Social Facilitation for Emotion Regulation

Age: < 65

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles

Disqualifiers: Auditory, visual, cognitive impairment, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 1

100 Participants Needed

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial explores how teenagers manage their emotions, comparing self-regulation to regulation with a friend's help. It aims to determine which method is more effective and how the brain functions during these processes. Participants will experience both methods—Cognitive Regulation (also called Emotion Regulation or Cognitive Reappraisal) and Social Regulation—while researchers monitor brain activity using an fMRI (a type of brain scan). The study seeks adolescents aged 13-15 who speak English and have no conditions that would make an MRI unsafe. As an unphased study, it offers participants a unique opportunity to contribute to understanding emotional management in teenagers.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What prior data suggests that these emotion regulation methods are safe for adolescents?

Research has shown that both Cognitive Regulation and Social Regulation techniques are generally safe and well-tolerated. Cognitive Regulation, such as cognitive reappraisal (changing thoughts about a situation to alter emotional responses), helps individuals manage stress and emotions effectively. It is associated with better mental health over time, with no reported harmful effects.

Social Regulation, which involves managing emotions with the support of friends, is also considered safe. Research on social and emotional learning indicates that building supportive social connections can improve emotional well-being. This approach carries no known risks and is believed to encourage healthy behavior.

In summary, both techniques are safe to try. They help individuals handle their emotions better, either independently or with a friend's support. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the Social Facilitation for Emotion Regulation trial because it explores innovative ways to manage emotions. Unlike traditional treatments for emotional regulation, which often involve individual cognitive-behavioral therapy or medication, this trial focuses on two unique methods: cognitive regulation, where participants manage emotions alone, and social regulation, which involves emotional support from a friend. This approach highlights the potential impact of social connections on emotional well-being, offering a fresh perspective that could enhance or complement existing methods. The trial aims to uncover how social interactions can directly aid in regulating emotions, potentially leading to more holistic and inclusive strategies for emotional health.

What evidence suggests that this trial's treatments could be effective for emotion regulation?

Research shows that cognitive reappraisal, which involves changing how situations are perceived, effectively manages emotions. This technique helps individuals transform negative thoughts into positive ones, reducing the impact of negative feelings. Studies indicate it can lower emotional distress by altering perceptions, making it a powerful tool for controlling emotions. In this trial, participants in the cognitive regulation arm will independently regulate emotion using this method.

Similarly, social regulation, which involves managing emotions with the help of others, shows promise. Evidence suggests it can improve interactions and support overall emotional well-being. This approach can strengthen social connections and enhance emotional experiences. Participants in the social regulation arm of this trial will regulate emotion with the help of a friend. Both methods offer valuable strategies for improving emotional control and mental health. ^{1 5 6 7 8}

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for adolescents aged 13-15 and adults aged 20-25 who are fluent in English. It's not suitable for those with auditory, visual, or cognitive impairments, or health conditions that make MRI scans unsafe.

Inclusion Criteria

I am between 13 and 15 years old.

Proficient in English

I am between 20 and 25 years old.

Exclusion Criteria

I have hearing, vision, or thinking problems.

Any health conditions that are contraindicated for MRI

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

1-2 weeks

Experiment

Participants complete a psychology experiment while undergoing fMRI scanning to test emotion regulation with and without a friend's help

1 day

1 visit (in-person)

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for any immediate effects post-experiment

1 week

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Cognitive Regulation
• Social Regulation

Trial Overview The study examines if managing emotions with a friend's help works better and lasts longer than doing it alone in teenagers. It also looks at how this ability changes with age by comparing brain activity during the process using fMRI scans.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Social regulation Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will regulate emotion with the help of a friend

Group II: Cognitive regulation Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will regulate emotion on their own

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of California, Los Angeles

Lead Sponsor

Trials

1,594

Recruited

10,430,000+

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Collaborator

Trials

2,103

Recruited

2,760,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

In a study of 108 cancer patients, those who successfully disengaged from unattainable goals and reengaged in meaningful goals reported higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect.

Cognitive emotion-regulation strategies, such as positive refocusing, were linked to better psychological well-being, while rumination and catastrophizing were associated with increased negative emotions, suggesting that mindfulness techniques could help patients manage their emotional responses.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

How do cancer patients manage unattainable personal goals and regulate their emotions? Schroevers, M., Kraaij, V., Garnefski, N.[2015]

A systematic review of 10 studies and a meta-analysis of 26 studies involving 84 clients showed that therapist methods for emotion regulation (ER) significantly improve patients' ability to manage their emotions, with a large effect size of 0.82 from pre- to post-treatment.

Both affect-focused methods and structured skills training are effective in enhancing emotion regulation, highlighting the importance of considering cultural backgrounds in therapy to tailor approaches for individual patients.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Enhancing emotion regulation. Iwakabe, S., Nakamura, K., Thoma, NC.[2023]

Social help significantly enhances the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy, compared to managing emotions alone, as shown in a study with 40 friend pairs.

