Is Distraction an Adaptive or Maladaptive Strategy for Emotion Regulation? A Person-Oriented Approach

Abstract

Distraction is an emotion regulation strategy that has an ambiguous status within cognitive-behavior therapy. According to some treatment protocols it is counterproductive, whereas according to other protocols it is seen as a quite useful strategy. The main purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that distraction is adaptive when combined with active acceptance, but maladaptive when combined with avoidant strategies. A non-clinical community sample of adults (N = 638) and a clinical sample (N = 172) completed measures of emotion regulation and well-being. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify subgroups with different profiles on six emotion regulation variables, and these subgroups were then compared on well-being (positive and negative emotionality, and life quality) and on clinical status. A nine-cluster solution was chosen on the basis of explained variance and homogeneity coefficients. Two of these clusters had almost identical scores on distraction, but showed otherwise very different profiles (distraction combined with acceptance vs. distraction combined with avoidance). The distraction-acceptance cluster scored significantly higher than the distraction-avoidance cluster on all measures of well-being; it was also under-represented in the clinical sample, whereas the distraction-avoidance cluster was over-represented. Limitations include a cross-sectional design, and use of self-report measures. The findings suggest that distraction may be either adaptive or maladaptive, depending on whether it is combined with an attitude of acceptance or avoidance.

Mindfulness Sebagai Strategi Regulasi Emosi

“…Strategi ini efektif karena memanfaatkan kontrol kognitif untuk memodulasi representasi makna dari stimulus afektif, sehingga pada gilirannya menurunkan aktivitas pada amigdala (Buhle dkk., 2014 (Folkman, 1997 (Buhle dkk., 2014). Selain itu, distraction dapat menjadi tidak adaptif ketika terus-menerus digunakan untuk menghindari pengalaman emosional (Wolgast & Lundh, 2017).…”

“…Distraction yang dilakukan secara terus-menerus membutuhkan energi yang besar (Van Dillen & Papies, 2015), sekaligus menutup kesempatan individu untuk membangun pemahaman terhadap pengalaman yang dibutuhkan untuk proses adaptasi (Wilson & Gilbert, 2008). Sebagai implikasinya, penggunaan distraction perlu dibarengi dengan intensi untuk segera kembali menghadapi pengalaman yang sejenak dihindari (Wolgast & Lundh, 2017…”

The role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in health related quality of life of breast cancer patients

“…Similarly, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, which combines mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive behavioral therapy and implies awareness and nonjudgmental attitude as well as the acceptance of catastrophic and ruminative thoughts and negative mood, and then fostering to overcame them through the process of decentring and education, shows particular success in physically and chronically ill patients such as cancer patients, since focus is placed not only on emotions but also on painful bodily sensations (39,40). When it comes to positive distraction as a cognitive behavioral intervention, i.e., the effectiveness of the positive refocusing strategy, we proceed from the point that its apllication may be beneficial when it is followed by the acceptance of the disease and when it is used for the treatment of unhealthy rumination, and not when it represents an avoiding strategy that in long term can have a negative impact on emotional well-being, because a precondition for emotional well-being is contact with emotions, their acceptance, and understanding the meaning of unhealthy emotions (41). Previous studies done with cancer patients have confirmed the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral interventions aimed at reducing the emotional distress and improving mental health (26,42,43), likewise, in controlling pain and painful conditions (44), as well as in optimizing functional status and reducing post-cancer fatigue (45), i.e.…”

The impact of negative mood state on sleep‐related attentional bias in insomnia

“…Thus, it seems that good sleepers apply a distraction strategy to cope with sudden stressful events. Appropriate attentional distraction is deemed to be an effective regulator of emotion that can help individuals reduce emotional distress and other stress responses following a threatening exposure (Wolgast & Lundh, ). Unfortunately, in this study, such an adaptive strategy was seemingly lacking in the individuals with insomnia.…”