Eastern Michigan University DigitalCommons@EMU Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, and Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations Graduate Capstone Projects 2016 Relations among dimensions of emotion regulation and aggressive behavior Jessica M. Baker Follow this and additional works at:http://commons.emich.edu/theses Part of thePsychology Commons Recommended Citation Baker, Jessica M., "Relations among dimensions of emotion regulation and aggressive behavior" (2016).Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 796. http://commons.emich.edu/theses/796 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, and Graduate Capstone Projects at DigitalCommons@EMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@EMU. For more information, please [email protected]. Running head: EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR   Relations Among Dimensions of Emotion Regulation and Aggressive Behavior by Jessica M. Baker Thesis Submitted to the Department of Psychology Eastern Michigan University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in General Clinical Psychology Thesis Committee: Tamara M. Loverich, Ph.D., Chair Carol R. Freedman-Doan, Ph.D., Member Thomas J. Waltz, Ph.D., Member July 25, 2016 Ypsilanti, Michigan EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR i Abstract In the absence of the ability to adaptively regulate one’s emotions, individuals may turn to impulsive and maladaptive methods of regulation, including engaging in aggressive behavior. Gratz and Roemer’s (2004) model of emotion regulation (Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1), 41-54) includes the dimensions of nonacceptance, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, impulse control difficulties, lack of emotional awareness, access to emotion regulation strategies, and lack of emotional clarity. This study sought to identify the relations among these dimensions and the broader constructs of emotional experiencing (i.e., affect intensity), emotional awareness (i.e., mindfulness), emotional clarity, (i.e., alexithymia), acceptance of emotions (i.e., experiential avoidance), and overall emotion regulation skillfulness (i.e., difficulties in emotion regulation) and the relative contributions of each of these dimensions to aggression utilizing web-based surveys administered to a college student sample (n = 307). Affect intensity was not significantly related to emotion regulation or to aggression. Regression analyses indicated that experiential avoidance predicts overall aggression, physical aggression, verbal aggression, hostility, and anger. Difficulty with impulse control when distressed predicted overall aggression, physical aggression, and anger. Access to emotion regulation strategies predicted hostility. These findings suggest that experiential avoidance may have an important role in aggressive behaviors and could be an effective target for intervention. EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR ii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................v Introduction and Background ..........................................................................................................1 Difficulties in Emotion Regulation ......................................................................................1 Nonacceptance of Emotional Responses/Emotional Willingness .......................................4 Difficulties Engaging in Goal-Directed Behavior ...............................................................6 Impulse Control Difficulties ................................................................................................7 Lack of Emotional Awareness .............................................................................................9 Limited Access to Emotion Regulation Strategies ............................................................10 Lack of Emotional Clarity .................................................................................................12 Emotion Experience ...........................................................................................................15 Emotion Regulation and Aggression .................................................................................16 Summary ............................................................................................................................18 Clinical Utility ...................................................................................................................19 Hypotheses .........................................................................................................................21 Method ...........................................................................................................................................22 Participants and Procedure .................................................................................................22 Measures ............................................................................................................................24 Data Analyses ....................................................................................................................28 EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR iii Results ............................................................................................................................................29 Discussion ......................................................................................................................................34 Limitations and Future Study.............................................................................................43 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................44 References ......................................................................................................................................45 Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………………72 Appendix A: Informed Consent .....................................................................................................73 Appendix B: Demographics Questionnaire ...................................................................................75 Appendix C: CAGE-AID Questionnaire .......................................................................................77 Appendix D: The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) .......................................................................78 Appendix E: Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) ............................................................80 Appendix F: Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) ...................................................81 Appendix G: Acceptance and Action Questionnaire—II ..............................................................83 Appendix H: Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire—Behavioral Avoidance Subscale…………...