Effect of Emotion Mindsets on Emotion Processing: A Multilevel Experimental Investigation
Phase: NA
Conditions: Emotions
Sponsor: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Study Protocol 
Official Title: Effect of Emotion Mindsets on Emotion Processing: A Multilevel 
Experimental Investigation 
NCT Number: 03978871 
September 27, 2023 
 

Research Design and Method 
163 adolescent girls with a high FEM (>.75 SD above the mean on a screening16) completed these procedures 
in a single session: (1) baseline measures (demographics, puberty, mindsets, self-efficacy); (2) computer lesson 
(random assignment to group); (3) post-lesson mindsets, self-efficacy; (4) pre-Trier affect; (5) Trier; (6) post-Trier 
measures; (7) emotional challenge task (ECT), go-nogo, and resting state in the scanner. The selected tasks 
provide a multi-level, multi-method assessment of emotion processing, including self-reported negative affect 
(Trier, ECT; Hyp. Set 1c), naturally occurring in vivo ER in response to an ecologically valid stressor (Trier; Hyp. 
Set 1c), use of an explicit ER prompt (ECT; Hyp. Set 1c), neural correlates of reactivity and regulation (ECT, go-
nogo; Hyp. Set 1a), neural recovery from emotional challenge (resting state; Hyp. Set 1a), and behavioral 
indexes of cognitive control (go-nogo; Hyp. Set 1b). At 2- and 4-month follow ups, girls completed via the Internet 
the mindset and self-efficacy measures and a self-report measure of ER in daily life. 
Girls completed a 25-minute computer lesson with audio-recordings. The GEM manipulation, adapted by our 
research team from a well-validated mindset manipulation65-68, involves 6 components: (1) Introduction: 
discussion of emotional experiences in teenagers; (2) Explanation of neuroplasticity, emphasizing the potential 
for changes in the brain and modification of emotions during adolescence; (3) Scientific evidence for the effect 
of ER training on mood improvement; (4) Comprehension assessments: brief factual quizzes and written 
summary of key points; (5) Vignettes and written testimonials: scenarios in which older youth describe 
challenging situations when they felt negative emotions and used growth mindsets to help regulate their 
emotions; and (6) Self-persuasion exercise: a. Girls read a hypothetical scenario about an emotional challenge 
and describe their likely thoughts and feelings; b. Girls imagine the same event happening to another (younger) 
teen and help them understand how they can change, integrating what they learned about malleability of the 
brain and emotion. The CONT condition involves a structurally similar session, with the same number and type 
of reading and writing activities, that focuses on general education about the brain74.  
Manipulation check. Before and after the lesson and at the follow-ups, girls completed a measure of mindsets 
about emotion, adapted from Tamir16 to focus on teens (e.g., “The truth is, teens have very little control over their 
emotions.”). The original measure has well-established psychometrics and is distinct from mindsets about other 
personal attributes16. Pilot data support the validity of the revised measure and support a single emotion mindset 
factor, c2(47) = 125.82, CFI = .97, SRMR = .032. 
Self-efficacy. Before and after the lesson and at the follow-ups, girls completed measures of ER self-efficacy16. 
Social stressor. Using an adapted version of the Trier Social Stressor Test104-106, girls prepared a speech in 
which they convince a group of peers (who ostensibly will watch a video of the speech; in reality, there are no 
peers) that they should be selected for a fictional TV show about teens’ ability to form friendships. Girls faced a 
computer screen displaying their image while preparing (1 min.) and presenting (3 min.) a speech. A female 
“evaluator” entered the room with a clipboard prior to the speech and fixed her gaze on the screen, avoiding eye 
contact. At intervals of 20 sec., she marked the clipboard. This task is well-validated for eliciting meaningful 
variability in adolescents’ emotion reactivity and ER104-106. Before and after the Trier, girls rated several 
dimensions of state negative affect52. Emotion reactivity was reflected in a residualized score. After the Trier, 
girls rated their use of in vivo ER strategies: cognitive reappraisal (e.g., “I tried to think about the speech in a 
way that made me feel better.”), positive thinking (e.g., “I imagined myself doing a great job on the speech.”), 
rumination (e.g., “I kept thinking about how stressed I felt.”), avoidance (e.g., “I tried not to think about how I 
felt.”), and helplessness (e.g., “I felt there was nothing I could do to stop feeling stressed.”)54,57-59. Girls then 
underwent scanner training. 
