Aversive Reactivity: A Transdiagnostic Functional Bridge Between Neuroticism and Avoidant Behavioral Coping

Abstract

Aversive reactivity to negative affect has been described as a transdiagnostic mechanism that links distal temperamental vulnerabilities to clinically relevant behaviors. However, the abundance of constructs reflecting aversive reactivity has resulted in a proliferation of models that may ultimately be redundant. We performed a circumscribed review of studies measuring associations between six constructs – anxiety sensitivity, experiential avoidance, distress intolerance, intolerance of uncertainty, thought-action fusion, and negative urgency – and ten relevant coping behaviors. Results suggested that most constructs were measured in relation to a limited number of coping behaviors. Additionally, constructs were most often measured in isolation, rather than with similar constructs. Implications and suggestions for future research and treatment are discussed.

Integrating mindfulness into the extended process model of emotion regulation: The dual-mode model of mindful emotion regulation.

“…For example, a client who previously had difficulty engaging in interpersonal interactions due to social anxiety may show progress behaviorally (i.e., spending more time with others) even without a reduction of feelings of anxiety. This is also consistent with propositions that reducing maladaptive regulatory behaviors may be more important than increasing use of adaptive ones (Aldao et al, 2014;Hoorelbeke et al, 2016;Semcho et al, 2023;Southward et al, 2023;Swerdlow et al, 2020).…”

“…While findings are mixed, there is also evidence indicating that mindfulness training impacts anticipation and response to rewards (Garland, Froeliger, et al, 2015;Hafenbrack & Vohs, 2018;Kirk et al, 2015). Additionally, equanimity is likely to reduce maladaptive emotional beliefs (e.g., that emotions are bad, harmful, or uncontrollable) and aversive reactivity which can impede acting on emotion regulation goals or lead to selection of maladaptive strategies (Delgado et al, 2010;Ford & Gross, 2018Karnaze & Levine, 2018Kneeland et al, 2016;Mennin & Fresco, 2010;Predatu et al, 2020a;Semcho et al, 2023). Thus, we post that equanimity mostly affects the valuation and action components across stages of the EPM; the components which most rely on cognitive appraisals, emotion beliefs, and meta-emotion.…”

Integrating Mindfulness Into The Extended Process Model Of Emotion Regulation: The Dual-Mode Model Of Mindful Emotion Regulation

“…While findings are mixed, there is also evidence indicating that mindfulness training impacts anticipation and response to rewards (Garland, Froeliger, et al, 2015;Hafenbrack & Vohs, 2018;Kirk et al, 2015). Additionally, equanimity is likely to reduce maladaptive emotional beliefs (e.g., that emotions are bad, harmful, or uncontrollable) and aversive reactivity which can impede acting on emotion regulation goals or lead to selection of maladaptive strategies (Delgado et al, 2010;Ford & Gross, 2018Karnaze & Levine, 2018Kneeland et al, 2016;Predatu et al, 2020a;Semcho et al, 2023). Thus, we post that equanimity mostly affects the valuation and action components across stages of the EPM; the components which most rely on cognitive appraisals, emotion beliefs, and meta-emotion.…”

“…Following mindfulness-based treatment, there was a greater effect of cardiac activity on emotion regulation choice (Ardi et al, 2021); trait mindfulness is associated with greater use of acceptance-based strategies in people with multiple sclerosis (Duraney et al, 2022); mindfulness-based treatment also increased flexibility in emotion regulation choice (Alkoby et al, 2019); distraction is selected more than reappraisal for highintensity negative emotion (Matthews et al, 2021;Sheppes et al, 2014), thus decreases in emotional reactivity may increase rates of reappraisal; beliefs that emotions are helpful is associated with greater use of reappraisal (Karnaze & Levine, 2018); theoretical models suggest that beliefs about the utility of different emotions (which is likely moderated by equanimity) can motivate the selection of strategies to meet utilitarian or hedonic goals Tamir & Ford, 2012;Tamir et al, 2007); mindfulness is negatively associated with disengagement responses (Zimmer-Gembeck et al, 2021) which are considered maladaptive (Semcho et al, 2023). Action -Activation of goal to use one or more strategies Equanimity decreases the effects of negative beliefs about emotions or their controllability which impede regulation.…”

“…Given the contextual nature of specific tactics, the reduced reactivity due to equanimity is likely to decrease the urgency to begin strategy application (in contrast with aversive reactivity, Semcho et al, 2023) and thus allow for more appropriate tactics to be valued more highly than those which are more readily available but may fail to represent immediate context and goals. Emotion regulation effectiveness across several strategies is associated with greater working memory (Kobayashi et al, 2018;Pan et al, 2022), interoceptive awareness (Füstös et al, 2013), and emotion differentiation (Kalokerinos et al, 2019), while reappraisal is less effective under high working memory load (Gan et al, 2017).…”