Emotion regulation skills in cognitive behavior therapy groups

What is it about?

Emotion regulation deficits are key in the development and maintenance of common emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression. We have shown that improving participants' skills to confront unwanted emotions results in better outcomes for adults in group cognitive behavior therapies. We used cross-lagged panel modeling to isolate the unique effect of emotion exposures relative to other emotion regulation skills such as cognitive flexibility and mindfulness skills.

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Why is it important?

Research efforts to better understand the putative mechanisms of change in first-line psychotherapy protocols could facilitate treatment refinement to directly target core treatment constructs, potentially leading to better outcomes for individuals and cost-effectiveness for society. This study highlights the importance of emotion exposure as a relevant transdiagnostic and transtheoretical treatment outcome and a potential mechanism of change that could be targeted across group CBT protocols for adult anxiety and depression.

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