title: Regulation of sadness via acceptance or suppression in adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
abstract: Emotion dysregulation is a recognized symptom of adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The aim of this study is to induce sadness in adults suffering from ADHD and to investigate the impact of emotion regulation strategies on sadness intensity, and psychophysiological measures. Thirty-six adults diagnosed with ADHD were randomly assigned to either expressive suppression (SUPP) or acceptance (ACC) of emotion. Sadness was induced using a film clip. Participants estimated the intensity of sadness and the perception of being overwhelmed with emotion before (T1), immediately after (T2) and 2 min after the film (T3). Physiological measures were obtained. Sadness induction was effective in both conditions. The perception of being overwhelmed with emotion increased between T1 and T2 in both conditions, but persisted until T3 only in the expressive suppression condition whereas a decrease was observed in the acceptance condition. In ADHD expressive suppression of sadness seems to be associated to a prolonged recovery from the perception of being overwhelmed with emotion. Emotion-regulation via acceptance in contrast appears to allow faster recovery from the perception of being overwhelmed with emotion. To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify suppression as a critical mediator between an induced emotion and delayed recovery from emotional reactions in adult ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, University Medical Centre Freiburg, Hauptstr. 5, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: swantje.matthies@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Swantje
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matthies
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, University Medical Centre Freiburg, Hauptstr. 5, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: alexandra.philipsen@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Philipsen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, Center of Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Austria. Electronic address: helmut.lackner@pro.medunigraz.at.
authors.forename: Helmut Karl
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lackner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, University Medical Centre Freiburg, Hauptstr. 5, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: chiharu.sadohara@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Chiharu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sadohara
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg, Engelbergerstr. 41, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: jennifer.svaldi@psychologie.uni-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Svaldi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acceptance; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); Emotion regulation; Expressive suppression; Sadness