The emerging field of emotion regulation studies how individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them. This review takes an evolutionary perspective and characterizes emotion in terms of response tendencies. Emotion regulation is denned and distinguished from coping, mood regulation, defense, and affect regulation. In the increasingly specialized discipline of psychology, the field of emotion regulation cuts across traditional boundaries and provides common ground. According to a process model of emotion regulation, emotion may be regulated at five points in the emotion generative process: (a) selection of the situation, (b) modification of the situation, (c) deployment of attention, (d) change of cognitions, and (e) modulation of responses. The field of emotion regulation promises new insights into age-old questions about how people manage their emotions.

http://www.elaborer.org/cours/A13/lectures/Gross1998.pdf

The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review.

The authors examine the facet structure of mindfulness using five recently developed mindfulness questionnaires. Two large samples of undergraduate students completed mindfulness questionnaires and measures of other constructs. Psychometric properties of the mindfulness questionnaires were examined, including internal consistency and convergent and discriminant relationships with other variables. Factor analyses of the combined pool of items from the mindfulness questionnaires suggested that collectively they contain five clear, interpretable facets of mindfulness. Hierarchical confirmatory factor analyses suggested that at least four of the identified factors are components of an overall mindfulness construct and that the factor structure of mindfulness may vary with meditation experience. Mindfulness facets were shown to be differentially correlated in expected ways with several other constructs and to have incremental validity in the prediction of psychological symptoms. Findings suggest that conceptualizing mindfulness as a multifaceted construct is helpful in understanding its components and its relationships with other variables.

https://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/Baer-paper.pdf

Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness

There has been substantial interest in mindfulness as an approach to reduce cognitive vulnerability to stress and emotional distress in recent years. However, thus far mindfulness has not been defined operationally. This paper describes the results of recent meetings held to establish a consensus on mindfulness and to develop conjointly a testable operational definition. We propose a two-component model of mindfulness and specify each component in terms of specific behaviors, experiential manifestations, and implicated psychological processes. We then address issues regarding temporal stability and situational specificity and speculate on the conceptual and operational distinctiveness of mindfulness. We conclude this paper by discussing implications for instrument development and briefly describing our own approach to measurement.

/pdf/mindfulness-a-proposed-operational-definition-39h3glfkax.pdf

Mindfulness : A proposed operational definition

The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale--I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure.

/pdf/what-is-emotional-intelligence-4cdho6tdum.pdf

What is emotional intelligence

The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia scale—II. Convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity

Foreword James S. Grotstein Acknowledgements Introduction Graeme Taylor 1. The development and regulation of affects Graeme Taylor, Michael Bagby and James Parker 2. Affect dysregulation and alexithymia Michael Bagby and Graeme Taylor 3. Measurement and validation of the alexithymia construct Michael Bagby and Graeme Taylor 4. Relations between alexithymia, personality, and affects James Parker and Graeme Taylor 5. The neurobiology of emotion, affect regulation and alexithymia James Parker and Graeme Taylor 6. Somatoform disorders Graeme Taylor 7. Anxiety and depressive disorders and a note on personality disorders Michael Bagby and Graeme Taylor 8. Substance use disorders Graeme Taylor 9. Eating disorders Graeme Taylor 10. Affects and alexithymia in medical illness and disease Graeme Taylor 11. Treatment considerations Graeme Taylor 12. Future directions James Parker, Michael Bagby and Graeme Taylor References Index.

Disorders of Affect Regulation: Alexithymia in Medical and Psychiatric Illness

Addressing methodological problems in the development of existing scales for measuring alexithymia, this study reports the development of a new self-report scale. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) was devised with concern for theoretical congruence with the alexithymia construct, independence of social desirability response bias, and internal consistency. Initially, 41 items were administered to 542 college students. Twenty-six items meeting preestablished psychometric guidelines were retained. Factor analysis yielded four interpretable factors, all consistent with the construct. The scale demonstrated adequate split-half and test-retest reliability, and scores were not significantly associated with age, education, and socioeconomic status. These preliminary results suggest that the TAS may be used as a clinical screening device with psychiatric and general medical patient populations.

Graeme J. Taylor

Papers

The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale--I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure.

The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia scale—II. Convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity

Disorders of Affect Regulation: Alexithymia in Medical and Psychiatric Illness

Toward the Development of a New Self-Report Alexithymia Scale

The 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale: IV. Reliability and factorial validity in different languages and cultures