Positive Reappraisal’s Interrelatedness with Empathy and Cognitive Flexibility

Evidence suggests that the emotion regulation strategy positive reappraisal offers a constructive approach in dealing with difficult emotions. Positive reappraisal involves viewing difficult events and emotions as being productive, such as being valuable or beneficial. These benefits were linked, among others, to well-being and decreased depressive symptoms. Previous research indicated empathy and cognitive flexibility’s role in processes related to positive reappraisal. Therefore, this study investigated the interrelatedness between three empathy dimensions, cognitive flexibility, and positive reappraisal. In a within-subjects design, 74 Dutch adolescents filled in the following self-report questionnaires: The Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents’ (EmQue-CA) cognitive and affective empathy subscales, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index’s (IRI) personal distress subscale, the Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS), and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire’s (CERQ)...Show moreEvidence suggests that the emotion regulation strategy positive reappraisal offers a constructive approach in dealing with difficult emotions. Positive reappraisal involves viewing difficult events and emotions as being productive, such as being valuable or beneficial. These benefits were linked, among others, to well-being and decreased depressive symptoms. Previous research indicated empathy and cognitive flexibility’s role in processes related to positive reappraisal. Therefore, this study investigated the interrelatedness between three empathy dimensions, cognitive flexibility, and positive reappraisal. In a within-subjects design, 74 Dutch adolescents filled in the following self-report questionnaires: The Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents’ (EmQue-CA) cognitive and affective empathy subscales, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index’s (IRI) personal distress subscale, the Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS), and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire’s (CERQ) positive reappraisal subscale. While our findings indicated increased cognitive empathy and cognitive flexibility relating to an increased use of positive reappraisal, relationships between affective empathy and personal distress and positive reappraisal were not found. Furthermore, exploratory additional analyses identified the relationships between cognitive empathy and cognitive flexibility and positive reappraisal being curvilinear U-shaped. In the light of an accentuated and amplified social-cognitive development throughout adolescence, our findings particularly suggest that young adolescents with deficits in cognitive empathy and cognitive flexibility benefit from interventions to increase positive reappraisal’s practise. Replicatory research is needed to confirm our findings.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Positive Reappraisal’s Interrelatedness with Empathy and Cognitive Flexibility