Introduction

1. Impact of Emotion Regulation Styles and BMI on Emotional STROOP Kristin D. Whelan, M.A., Taryn L. Gammon, B.S., Lauritz McCutcheon, M.A., Michelle E. Lopez, Ph.D., Janina Scarlet, Ph.D., Jill A. Stoddard Ph.D. California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University • Procedure • Participants were randomly assigned to one of four emotion regulation conditions: Acceptance, Suppression, Cognitive Reappraisal or No Instruction/Control. • Following an emotion induction procedure (writing a detailed narrative of their most difficult and upsetting life experience), participants were instructed to apply the appropriate strategy to cope with difficult emotions that arose. They then completed the EST. • Measures • The EST (Kindt, Bierman & Brosschot, 1996), consisting of nine cards with 50 words each, was then administered to examine participant response time to neutral, positive, or negative emotion-laden stimuli. The task measures selective information processing and engages different mechanisms of interference by capturing attention and slow response time due to the emotional relevance of a word. • Analyses • Regression analyses were conducted to assess the role of BMI and emotion regulation condition, and their interactions, in predicting the dependent variable of response times on positive, negative, and neutral EST cards. • BMI (centered) and Emotion Regulation condition (dummy coded with no instruction as the reference group) were entered into the first step of the regression with the interaction terms entered into the second step. • Results • BMI and emotion regulation condition significantly predicted response time to neutral stimuli F(4,66)=2.587, p=.045 with a strong trend toward significance for positive stimuli F(4,66)=2.413, p=.058. • The model accounted for 13.6% of the variance in response time to neutral stimuli (R2= .136) and 12.8% of variance in response time to positive stimuli (R2 = .128). • The interactions of BMI and emotion regulation condition did not significantly add to the model (R2 change = .05 and .039 respectively). • Increased BMI significantly predicted slower response time to positive and neutral stimuli on the EST (b=.273, t(66)=2.29, p=.025; b=.235, t(66)=1.985, p=.051). • Discussion • We expected that suppression and increased BMI would result in fastest response time and acceptance and decreased BMI would result in slowest response time. • Contrary to expectations, higher BMI was associated with slower response time, and emotion regulation condition did not impact response times • Consistent with research suggesting unhealthy eating behavior is associated with emotion suppression, and that suppression reduces positive experience, those with higher BMI may have diminished positive experience demonstrated by longer latencies in response time to positive information. • Other possibilities for slower response time include non-neutrality of neutral stimuli (e.g., words like Careful, Routine) and more difficulty in quick articulation of positive and neutral words versus negative words (e.g. words like Affectionate, Specifically versus Loss). • Measurement error may have been an issue (various RA’s using different stop watch technology; may not have been precise) • Emotion regulation strategies did not impact information processing or attentional bias when compared to No Instruction. However, natural regulation strategies may have influenced results. • Future Research Directions • Further investigation of the neutral stimuli in the EST—are neutral words really neutral? • Compare emotion regulation strategies to each other &/or measure natural strategies of those not given instructions • Pre-post investigation of EST to determine whether teaching emotion regulation effectively changes information processing and attentional bias • Introduction • Obesity rates have nearly doubled since 1980 resulting in astronomical medical costs. • Obesity is associated with higher risk for depression, sleep and eating disorders, diabetes, heart, gall bladder, and fatty liver disease, stroke and osteoarthritis; it is the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. • Emotion regulation and cognition affect eating behavior but the exact mechanisms remain unclear. • The current study uses the Emotional Stroop Task (EST) to examine how emotion regulation strategies impact information processing and attentional bias to emotional stimuli. • The EST may provide further explanation about underlying cognitive mechanisms that contribute to overeating and obesity. • Methods • Participants • 75 adults, ages 19 to 65, with BMI ranging from 19 to 50, recruited via local media outlets and neighborhoods via fliers. Participants were excluded for self-reported diagnoses of anorexia or bulimia, active psychosis, or use of medications that affect hunger and eating behavior.