Emotion Regulation and Emotion Perception

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of a brief, emotion regulation intervention on the ability to perceive other people's emotions.

Detailed Description
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Decision to close enrollment was made on January 2, 2020.

Official Title
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Evaluating the Impact of an Emotion Regulation Intervention on Emotion Perception

Conditions
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Emotions

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mindful Breathing
* Behavioral: Habituation
* Behavioral: Control


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: ages 18-55; have a smartphone and agree to receive text-messages; have difficulty with their relationships or social interactions; high emotion dysregulation, assessed with the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)(Gratz & Roemer, 2004) with scores over 90. Exclusion Criteria: Current mania; Meets full criteria for any current psychotic disorder; Currently/chronically homeless; Current suicidal ideation; Psychiatric hospitalization within past 6 months; Unable to read, blind or deaf. Our previous study recruited only participants who were currently in treatment, but this study will include both participants who are currently in treatment, as well as those who are not in treatment. high self-reported autistic traits, as assessed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (Auyeung & Baron-Cohen, 2012).

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 55 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Mindful Breathing<br>Participants receive training in a mindful breathing skill to regulate their emotional distress during a stressor task. They will then receive one week of reminders to use this skill, delivered through their mobile phones. | Behavioral: Mindful Breathing<br>* Training in a mindful breathing skill that reduces emotional distress<br>|
| Active Comparator: Habituation<br>Participants receive an exposure/habituation intervention to regulate their emotional distress during a stressor task. They will then receive one week of reminders, delivered through their mobile phones. | Behavioral: Habituation<br>* An exposure procedure that reduces emotional distress through habituation<br>|
| Placebo Comparator: Control<br>Participants complete the stressor task with no emotion regulation training. Similar to the other conditions, they will then receive one week of reminders, delivered through their mobile phones to test for placebo effects. | Behavioral: Control<br>* No emotion regulation intervention, placebo<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The Ability to Perceive Negative and Positive Emotional Expressions, as Measured by a Behavioral Computer-based Assessment | Emotion perception is measured by a computer-based behavioral assessment during the laboratory session. Scores for negative emotional expressions range from 0-100%, with higher scores indicating greater emotion perception accuracy. | During the laboratory experiment (week 1) | 
| Changes in Emotion Perception, as Measured by a Phone-based Behavioral Assessment | Perception of positive emotional expressions and negative emotional expressions are measured by a behavioral phone-based assessment, delivered multiple times over one week via mobile phones. Scores for ratings of emotional valence range from 0-9, with higher scores as more positive emotional valence and lower scores as more negative emotional valence. | After the one week of phone-based intervention | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Emotional Distress, as Measured by Subjective Units of Distress (SUDS) | SUDS are measured on a 10-point Likert self-report scale of Subjective Units of Distress, ranging from 0-9. Scores are changes in SUDS ratings from before hearing the tone to after the tone, with greater scores indicating greater reductions in distress (positive outcomes). SUDS score was evaluated at the beginning of the laboratory experiment, and then at the very end of the lab experiment. The change score was calculated by subtracting the beginning score from the end score. | Beginning of Week one laboratory experiment, End of Week one laboratory experiment | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Empathy, Emotion Dysregulation, Emotion Perception