……………………………………………………………………………..84 Appendix I: Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) .......................................................................85 Appendix J: Mindful Attention Awareness Scale ..........................................................................87 Appendix K: Generalized Expectancy for Negative Mood Regulation Scale ...............................88 EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR iv Appendix L: Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20)…...………………………………………...90 Appendix M: Affect Intensity Measure (AIM) ..............................................................................91 Appendix N: IRB Letter of Approval ............................................................................................93 EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR v List of Tables Table Page 1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Reliability of Measures and Subscales………..…………62 2 Correlations Among Aggression, Physical Aggression, Anger, Hostility, Overall DERS Score, DERS Nonacceptance, DERS Goals, DERS Impulse, DERS Strategies, DERS Awareness, and DERS Clarity……..…………………………………………….…………..63 3 Correlations Between Experiential Avoidance, Behavioral Avoidance, Impulsivity, Mindfulness, Negative Mood Regulation Expectancy, Alexithymia, Affect Intensity and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale…………………………...………….…………....64 4 Correlations Between Aggression, Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, Hostility, Affect Intensity, Alexithymia, Negative Mood Regulation Expectancy, Mindfulness, Impulsivity, Behavioral Avoidance, and Experiential Avoidance…….……………………..65 5 Correlations Between Age and Global Severity of Mental Health Problems and Total Aggression, Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility……...………...66 6 Stepwise Regression Analysis Using Pairs of Indices as Predictors of Overall Aggression as an Outcome Variable………………….……………………………………………………..67 7 Stepwise Regression Analysis Using Pairs of Indices as Predictors of Physical Aggression as an Outcome Variable…….…....................................……………………………………..…68 8 Stepwise Regression Analysis Using Pairs of Indices as Predictors of Verbal Aggression as an Outcome Variable……………….………………………………………………………..69 EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR vi 9 Stepwise Regression Analysis Using Pairs of Indices as Predictors of Anger as an Outcome Variable……...…………………………………………………………………………….....70 10 Stepwise Regression Analysis Using Pairs of Indices as Predictors of Hostility as an Outcome Variable……….......……………………………………………………………….71 EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR 1 Relations Among Dimensions of Emotion Regulation and Aggressive Behavior Introduction and Background Recent research has implicated the ability and the willingness to regulate emotion as important factors in maintaining psychological health. The impaired ability to experience, to remain in contact with, and to effectively regulate one’s emotions appears to be linked to many forms of psychopathology (Dorard, Berthoz, Phan, Corcos, & Bungener, 2008; Gross & Munoz, 1995; Honkalampi et al., 2009; Taylor, 1994; Venta, Sharp, & Hart, 2012; Zonnevijille-Bender, van Goozen, Cohen-Kettenis, van Elburg, & van Engeland, 2002). Vine and Aldao (2014) explored the possibility that deficits of emotion clarity (i.e., the ability to clearly identify emotion) exist as a transdiagnostic factor in psychopathology and found evidence that such deficits can be predictive of anhedonic depression, social anxiety, borderline personality pathology, binge eating, and alcohol use. In the same study, the relationship between emotion clarity and each of these disorders was mediated by emotion regulation deficits, leading the researchers to conclude that difficulties in identifying emotions impairs the ability to regulate emotions and thereby contributes to a variety of psychopathology. In the absence of adaptive regulation strategies, evidence supports the idea that individuals may attempt to regulate the presence of negative affect (that is, emotions that are considered aversive, whether the emotion is clear to the individual or difficult to identify) through maladaptive means, such as alcohol and substance use (Fischer, Anderson, & Smith 2004), risky sexual behavior (Simons, Maisto, & Wray, 2010), and aggression (Jakupcak, 2003), the topic of primary interest in this study. EMOTION REGULATION AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR 2 Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Gratz and Roemer (2004) identified six dimensions of difficulties in emotion regulation (ER): (a) the nonacceptance of emotional responses, (b) difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, (c) impulse control difficulties, (d) a lack of emotional awareness, (e) limited access to emotion regulation strategies, and (f) a lack of emotional clarity. This model of ER difficulties was developed in an attempt to integrate findings related to multiple theories of ER and to create a comprehensive, clinically relevant measurement of difficulties in ER. The resulting measure, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004) has been utilized in over 50,000 studies as a multidimensional measurement of emotion regulation difficulties and has been validated in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish; the DERS has also been successfully validated for use in adolescent populations and has been found to retain its psychometric properties across male and female respondents and the English-language version has been stable across racial groups and ethnic groups (specifically, African-American, Asian- American, Caucasian-American, Cuban-American, Dominican, Mexican-American, and Puerto Rican; Guarnaccia, Martinez, Acosta, 2005; Ritschel, Tone, Schoemann, & Lim, 2015). At the time Gratz and Roemer (2004) developed the DERS, the available evidence suggested that ER consisted of the awareness and the identification of emotions, acceptance of emotions, the ability to engage in goal-directed behavior, and the individual’s access to emotion regulation strategies that are perceived as effective. In order to develop the DERS, Gratz and Roemer created a set of questions for each of these domains. Analyses suggested that the initial conceptualization of awareness and identification of emotions was better explained as a two- factor construct wherein the awareness of emotions (being aware of emotional responses) and clarity of emotions (understanding emotional responses) are two distinct dimensions of ER.