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Parasympathetic Concomitants of Habitual, Spontaneous, and Instructed Emotional Suppression

Journal of Psychophysiology

September 2016
31(2):78-89

DOI:10.1027/0269-8803/a000171

Authors:

Asmir Gračanin

University of Rijeka; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Jasna Hudek-Knezevic

University of Rijeka ,Croatia

The neurovisceral integration model proposes that different forms of self-regulation, including the emotional suppression, are characterized by the activation of neural network whose workings are also reflected in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). However, most of the previous studies failed to observe theoretically expected increases in RSA during emotional suppression. Even when such effects were observed, it was not clear whether they resulted from specific task demands, a decrease in muscle activity, or they were the consequence of more specific self-control processes. We investigated the relation between habitual or trait-like suppression, spontaneous, and instructed suppression with changes in RSA during negative emotion experience. A modest positive correlation between spontaneous situational and habitual suppression was observed across two experimental tasks. Furthermore, the results showed greater RSA increase among participants who experienced higher negative affect (NA) increase and reported higher spontaneous suppression than among those with higher NA increase and lower spontaneous suppression. Importantly, this effect was independent from the habitual suppression and observable facial expressions. The results of the additional task based on experimental manipulation, rather than spontaneous use of situational suppression, indicated a similar relation between suppression and RSA. Our results consistently demonstrate that emotional suppression, especially its self-regulation component, is followed by the increase in parasympathetic activity.

The effects of a two-way interaction between ∆NA and situational suppression on HF-HRV (corrected for IBI) change scores in Task 1

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Correlations, descriptive statistics, and gender differences for all study variables in Task 1

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Correlations, descriptive statistics, and gender differences for the usual behavior group and for all participants in Task 2

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Article

Parasympathetic Concomitants

of Habitual, Spontaneous, and

Instructed Emotional Suppression

Asmir Gračanin, Igor Kardum, and Jasna Hudek-Knežević

Department of Psychology, University of Rijeka, Croatia

Abstract: The neurovisceral integration model proposes that different forms of self-regulation, including the emotional suppression, are

characterized by the activation of neural network whose workings are also reflected in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). However, most of

the previous studies failed to observe theoretically expected increases in RSA during emotional suppression. Even when such effects were

observed, it was not clear whether they resulted from specific task demands, a decrease in muscle activity, or they were the consequence of

more specific self-control processes. We investigated the relation between habitual or trait-like suppression, spontaneous, and instructed

suppression with changes in RSA during negative emotion experience. A modest positive correlation between spontaneous situational and

habitual suppression was observed across two experimental tasks. Furthermore, the results showed greater RSA increase among participants

who experienced higher negative affect (NA) increase and reported higher spontaneous suppression than among those with higher NA increase

and lower spontaneous suppression. Importantly, this effect was independent from the habitual suppression and observable facial

expressions. The results of the additional task based on experimental manipulation, rather than spontaneous use of situational suppression,

indicated a similar relation between suppression and RSA. Our results consistently demonstrate that emotional suppression, especially its

self-regulation component, is followed by the increase in parasympathetic activity.

Keywords: emotional suppression, expressive suppression, parasympathetic activity

Emotional suppression, often termed expressive suppres-

sion,is a form of emotional response modulation that

involves inhibition of ongoing emotion-expressive behavior

(Gross, 1998). It is prevalent in everyday life (Gross & John,

2003) and is more often used for downregulating negative

than positive emotions (Volokhov & Demaree, 2010). The

mechanisms and correlates of emotional suppression were

examined in correlational studies measuring habitual

suppression (e.g., Gross & John, 2003), in quasi-experimen-

tal studies measuring spontaneous suppression (e.g., Egloff,

Schmukle, Burns, & Schwerdtfeger, 2006), and in experi-

mental studies manipulating the use of suppression (e.g.,

Gross, 1998). Habitual suppression can be conceptualized

as an aggregate of reoccurring episodes of situational (most

often spontaneous) suppression. It is saturated with a trait-

like motivation to suppress emotion, which is not necessar-

ily involved in any specific episode of suppression.

Manipulated or instructed suppression differs from habitual

and spontaneous suppression because it is based on differ-

ent sources of motivation (e.g., a task given by the experi-

menter), and can be highly incongruent with a typical

behavior of an individual. A better understanding of

correlates and consequences of suppression can be reached

only by integrating the knowledge about these three types

of suppression.

Although numerous studies explored sympathetic conse-

quences of expressive suppression, there is still a lack of

research on its effects on parasympathetic activation.

Changes in parasympathetic activation are typically esti-

mated from respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), which

represents continuous fluctuations in heart rate during res-

piratory cycle, and is quantified by different measures of

heart rate variability (HRV; Appelhans & Luecken, 2006).

