Emotion regulation

يَٰدَاوُۥدُ إِنَّا جَعَلۡنَٰكَ خَلِيفَةࣰ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَٱحۡكُم بَيۡنَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ ٱلۡهَوَىٰ فَيُضِلَّكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَضِلُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ لَهُمۡ عَذَابࣱ شَدِيدُۢ بِمَا نَسُواْ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡحِسَابِ

‘David, We have given you mastery over the land. Judge fairly between people. Do not follow your desires, lest they divert you from God’s path: those who wander from His path will have a painful torment because they ignore the Day of Reckoning.’

۞يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّٰمِينَ بِٱلۡقِسۡطِ شُهَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ أَوِ ٱلۡوَٰلِدَيۡنِ وَٱلۡأَقۡرَبِينَۚ إِن يَكُنۡ غَنِيًّا أَوۡ فَقِيرࣰ ا فَٱللَّهُ أَوۡلَىٰ بِهِمَاۖ فَلَا تَتَّبِعُواْ ٱلۡهَوَىٰٓ أَن تَعۡدِلُواْۚ وَإِن تَلۡوُۥٓاْ أَوۡ تُعۡرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ خَبِيرࣰ ا

You who believe, uphold justice and bear witness to God, even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or your close relatives. Whether the person is rich or poor, God can best take care of both. Refrain from following your own desire, so that you can act justly- if you distort or neglect justice, God is fully aware of what you do

وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ ٱلۡهَوَىٰٓ

he does not speak from his own desire

وَأَمَّا مَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ وَنَهَى ٱلنَّفۡسَ عَنِ ٱلۡهَوَىٰ

for anyone who feared the meeting with his Lord and restrained himself from base desires

ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي ٱلسَّرَّآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَٱلۡكَٰظِمِينَ ٱلۡغَيۡظَ وَٱلۡعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ

who give, both in prosperity and adversity, who restrain their anger and pardon people- God loves those who do good

وَأَنذِرۡهُمۡ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡأٓزِفَةِ إِذِ ٱلۡقُلُوبُ لَدَى ٱلۡحَنَاجِرِ كَٰظِمِينَۚ مَا لِلظَّٰلِمِينَ مِنۡ حَمِيمࣲ وَلَا شَفِيعࣲ يُطَاعُ

Warn them [Prophet] of the ever-approaching Day, when hearts are at throats, choking them. The evildoer will have no friends, nor any intercessor to be heeded

(O ye who believe! Be ye staunch in justice�) [4:135]. Asbat related that al-Suddi said: �This was revealed about the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. A poor man and a rich man went to him to settle a dispute. He was inclined to judge in favour of the poor man because he thought that a poor man cannot wrong a rich person. But Allah, exalted is He, wanted to establish justice regarding the poor and rich alike. He said: (O ye who believe! Be ye staunch in justice) up to His words (whether (the case be of) a rich man or a poor man, for Allah is nearer unto both (than ye are)�)�.

‘O David! We have indeed made you a vicegerent on the earth managing the affairs of people; so judge justly between people and do not follow desire that is the desires of the soul that it then lead you astray from the way of God that is to say from the proofs that indicate the truth of His Oneness. Truly those who go astray from the way of God in other words from belief in God — for them there will be a severe chastisement because of their forgetting the Day of Reckoning’ as a result of their having neglected faith. For had they been certain of the truth of the Day of Reckoning they would have first been believers in this world.

O you who believe be upright in justice; witnesses of the truth for God even though it the witnessing be against yourselves so be witness against them your selves by affirming the truth and not concealing it; or against parents and kinsmen whether the person witnessed against be rich or poor; God is closer to the two than you and He has better knowledge of what is good for them. So do not follow any whim in your testimonies by being partial to the rich one seeking his pleasure or by being partial to the poor one out of compassion for him lest you swerve so that you do not incline away from the truth for if you twist a variant reading for talwūw has talū if you distort your testimony or refrain from giving it surely God is ever aware of what you do and will requite you accordingly.

nor does he in regard to what he brings you speak out of his own desire out of the whims of his soul.