Scan procedures. The scan consisted of 4 segments: (1) neutral video; (2) emotional challenge task (ECT); 
(3) 8 min. resting state; and (4) emotional go-nogo task. 
• 
ECT. Girls watched validated videos created for fMRI107-108 depicting females making one of three types of 
statements with matching affective expression: negative (criticism; e.g., “You are a disappointment.”), 
positive (praise; e.g., “You will be successful.”), or neutral (e.g., “Pools have chlorine.”). Before each video, 
girls received a prompt (2 sec.) instructing them to imagine how they would feel if the female were a friend 
speaking to them (“YOU”; immerse), or an actor practicing her lines (“ACTOR”; reframe). These cues make 
the statement either more (immerse) or less (reframe) personally relevant, with the reframe cue providing a 
proactive ER strategy. After the cue, there was a pause (2-7 sec.), presentation of the video (6 sec.), and 
another pause (3 sec.). After each trial, the participant rated how bad she felt on a 5-point scale. Comparing 
brain activation and negative affect during the criticism vs. neutral videos in the immerse trials provides an 

index of emotion reactivity107-108. Comparing brain activation and negative affect during the criticism videos 
in the reframe vs. immerse trials provides an index of ER success107-108. 
• 
Resting state. Girls fixated on a central cross. The resting state captured residual effects of ER efforts 
imposed during the immediately preceding ECT. Greater ability to flexibly engage and disengage ER in 
response to changing external challenges (imposed by negative, positive, and neutral videos) is expected to 
be reflected in the functional connectome for minutes beyond the ECT, as reflected in more within-network 
connectivity in cognitive control (CC) networks as well as more between-network connectivity with the AMY 
in girls who engage in proactive ER. 
• 
Emotional go-nogo. Girls completed a CC task with emotion distractors109 depicting negative (social 
rejection), positive (social acceptance), or neutral (scrambled) images110. Letters were presented sequentially 
at the center of the screen, with distractors in the background. The distractors were presented alone (350ms), 
prior to the letter (750ms), to make them difficult to ignore. Girls were instructed to ignore the images and 
respond as quickly as possible without sacrificing accuracy with a button press to every letter (go trials), 
except for Xs (no-go; 25% of trials). Girls acquire a prepotent tendency to press and must inhibit their 
responses during X trials. Research supports the validity of emotional go-nogo tasks109-111. Reaction time 
(RT) and accuracy scores provide an index of ER. 
2- and 4-month follow-ups. Youth completed the mindset measure, self-efficacy measures, and a measure to 
assess ER (e.g., cognitive reappraisal, rumination) in daily life. Items were drawn from existing measures112-117 
or written for this measure. Pilot data in 158 adolescents support links between emotion mindsets and these self-
reports of ER. 
• 
The fMRI data were collected using a Siemens Prisma MRI 3 Tesla scanner. A standard 64-channel 
(phased array/transmit-receive) birdcage coil was used to collect imaging data. Sessions began with a 
Siemens Autoalign routine, with subsequent manual realignment when needed to ensure the dorsal 
portion of the participant’s brain was within the acquisition volume. This was followed by an anatomical 
scan, a shimming routine to optimize signal-to-noise ratios, opposite-phase-encoded field maps, the 
social evaluation task, resting-state scan, and ended with the socioemotional go/no-go task. The high-
resolution anatomical scan consisted of a 3D sagittal acquisition of T1-weighted magnetization-
prepared rapid-acquisition gradient echo (MPRAGE) sequence (TR = 2300 ms; TE = 2.32 ms; TI = 950 
ms; 8° flip angle; bandwidth = 200 Hz/Px; GRAPPA factor = 2; in-plane matrix = 256 × 256; FOV = 240 
mm × 240 mm; slice thickness = 0.9 mm; 192 slices). Both tasks and the resting-state scan employed 
similar CCMR multiband T2*-weighted echoplanar imaging (EPI) protocols (TR = 1020 ms; TE = 30 ms; 
52° flip angle; bandwidth = 2272 Hz/Px; MB factor = 3; GRAPPA factor = 2; matrix = 88 × 88; FOV = 
220 mm × 220 mm; slice thickness = 2.25 mm; slice gap = 0.225 mm; 51 slices), varying in volumes 
collected for the SET-II (830 volumes), resting-state (480 volumes), and Emotional Go/No-Go (580 
volumes) scans. The use of Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) multiband sequences 
enables the acquisition of BOLD images with superior temporal resolution compared to traditional 
single band protocols while maintaining an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio (Feinberg et al., 2010; Xu et 
al., 2013).