a particular system. Future directions and implications for practice and emotional theory are discussed.
Citation
Lin, Brenna (2019). RELATIONS BETWEEN SELF-REPORT, BEHAVIORAL, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES OF EMOTION REGULATION IN ANXIOUS COLLEGE STUDENTS. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /189099.