Acute changes in RSA are related to the changes in

emotional experience and reflect self-regulatory efforts

(Porges, Doussard-Roosevelt, Portales, & Greenspan,

1996; Thayer & Lane, 2000). Greater decrease in RSA is

linked to higher emotional arousal (Frazier, Strauss, &

Steinhauer, 2004) and stressful conditions (Segerstrom &

Solberg Nes, 2007; Thayer, Friedman, & Borkovec, 1996).

On the other hand, there are some indications that self-

regulatory processes are generally followed by the increase

in RSA (Thayer & Lane, 2000). For example, when partic-

ipants were instructed to resist eating cookies and eat

carrots instead, their RSA was significantly higher as com-

pared to the opposite instruction (Segerstrom & Solberg

Journal of Psychophysiology (2017), 31(2), 78–89 Ó2016 Hogrefe Publishing

DOI: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000171

Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation and Cardiovascular Responding to Stress

Article

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Instructed use of reappraisal to regulate stress in the laboratory is typically associated with a more adaptive cardiovascular response to stress, indexed by either (a) lower cardiovascular reactivity (CVR; e.g., lower blood pressure) or (b) a challenge-oriented response profile (i.e., greater cardiac output paired with lower total peripheral resistance). In contrast, instructed use of suppression is associated with exaggerated CVR (e.g., greater heart rate, blood pressure). Despite this, few studies have examined if the habitual use of these strategies are related to cardiovascular responding during stress. The current study examined the relationship between cardiovascular responses to acute stress and individual differences in emotion regulation style: trait reappraisal, suppression, and emotion regulation difficulties. Forty-eight participants (25 women, 23 men) completed a standardized laboratory stress paradigm incorporating a 20-minute acclimatization period, a 10-minute baseline, and two 5-minute speech tasks separated by a 10-minute intertask rest period. The emotional valence of the speech task was examined as a potential moderating factor; participants spoke about a block of negative-emotion words and a block of neutral-emotion words. Cardiovascular parameters were measured using the Finometer Pro. Greater habitual use of suppression was associated with exaggerated blood pressure responding to both tasks. However, only in response to the negative-emotion task was greater use of reappraisal associated with a challenge-oriented cardiovascular response. The findings suggest that individual differences in emotion regulation translate to differing patterns of CVR to stress, but the emotional valence of the stressor may play a role.

The simultaneous use of Emotional suppression and Situation selection to regulate emotions incrementally favors physiological responses

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Full-text available

Dec 2020

Background Emotion regulation alters the trajectories of emotional responses and, when effective, transforms the emotional responses to help individuals adapt to their environment. Previous research has mainly focused on the efficiency of regulation strategies performed individually at a given time. Yet, in daily life, it is likely that several strategies are often combined. Thus, we question in this study the combinatorial efficiency of two emotion regulation strategies, Situation selection and Emotional suppression. Methods In a within-subject design, sixty-five participants were asked to implement either no strategy, Situation selection only, Emotional suppression only, or both strategies together (four conditions) while looking at various emotionally charged images. Experience, expressivity, and physiological arousal were recorded throughout the viewing. Repeated-measures ANOVAs and corrected post-hoc tests were used for analyzing the data. Results The results of the combined strategies showed that Emotional suppression canceled the beneficial impact of Situation selection on negative experience, while significantly increasing the impact on cardiac activity. The use of both strategies together had a greater effect on respiratory function with an enhanced decrease in respiratory rate and amplitude. Conclusions The combinatorial effect of emotion regulation strategies is different according to the emotional response that the individual needs to regulate. The simultaneous use of Situation selection and Emotional suppression could be particularly beneficial to relieve physiological symptoms.

Trait emotion regulation and stress responsivity

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Mar 2020

The present review critically examines research on the physiological consequences of reappraisal and suppression use, distinguishing between trait emotion regulation style, and instructed use of emotion regulation. Drawing on the stress reactivity literature, we will highlight methodological issues with past research that may limit our understanding of how emotion regulation affects our stress responses. Recommendations for future research are outlined; including a consideration of task differences and the inclusion of a formal acclimatization and baseline period. This allows for a clearer understanding of how emotion regulation strategies translate to health and can help inform the next generation of both emotion regulation, and cardiovascular reactivity, research.

