Associations between self-report measures of emotion regulation and performance-based measures of executive functioning

WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Kelsey O'Brien (Creator)
Institution
Western Carolina University (WCU )
Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
Advisor
David McCord

Abstract: Executive functioning (EF) is a crucial component of everyday functioning across many settings. Past research has examined ways in which emotions, including emotion dysfunction, are related to the processes of EF. Further, individual differences across a variety of emotion regulation processes can impact EF to a meaningful degree, and there has been much research dedicated to determining the role that emotion regulation has in EF (Gross, 2002; Gross & Jazaieri, 2014; Sudikoff et al., 2015). In the current work, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2020a), which includes a range of emotion dysfunction-related variables, were used to explore correlations with performance-based EF tasks, including the Trail Making Test (A & B), Clock Drawing, FAS, Animal Naming, and Digit Span. Of note, no prior research has investigated the correlative properties of performance-based EF tasks with the MMPI-3. Two bivariate correlations were conducted to evaluate the association between the MMPI-3 and the performance-based measures and the DERS and performance-based measures. While none of the performance-based measures meaningfully associated with the DERS scales, a few, though not all, of the performance-based measures correlated meaningfully to the Emotional/Internalizing scales, Externalizing scales, and Interpersonal scales for the MMPI-3 to a meaningful degree. An exploratory factor analysis of the EF tasks was conducted though unable to be interpreted most likely due to the shared method variance of the performance-based measures. Overall, this research shows a potential relationship between constructs of executive functioning and constructs related to emotional processing and regulation.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2023
Keywords
Cognitive Flexibility, DERS, Emotion Regulation, Executive Functioning, MMPI-3, Working Memory
Subjects
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
Adjustment (Psychology)
Executive functions (Neuropsychology)
Short-term memory

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