Bell-Thompson, Sean (8/14) Effortful control and reflective functioning: testing a model of affect regulation (Nicholas Papouchis, Ph.D.; Philip S. Wong, Ph.D.; Kevin B. Meehan, Ph.D.)
The purpose of this study was to test two models of affect regulation in order to demonstrate the relationship between effortful control and reflective functioning and their impact on behavioral and emotional outcome using a sample of N = 59 adults. In the first model, emotional and behavioral dysregulation were regressed onto effortful control and reflective functioning. Results showed that effortful control predicted approximately 15% of the variance in emotional dysregulation, and approximately 20% of the variance in behavioral dysregulation. Reflective functioning was not predictive of either outcome, but showed an unexpected positive correlation with emotional dysregulation as measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. In the second model, it was hypothesized that reflective functioning would mediate the relationship between effortful control and trait meta-mood, or the capacity to manage complex emotional states. Because reflective functioning was not significantly correlated with these variables, mediation analyses were not viable. Results included several unexpected findings, in particular that reflective functioning was positively correlated with emotional dysregulation, that reflective functioning and psychological mindedness were largely unrelated, and that participants who reported a history of trauma were rated higher in reflective functioning. Implications of these findings are discussed.