Expressive Suppression of Negative Emotions in Children and Adolescents: Theory, Data, and a Guide for Future Research

Article

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Sep 2019

In recent years, an increased interest in the importance of children's ability to regulate emotions in socially adaptive ways has driven considerable research on the development of emotion regulation. A widely studied emotion regulation strategy known as expressive suppression (ES), in which a person attempts to conceal emotion-expressive behavior, has been the focus of several recent studies of child and adolescent emotion regulation. Like much of the literature on children's emotion regulation strategies in general, this literature lacks a theoretical framework for organizing the findings, understanding their implications, and guiding future research (Cole, Martin, & Dennis, 2004). In the present review, we integrate theory and data on ES in childhood and adolescence using the process model of emotion regulation (Gross, 2015), a framework that is widely used in research with adults, to organize and interpret the findings. Specifically, the process model is used to understand what factors contribute to children's use of ES in a given context and when and why ES might be associated with negative emotional, social, cognitive, and physiological costs. We conclude by outlining an agenda for future research, noting major gaps in current knowledge, offering novel ways of thinking about ES in childhood, and highlighting new directions for moving the field forward. Research illuminating the developmental course and correlates of expressive suppression in early life can contribute to a deeper understanding of this emotion regulation strategy and can inform intervention efforts to improve outcomes across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Quantifying selective reporting in recent and past psychophysiological research: A P-curve analysis.

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Selective reporting (i.e., only reporting significant findings as opposed to all analyses or results) is a questionable research practice that undermines the integrity of published research. Psychophysiology research may be sus-ceptible to selective reporting, given the high number of decision points and methodological complexity in analyses of psychophysiology data. We aimed to assess the presence of selective reporting and evidential value (i.e., that significant results are due to true underlying effects) in recent and past psychophysiological research by utilizing p-curve analyses. Study protocols and methods were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF). P-values and the associated test statistics were extracted from articles in the most recent issue (as of January 2018) and 10-year previous counterpart issue of three major psychophysiology journals: Psychophysiology, International Journal of Psychophysiology, and Journal of Psychophysiology. Using the p-curve application, 10 primary p-curves were conducted: all recent articles, all past articles, recent articles split by journal, past articles split by journal, recent cognitive electrophysiology articles, and past cognitive electro-physiology articles. Evidential value and generally adequate average power (≥78% average power) were pre-sent in all p-curves, except those that only included articles from the Journal of Psychophysiology because of the small number of articles published in the journal. Findings provide some positive news and indicate that, generally, results were not selectively reported, and selective reporting may not be a primary issue for this sample of psychophysiological research. Future p-curve analyses examining sub-disciplines of psychophysiology are recommended.

Hidden Feelings: Expressive Suppression in Middle Childhood and Links With Physiology and Negative Emotion

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2023

A commonly used strategy for regulating emotions, expressive suppression (ES), involves attempts to conceal emotion-expressive behavior. The present study investigated the effects of two types of ES (trait and state) in middle childhood on two domains of functioning—subjective negative emotion (measured by self-report of sadness) and stress physiology (measured by skin conductance level [SCL], an indication of physiological arousal)—in a racially diverse sample. Children ages 9–10 (n = 117; 46% female) self-reported trait ES before coming into the lab, then were randomly assigned to receive instructions to suppress or receive no emotion regulation instructions (control condition) while watching a sad movie scene. SCL and self-reported emotions were measured before and during the movie scene, and children subsequently self-reported how much they had suppressed during the movie scene. Parents and children provided a wide range of additional measures as covariates. Data were collected from 2017 to 2018. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that higher trait ES predicted greater SCL, but not subjective sadness, during the movie scene. The instructions to suppress did not affect children’s subjective sadness or SCL during the movie scene, but self-reported (noninstructed) ES during the movie scene was related to feeling more sadness. Although additional research is needed to generalize findings to other developmental periods, results converge with considerable research on adults and also with a growing number of studies pointing to the potential physiological and emotional correlates of frequent ES during childhood.

AKADEMSKA MOTIVACIJA, EMOCIONALNA INTELIGENCIJA, STRATEGIJE EMOCIONALNE REGULACIJE I PORODIČNA AFEKTIVNA VEZANOST KAO PREDIKTORI ANKSIOZNOSTI STUDENATA

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The aim of this research was to explore the role of academic motivation, emotional intelligence, emotional regulation strategies, and affective family attachment in explaining student anxiety. Participants of this cross-sectional research were 897 university-level students (51.8% female) with an average age of 22.84 (SD= 4.51). The main statistical analysis applied in the research is multiple regression analysis, and the obtained results proved that intrinsic motivation to learn, the extrinsic motivation – identified type, the ability to accept and understand emotions, the ability to manage and regulate emotions, as well as anxiety as a dimension of family attachment and preoccupied style of family attachment (F(18.876)= 12.71, p < .01), have a significant role in explaining 20.7% of the variance of student’s anxiety. Higher level of anxiety and anxious reactions were found in students with more ability to accept and understand emotions and more anxiety and extrinsic motivation – identified. Also, a higher level of anxiety and anxious reactions were found in students with a preoccupied style of family attachment, with lower ability to manage and regulate the emotions and lower intrinsic motivation to learn. Therefore, the problem of anxiety in the student population needs additional attention, and explore potential risk and protective factors, in order to approach the systematic planning and implementation of prevention programs aimed at developing and improving appropriate motivational and emotional competencies that would help students transition through periods of crisis and the development of more mature and resilient personalities. Key words: academic motivation, emotional intelligence, emotional regulation, family attachment, anxiety

