Anxiety moderates the effects of stressor controllability and cognitive reappraisal on distress following aversive exposure: An experimental investigation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Emerging evidence suggests that the effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal (CR) depends on different factors, including the individual's psychological wellbeing (e.g., level of anxiety) and the context in which the strategy is used (e.g., stressor controllability). The present study aimed to investigate the emotional (negative affect) and physiological (skin conductance levels) effects of emotion regulation following exposure to controllable versus uncontrollable stress.

METHODS: Ninety-five undergraduate students completed measures assessing anxiety, and were randomly assigned to a condition in which they had (a) control or (b) no control over the viewing duration of distressing film clips, and were then instructed to either (a) cognitively reappraise or (b) ruminate about the clips.

RESULTS: There were no significant interactions between controllability, emotion regulation, and pre-post changes in responses. However, individual differences in anxiety moderated the effects of controllability and emotion regulation on distress responses. For participants low in anxiety, CR was related to smaller increases in distress following uncontrollable than controllable stress. This pattern was not observed for those high in anxiety following stress exposure.

LIMITATIONS: This study used a non-clinical sample, limiting the generalizability of the findings.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the utility of CR may depend upon contextual factors such as stressor controllability, and individual differences in psychological symptoms.