The research indicates that social support does not just buffer negative emotions but actively improves the implementation of reappraisal strategies, highlighting the importance of social relationships in emotional well-being.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

With a little help from my friends: Selective social potentiation of emotion regulation. Sahi, RS., Ninova, E., Silvers, JA.[2021]

The study explored how different emotion regulation strategies can be used to help others in distress, specifically focusing on anxiety and sadness, and found that modifying a person's situation is more effective for those experiencing anxiety, while modifying their appraisals and emotions is better for those feeling sadness.

Two studies demonstrated that individuals perceive different support strategies as more or less helpful depending on the emotion being experienced, confirming that tailored approaches to social emotion regulation can enhance the effectiveness of support provided to others.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Social emotion regulation strategies are differentially helpful for anxiety and sadness. Shu, J., Bolger, N., Ochsner, KN.[2021]

The meta-analysis of 306 experimental comparisons found that different emotion regulation strategies vary in effectiveness, with cognitive change strategies showing the most promise (small-to-medium effect size of d(+) = 0.36), while attentional deployment had no effect (d(+) = 0.00).

Specific techniques within these strategies also differed significantly; for example, distraction was effective (d(+) = 0.27), while concentration was not (d(+) = -0.26), highlighting the importance of choosing the right method for regulating emotions.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Dealing with feeling: a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation. Webb, TL., Miles, E., Sheeran, P.[2019]

Individuals with high social anxiety (HSA) who practiced cognitive reappraisal for one week reported lower symptom severity and greater self-efficacy in using reappraisal compared to those who only monitored their emotions.

Despite improvements in self-efficacy for reappraisal, HSAs still combined reappraisal with suppression in most situations, indicating a need for further research on effective emotion regulation strategies in social anxiety.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Does cognitive reappraisal reduce anxiety? A daily diary study of a micro-intervention with individuals with high social anxiety. Kivity, Y., Huppert, JD.[2018]

Cognitive reappraisal, a key emotion regulation strategy, involves changing one's thoughts about a situation to alter emotional responses and is generally effective and adaptive, but its success can vary based on individual and environmental factors.

The article discusses the importance of understanding the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms behind emotion regulation, as well as potential interventions to enhance the effectiveness and frequency of using these strategies.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Emotion regulation. McRae, K., Gross, JJ.[2020]

A study of 544 young adult university students found that regularly using cognitive reappraisal (a strategy to change how we think about negative emotions) is linked to lower future levels of depression and anxiety, mainly because it enhances perceived social support.

On the other hand, using expressive suppression (holding back emotions) is associated with higher future depression and anxiety, likely due to a decrease in perceived social support, highlighting the critical role of social interactions in managing emotions.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Emotion Regulation and the Experience of Future Negative Mood: The Importance of Assessing Social Support. d'Arbeloff, TC., Freedy, KR., Knodt, AR., et al.[2020]

The 18-item version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-18) demonstrated better internal structure and reliability compared to the 27-item version (CERQ-27) in a study involving the Argentinean population.

Both versions of the CERQ showed similar associations with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), but the CERQ-18 is recommended for use due to its more consistent psychometric properties.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Psychometric Analysis of Two Brief Versions of the CERQ in the Argentinean Population: CERQ-18 and CERQ-27. Dominguez-Lara, S., Moretti, L., Ezequiel Flores-Kanter, P., et al.[2023]

Citations

1. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6188704/

Cognitive Reappraisal and Acceptance: Effects on Emotion ... Cognitive reappraisal is thought to be an effective strategy because it allows people to change the underlying appraisals that contribute to negative emotions ...

2. cogbtherapy.com cogbtherapy.com/cbt-blog/2014/5/4/hhy104os08dekc537dlw7nvopzyi44

Cognitive Reappraisal Strategy for Emotional Regulation Cognitive reappraisal, a potent emotional regulation technique, involves identifying and transforming negative thought patterns into more effective ones.

3. frontiersin.org frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1174585/full

A new understanding of the cognitive reappraisal technique Effective cognitive emotion regulation requires a stable and non-threatening state, with removal of threat at the amygdala level and assurance of the safety of ...

4. link.springer.com link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42761-025-00310-3

Cognitive Reappraisal is More Effective for Regulating ... As expected, cognitive reappraisal, but not distraction, was more effective in regulating emotions than moods. These findings suggest that the ...

5. hbs.edu hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/To%20reappraise%20or%20not%20reappraise_fd189af7-8076-4973-91f2-c44d4813fd92.pdf

To Reappraise or Not to Reappraise? Emotion Regulation ... Research shows that cognitive reappraisal is an effective emotion regulation (ER) strategy that often has clear benefits. Yet, surprisingly, recent findings ...

6. bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joop.70020

Cognitive reappraisal emotion regulation interventions in the ... Results revealed that the cognitive reappraisal intervention significantly mitigated negative affect and enhanced positive affect, which in turn ...

7. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272735824000497

A meta-analysis of cognitive reappraisal and personal ... This quantitative synthesis offers compelling evidence showing that cognitive reappraisal skills operate as a protective strategy against stress and adversity.

8. frontiersin.org frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.935007/full

The effect of cognitive reappraisal and expression ... The ERP data demonstrated that both down-regulation reappraisal and expressive suppression significantly reduced the LPP amplitude induced by ...