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INT J PSYCHOPHYSIOL

Suppression (i.e., inhibiting one's emotional expression) has typically been associated with social and physiological costs. However, recent theorizing calls into question the inevitability of these costs. The present study takes a more nuanced approach and examines the social and physiological correlates of spontaneous (i.e., uninstructed) suppression when considering two potentially critical factors: the valence of the suppressed emotions (i.e., negative vs. positive) and the valence of the emotional context in which emotions are suppressed (i.e., negative conversation vs. positive conversation). Specifically, dating couples (N = 196 couples) completed both a negatively-valenced and a positively-valenced conversation in the laboratory while their autonomic-physiological responses were recorded. After each conversation, participants rated 1) the extent to which they had suppressed their negative and positive emotions, 2) the quality of the conversation, and 3) how connected they felt with their partner. We used Actor-Partner Interdependence Models to estimate actor effects (e.g., association of one's own suppression and one's own connectedness) and partner effects (e.g., association of one's partner's suppression and one's own connectedness). Suppression was associated with lower conversation quality and connectedness for the actors but largely not for the partners, regardless of the valence of the suppressed emotions and of the context, even when adjusting for felt emotion. Additionally, suppression was consistently not associated with physiological responses of actors or partners. Together, these findings suggest that, during emotional conversations with one's romantic partner, spontaneous (unlike instructed) suppression is associated with social but not physiological costs for the self but not one's partner.

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Emotion regulation plays a central role in mental health and illness, but little is known about even the most basic forms of emotion regulation. To examine the acute effects of inhibiting negative and positive emotion, we asked 180 female participants to watch sad, neutral, and amusing films under 1 of 2 conditions. Suppression participants (N = 90) inhibited their expressive behavior while watching the films; no suppression participants (N = 90) simply watched the films. Suppression diminished expressive behavior in all 3 films and decreased amusement self-reports in sad and amusing films. Physiologically, suppression had no effect in the neutral film, but clear effects in both negative and positive emotional films, including increased sympathetic activation of the cardiovascular system. On the basis of these findings, we suggest several ways emotional inhibition may influence psychological functioning.

Interactive Effects of Personality and Emotional Suppression on Sympathetic Activation

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Cardiovascular psychophysiology

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Jan 2016

INTRODUCTION The cardiovascular system is essential for life and has been a central focus of psychophysiological investigation for several reasons. First, at least some of its parameters, like heart rate and blood pressure, are readily observed and quantified. Second, the cardiovascular system is a rich and intricate physiological system with multiple regulatory subsystems that are subject to central and peripheral autonomic controls and humoral influences. Consequently, it is highly sensitive to neurobehavioral processes. Finally, the complexity of the cardiovascular system renders it susceptible to a variety of disorders, many of which are impacted by psychological factors such as stress, and hence it assumes special significance in psychosomatic medicine. The present chapter will provide an overview of the physiology of the cardiovascular system and its central and peripheral autonomic and neuroendocrine controls. We will then consider common psychophysiological measures, from the methodological, analytic, and interpretive perspectives. Finally, we will highlight a few current issues and themes in the contemporary literature. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM Overview The cardiovascular system consists of the heart, a pump, and the vasculature, a distribution system that ensures that blood reaches all tissues of the body. The heart provides for a consistent flow of oxygenated blood by sending blood into the lungs (pulmonary circulation) and then to the rest of the body (systemic circulation). Figure 9.1 shows a schematized view of the heart and vasculature to emphasize connections among all the components. Deoxygenated blood from the venous side of the systemic circulation returns via the right atrium and then to the right ventricle of the heart from which it is pumped to the lungs for re-oxygenation. Blood returns from the lungs by way of the left atrium, then enters the left ventricle from where it is pumped into the aorta, the large vessel from which all oxygenated blood is disseminated to the rest of the body. Blood leaving the aorta passes through ever smaller blood vessels, first entering the large arteries which later branch into smaller arterioles, metarterioles, and finally into capillaries. Capillaries are small, thin-walled vessels from which oxygen and other nutrients diffuse into tissues, and into which the tissues release waste products such as carbon dioxide that must eventually be secreted or excreted from the body.

Methodological Aspects of Heart Rate Variability Analysis

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