O Dawud! Verily, We have placed you as a successor on the earth; so judge you between men in truth (and justice) and follow not your desire – for it will mislead you from the path of Allah. Verily, those who wander astray from the path of Allah (shall) have a severe torment, because they forgot the Day of Reckoni (26) Advice to Rulers and Leaders This is advice from Allah, may He be exalted, to those who are in positions of authority. They should rule according to the truth and justice revealed from Him, they should not turn away from it and be led astray from the path of Allah. Allah has issued a stern warning of a severe punishment to those who go astray from His path and forget the Day of Resurrection. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibrahim Abu Zur'ah, who read the Scripture, reported that Al-Walid bin 'Abd Al-Malik said to him: "Does anyone have the right to question the Khalifah? Yo

The First Surah in which a Prostration is revealed Al-Bukhari recorded that 'Abdullah [bin Mas'ud] said, "Surat An-Najm was the first Surah in which a prostration was revealed. The Prophet ﷺ (recited it in Makkah) and prostrated. Those who were with him did the same, except an old man who took a handful of soil and prostrated on it. Later on, I saw him killed as a disbeliever; he was Umayyah bin Khalaf." Al-Bukhari recorded this Hadith in several places of his Sahih, as did Muslim, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i, using various chains of narration through Abu Ishaq from 'Abdullah. بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ - مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ - وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ - إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ (1. By the star when it goes down.)(2. Your companion has neither gone astray nor has he

أَخْبَرَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ عَمْرٍو، ح وَأَنْبَأَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ آدَمَ بْنِ سُلَيْمَانَ، عَنِ ابْنِ الْمُبَارَكِ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ بْنِ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ دِينَارٍ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ أَوْسٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏"‏ إِنَّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى عَلَى مَنَابِرَ مِنْ نُورٍ عَلَى يَمِينِ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَعْدِلُونَ فِي حُكْمِهِمْ وَأَهْلِيهِمْ وَمَا وَلُوا ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ فِي حَدِيثِهِ ‏"‏ وَكِلْتَا يَدَيْهِ يَمِينٌ ‏"‏‏.‏

It was narrated from 'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al-'As that:The Prophet [SAW] said: "Those who are just and fair will be with Allah, Most High, on thrones of light, at the right hand of the Most Merciful, those who are just in their rulings and in their dealings with their families and those of whom they are in charge." Muhammad (one of the narrators) said in his Hadith: "And both of His hands are right hands

أَخْبَرَنَا سُوَيْدُ بْنُ نَصْرٍ، قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ خُبَيْبِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ حَفْصِ بْنِ عَاصِمٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ سَبْعَةٌ يُظِلُّهُمُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَوْمَ لاَ ظِلَّ إِلاَّ ظِلُّهُ إِمَامٌ عَادِلٌ وَشَابٌّ نَشَأَ فِي عِبَادَةِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَرَجُلٌ ذَكَرَ اللَّهَ فِي خَلاَءٍ فَفَاضَتْ عَيْنَاهُ وَرَجُلٌ كَانَ قَلْبُهُ مُعَلَّقًا فِي الْمَسْجِدِ وَرَجُلاَنِ تَحَابَّا فِي اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَرَجُلٌ دَعَتْهُ امْرَأَةٌ ذَاتُ مَنْصِبٍ وَجَمَالٍ إِلَى نَفْسِهَا فَقَالَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَرَجُلٌ تَصَدَّقَ بِصَدَقَةٍ فَأَخْفَاهَا حَتَّى لاَ تَعْلَمَ شِمَالُهُ مَا صَنَعَتْ يَمِينُهُ ‏"‏‏.‏

