title: Dealing with feeling: a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation.
abstract: The present meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation in modifying emotional outcomes as indexed by experiential, behavioral, and physiological measures. A systematic search of the literature identified 306 experimental comparisons of different emotion regulation (ER) strategies. ER instructions were coded according to a new taxonomy, and meta-analysis was used to evaluate the effectiveness of each strategy across studies. The findings revealed differences in effectiveness between ER processes: Attentional deployment had no effect on emotional outcomes (d(+) = 0.00), response modulation had a small effect (d(+) = 0.16), and cognitive change had a small-to-medium effect (d(+) = 0.36). There were also important within-process differences. We identified 7 types of attentional deployment, 4 types of cognitive change, and 4 types of response modulation, and these distinctions had a substantial influence on effectiveness. Whereas distraction was an effective way to regulate emotions (d(+) = 0.27), concentration was not (d(+) = -0.26). Similarly, suppressing the expression of emotion proved effective (d(+) = 0.32), but suppressing the experience of emotion or suppressing thoughts of the emotion-eliciting event did not (d(+) = -0.04 and -0.12, respectively). Finally, reappraising the emotional response proved less effective (d(+) = 0.23) than reappraising the emotional stimulus (d(+) = 0.36) or using perspective taking (d(+) = 0.45). The review also identified several moderators of strategy effectiveness including factors related to the (a) to-be-regulated emotion, (b) frequency of use and intended purpose of the ER strategy, (c) study design, and (d) study characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, United Kingdom. t.webb@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Eleanor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miles
authors.forename: Paschal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sheeran
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D056348:Emotional Intelligence / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D012919:Social Behavior