The Affect Regulation Training (ART): a transdiagnostic approach to the prevention and treatment of mental disorders

Emotion regulation mediates the effect of childhood trauma on depression

“…The outcome that the emotion regulation skills acceptance and tolerance were significant mediators between the relationship of childhood trauma and depression severity is consistent with the assumptions in the ACE model (Berking and Lukas, 2015;Berking and Whitley, 2014). In the ACE model, the emotion regulation skills of acceptance, tolerance, and modification of aversive emotions are assumed to be the most relevant for mental health, whereas the other emotion regulation skills are primarily included in the model because they are hypothesized to play a facilitating role in the successful application of the three aforementioned skills (Berking and Whitley, 2014).…”

“…Emotion regulation skills were measured with the EmotionRegulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ; Berking and Znoj, 2008) which is based on the Adaptive Coping with Emotions (ACE) model (Berking and Lukas, 2015;Berking and Whitley, 2014). The ERSQ asks for the respondent's adaptive emotion regulation skills in the previous week with a 27-item self-report questionnaire utilizing a 5-point Likert-type scale (0 ¼ "not at all" to 4 ¼"almost always").…”

“…Emotion regulation refers to a variety of processes through which individuals attempt to control and manage their spontaneous flow of emotions in order to accomplish their needs and goals (Gross, 2013;Koole, 2009;Thompson, 1994). The Adaptive Coping with Emotions model (ACE; Berking and Lukas, 2015;Berking and Whitley, 2014) conceptualizes effective emotion regulation as the interplay of the abilities to: (1) consciously perceive emotions, (2) utilize sensations to identify emotions, (3) correctly label emotions, (4) understand emotions, (5) accept aversive emotions, (6) tolerate aversive emotions, (7) provide oneself with compassionate support when self-regulating emotions, (8) confront emotionally challenging situations if necessary to attain personally relevant goals, and (9) modify aversive emotions (Berking, 2010;Braams et al, 2012;Gilbert et al, 2006;Kobasa et al, 1982;Marchesi et al, 2005;Margraf and Berking, 2005;Salovey et al, 1995;Southam-Gerow and Kendall, 2002;Subic-Wrana et al, 2005;Vine and Aldao, 2014). The capacity for emotion regulation is developed early in life, and a number of studies indicate that growing up with experiences of maltreatment may adversely affect a child's later emotion regulation capacity (Alink et al, 2009;Burns et al, 2010;Cole et al, 2004).…”

“…Our hypothesis was that general emotion regulation mediates the effect of childhood trauma on adult depression severity. Further, we explored whether specific emotion regulation skills of the ACE model (awareness, sensations, clarity, understanding, acceptance, tolerance, self-support, willingness to confront, and modification; Berking and Lukas, 2015;Berking and Whitley, 2014) could be identified as particularly important in explaining the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depression severity. Finally, we expected all these relations to exist not only for adult depression severity but also for depression lifetime persistency.…”

Cognitive emotion regulation and psychopathology across cultures: A comparison between six European countries

“…Other strategies such as positive reappraisal have been shown to be protective against psychopathology (Gross, 1998;John & Gross, 2004;Ochsner, Bunge, Gross, & Gabrieli, 2002). In general, there is evidence that cognitive strategies are a promising target for treating symptoms of psychopathology (Berking & Lukas, 2015), however to date there have not been any studies examining whether the relationship between specific cognitive strategies and psychopathology is consistent across countries. It is warranted to study cross-cultural differences in order to determine whether treatment recommendations could be universal, or whether they need be adapted to specific cultural needs.…”