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that :The Messenger of Allah [SAW] said: "There are seven whom Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, will shade with His shade on the Day of Resurrection, the Day when there will be no shade but His: A just ruler, a young man who grows up worshipping Allah, the Mighty and Sublime; a man who remembers Allah when he is alone and his eyes flow (with tears); a man whose heart is attached to the Masjid; two men who love each other for the sake of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime; a man who is called (to commit sin) by a woman of high status and beauty, but he says: 'I fear Allah'; and a man who gives charity and conceals it, so that his left hand does not know what his right hand is doing

حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى الْعَنَزِيُّ، وَإِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَرْعَرَةَ السَّامِيُّ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَهَّابِ، - يَعْنِيَانِ الثَّقَفِيَّ - عَنْ جَعْفَرٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏.‏ بِمِثْلِهِ غَيْرَ أَنَّ فِي حَدِيثِ الثَّقَفِيِّ فَلَوْ كَانَ حَيًّا كَانَ هَذَا السَّكَكُ بِهِ عَيْبًا ‏.‏

Jabir reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) narrating a hadith like this with a slight variation of wording

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مَسْلَمَةَ بْنِ قَعْنَبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ بِلاَلٍ - عَنْ جَعْفَرٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مَرَّ بِالسُّوقِ دَاخِلاً مِنْ بَعْضِ الْعَالِيَةِ وَالنَّاسُ كَنَفَتَهُ فَمَرَّ بِجَدْىٍ أَسَكَّ مَيِّتٍ فَتَنَاوَلَهُ فَأَخَذَ بِأُذُنِهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ ‏"‏ أَيُّكُمْ يُحِبُّ أَنَّ هَذَا لَهُ بِدِرْهَمٍ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ فَقَالُوا مَا نُحِبُّ أَنَّهُ لَنَا بِشَىْءٍ وَمَا نَصْنَعُ بِهِ قَالَ ‏"‏ أَتُحِبُّونَ أَنَّهُ لَكُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالُوا وَاللَّهِ لَوْ كَانَ حَيًّا كَانَ عَيْبًا فِيهِ لأَنَّهُ أَسَكُّ فَكَيْفَ وَهُوَ مَيِّتٌ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ فَوَاللَّهِ لَلدُّنْيَا أَهْوَنُ عَلَى اللَّهِ مِنْ هَذَا عَلَيْكُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Jabir b. Abdullah reported that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) happened to walk through the bazar coming from the side of 'Aliya and the people were on both his sides. There he found a dead lamb with very short ears. He took hold of his ear and said:Who amongst you would like to have this for a dirham? They said: We do not like to have it even for less than that as it is of no use to us. He said: Do you wish to have it (free of any cost)? They said: By Allah, even if it were alive (we would not have liked to possess that), for there is defect in it as its ear is very short; now it is dead also. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: By Allah, this world is more insignificant in the eye of Allah than it (this dead lamb) is in your eye

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ، مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مَيْمُونٍ الْمَكِّيُّ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ عُمَارَةَ بْنِ الْقَعْقَاعِ، عَنْ أَبِي زُرْعَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَنْ أَبَرُّ قَالَ ‏"‏ أُمَّكَ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ ثُمَّ مَنْ قَالَ ‏"‏ أُمَّكَ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ ثُمَّ مَنْ قَالَ ‏"‏ أَبَاكَ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ ثُمَّ مَنْ قَالَ ‏"‏ الأَدْنَى فَالأَدْنَى ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with them, said that:Allah's Messenger said: "They said: 'O Messenger of Allah, whom should I treat kindly?' He said: 'Your mother.' He said: 'Then who?' He said :'Your mother." He said: 'Then who?' He said: 'Your father'. He said : 'Then who?' He said: 'The next closest and the next closest

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنْ سُهَيْلٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ‏ "‏ لاَ يَجْزِي وَلَدٌ وَالِدَهُ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَجِدَهُ مَمْلُوكًا فَيَشْتَرِيَهُ فَيُعْتِقَهُ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with them, narrated that:Allah's Messenger said: "No child can compensate his father unless he finds a slave, and buys him and sets him free

