Interoception and Emotion Regulation

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The goal of this observational study is to examine the role of interoception in emotion regulation of negative mood in healthy individuals. Participants will fulfill several questionnaires and perform the Heartbeat Counting Task. Then, they will receive a negative mood induction procedure, after which they will be instructed to perform a spontaneous emotion regulation task. The mood will be assessed before and after the induction, as well as after the emotion regulation task. It is expected that greater interoceptive abilities will show a greater reduction of negative mood after the emotion regulation task than individuals with lower interoceptive abilities.

Detailed Description
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This study aims to examine the role of interoceptive abilities in the use of emotion regulation strategies and the success of emotion regulation in regulating the negative mood in healthy individuals. First, it is expected that better interoceptive functioning (namely, higher interoceptive accuracy and interoceptive sensibility) will facilitate the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies (vs. maladaptive emotion regulation strategies) to regulate the negative mood. In addition, it is expected that individuals with greater interoceptive abilities will show greater efficacy in the emotion regulation process (i.e., greater reduction of negative mood after the emotion regulation task) than individuals with lower interoceptive abilities. However, it is hypothesized that interoceptive abilities will not be related to the induced negative affect. The whole study is conducted in one single 1-hour session. First, participants will be screened to check eligibility inclusion/exclusion criteria. Second, eligible participants will complete baseline measures, namely, trait emotion regulation abilities and interoceptive abilities. Third, participants will complete a mood rating scale, after which they will be applied a negative mood induction procedure (MIP) that has previously been shown to effectively induce sadness. During this MIP, the heart rate variability will be recorded. Next, participants will complete the mood rating scale again. Later, they will perform a spontaneous emotion regulation task. In this task, participants will have 2 min to do, say, and/or think about whatever they need to feel better. Afterwards, participants will again rate their mood and complete the final measures regarding state emotion regulation. Finally, participants will receive a positive MIP (while recording their heart rate variability) and be debriefed. The study will be conducted following the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Official Title
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Interoception and Emotion Regulation in Healthy Individuals

Conditions
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Mood Change, Emotion Regulation

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Negative mood induction procedure
* Other: Spontaneous emotion regulation task
* Other: Positive mood induction procedure


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Aged above 18 Absent symptoms of depression as described by scores ≤ 8 in the depression dimension of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (Terol-Cantero et al., 2015; Zigmond & Snaith, 1983) Not having cognitive, psychiatric, or neurological impairments (self-reported by participants) Exclusion Criteria: History of/current substance abuse A medical condition that prevents participation in this study History of traumatic event exposure as self-reported.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 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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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Healthy individuals<br>Adult individuals recruited from the community through announcements at the university and social media | Other: Negative mood induction procedure<br>* The negative mood induction procedure (MIP) used in this study has previously been shown to effectively induce sadness. This MIP takes place in a virtual environment of an urban park and includes the following methods to induce negative mood: 1) Velten's tasks, consisting of interactive phrase formulations with negative thoughts and beliefs about the self (e.g., I don't have any future); 2) visualizing International Affective Pictures; and 3) recalling a negative autobiographical memory related to a significant loss (e.g., a person, a pet).<br>Other: Spontaneous emotion regulation task<br>* Participants are instructed to use whatever strategy they want by doing, saying, and/or thinking whatever they want to feel better for 2 min<br>Other: Positive mood induction procedure<br>* The positive mood induction procedure (MIP) used in this study has previously been shown to effectively induce sadness. This MIP takes place in a virtual environment of an urban park and includes the following methods to induce positive mood: 1) Velten's tasks, consisting of interactive phrase formulations with positive thoughts and beliefs (e.g., Life is wonderful); 2) visualizing International Affective Pictures; and 3) recalling a positive autobiographical memory<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Mood before the negative induction, after the negative induction, and after the emotion regulation task | Sadness and joy dimensions of the Scale for Mood Assessment, with scores ranging from 0 to 10, where higher scores indicate higher levels of joy and sadness, respectively. | The whole study is conducted in a single experimental session: immediately before the negative mood induction procedure, immediately after the negative mood induction procedure, immediately after the emotion regulation task | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| State difficulties in emotion regulation after the emotion regulation task | State Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. It includes for dimensions, namely: Non acceptance, Modulate, Awareness, and Clarity, whose scores range from 1 to 5, where higher scores indicate higher difficulties in the corresponding dimension. | The whole study is conducted in a single experimental session: Immediately after the emotion regulation task |