وقف الهوى بي حيث أنت فليس لي % متأخر عنه ولا متقدم

أنت القتيل بكل من أحببته % فاختر لنفسك في الهوى من تصطفي

نقل فؤادك حيث شئت من الهوى % ما الحب الا للحبيب لاول

فما في الأرض أشقى من محب % وإن وجد الهوى حلو المذاق

إذا أنت لم تعشق ولم تدر ما الهوى % فما لك في طيب الحياة نصيب وقال الآخر

إذا أنت لم تعشق ولم تدر ما الهوى % فقم واعتلف تبنا فأنت حمار

Effect of a Yoga Based Meditation Technique on Emotional Regulation, Self-compassion and Mindfulness in College Students.: Background: Emotion regulation is often a challenge for the college students. Yoga practice has been shown to reduce stress and improve mindfulness that is related to emotion regulation. Mastering emotions technique (MEMT) is one of the yoga-based meditation techniques that are designed to control emotions among practitioners. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no known study reporting its scientific evidence-based effects on emotion and its related variables. Thus, this study was c

The effect of sleep deprivation and restriction on mood, emotion, and emotion regulation: three meta-analyses in one.: Study objectives: New theory and measurement approaches have facilitated nuanced investigation of how sleep loss impacts dimensions of affective functioning. To provide a quantitative summary of this literature, three conceptually related meta-analyses examined the effect of sleep restriction and sleep deprivation on mood, emotion, and emotion regulation across the lifespan (i.e. from early childhood to late adulthood). Methods: A total of 241 effect sizes from 64 studies were selected for inclu

Targeting maladaptive anger with brief therapist-supported internet-delivered emotion regulation treatments: A randomized controlled trial.: Objective: To evaluate the relative impact of three brief therapist-supported internet-delivered emotion regulation treatments for maladaptive anger (mindful emotion awareness [MEA], cognitive reappraisal [CR], and mindful emotion awareness + cognitive reappraisal [MEA + CR]) and to test whether baseline levels of anger pathology moderate treatment outcome. Method: Treatments were evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. In total, 234 participants (59% female; mean age = 41.1, SD = 11.6) with

The relevance of cognitive emotion regulation to psychotic symptoms - A systematic review and meta-analysis.: Numerous studies emphasise the pivotal role of negative affect in the formation and maintenance of positive symptoms, which moves emotion regulation (ER) as a contributing factor into focus. We systematically reviewed and meta-analysed case-control studies reporting cross-sectional, correlative and experimental data of ER strategies in patients with psychotic disorders. In total, 42 studies were eligible, providing data for 2498 subjects and 3381 healthy controls. Questionnaire-based cross-secti

Fear is only as deep as the mind allows: a coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies on the regulation of negative affect.: Humans have the ability to control negative affect and perceived fear. Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether this affect regulation capacity relies on a common neural mechanism in different experimental domains. Here, we sought to identify commonalities in regulatory brain activation in the domains of fear extinction, placebo, and cognitive emotion regulation. Using coordinate-based activation-likelihood estimation meta-analysis we intended to elucidate concordant hyperactivations and the as

Relation between emotion regulation and mental health: a meta-analysis review.: This meta-analysis examined the relationship between emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) and mental health (measured by life-satisfaction, positive affect, depression, anxiety, and negative affect). 48 studies, which included 51 independent samples, 157 effect sizes, and 21,150 participants, met the inclusion criteria. The results showed that cognitive reappraisal was correlated significantly and positively with positive indicators of mental health (r =

Randomised trial of expressive writing for distressed metastatic breast cancer patients.

Women with metastatic breast cancer and significant psychological distress (N = 87) were assigned randomly to engage in four home-based sessions of expressive writing or neutral writing. Women in the expressive writing group wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings regarding their cancer, whereas women in the neutral writing group wrote about their daily activities in a factual manner. No statistically significant group differences in existential and psychological well-being, fatigue and sleep quality were found at 8-weeks post-writing. However, the expressive writing group reported significantly greater use of mental health services during the study than the neutral writing group (55% vs. 26%, respectively; p < 0.05). Findings suggest that expressive writing may improve the uptake of mental health services among distressed cancer patients, but is not broadly effective as a psycho…

matched on Emotions (mesh)

Interacting with nature improves cognition and affect for individuals with depression.

Background: This study aimed to explore whether walking in nature may be beneficial for individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Healthy adults demonstrate significant cognitive gains after nature walks, but it was unclear whether those same benefits would be achieved in a depressed sample as walking alone in nature might induce rumination, thereby worsening memory and mood. Methods: Twenty individuals diagnosed with MDD participated in this study. At baseline, mood and short term memory span were assessed using the PANAS and the backwards digit span (BDS) task, respectively. Participants were then asked to think about an unresolved negative autobiographical event to prime rumination, prior to taking a 50-min walk in either a natural or urban setting. After the walk, mood and short-term memory span were reassessed. The following week, participants returned to the lab and repeate…

matched on Affect (mesh)

Reduced risk-taking behavior as a trait feature of anxiety.

Affect can have a significant influence on decision-making processes and subsequent choice. One particularly relevant type of negative affect is anxiety, which serves to enhance responses to threatening stimuli or situations. In its exaggerated form, it can lead to psychiatric disorders, with detrimental consequences for quality of life, including the ability to make choices. This study investigated, for the first time, how pathological anxiety affects risk-taking behavior. In this study, 20 anxious participants meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria for either generalized anxiety disorder (n = 10) and for panic attack disorder (n = 10), as well as 20 matched nonanxious controls, performed a gambling task. To investigate the tendency toward either a risk-seeking or a risk-averse behavior, we employed a task that did not allow for learning …

matched on Emotions (mesh)

Effects of adjunctive peer support on perceptions of illness control and understanding in an online psychoeducation program for bipolar disorder: a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To examine the comparative effectiveness of an online psychoeducation program for people diagnosed with bipolar disorder within the previous 12 months, completed alone or with adjunctive peer support, on symptoms and perceived control over the illness. Method: Participants were randomly allocated to an eight-week online psychoeducation program (n=139), a psychoeducation program plus online peer support (n=134) or an attentional control condition (n=134). Results: Increased perceptions of control, decreased perceptions of stigmatisation and significant improvements in levels of anxiety and depression, from pre- to post-intervention were found across all groups. There were no significant differences between groups on outcome measures, although a small clinical difference was found between the supported and unsupported conditions in depression symptoms and in functional impairme…

matched on Affect (mesh)

Intranasal oxytocin and salivary cortisol concentrations during social rejection in university students.

Oxytocin facilitates pro-social behaviour and is proposed as a regulatory factor controlling stress reactivity. Previous research on oxytocin and stress has focused on achievement-related stressors among male participants. The aims of the study were to (1) examine the influence of oxytocin on the affective and cortisol response to the Yale Interpersonal Stressor (YIPS), a live social rejection paradigm, and (2) to replicate the finding that women exhibit a greater cortisol response to interpersonal stress than men (Stroud et al. 2002). Sex differences in stress responses: Social rejection versus achievement stress. Biol Psychiat 53:318-327. Ninety-six undergraduate students underwent the YIPS, where participants were excluded from two separate conversations by two same-sex confederates. Salivary cortisol concentrations and mood were repeatedly measured throughout the study. Participants …

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Effects of alcohol on brain responses to social signals of threat in humans.

Alcohol is a known exogenous modulator of negative affect (anxiety, tension) in both animals and humans. It has been proposed that the anxiolytic effects of alcohol are mediated via the amygdala, an area critical to fear perception and responding. However, little is known about the acute effects of alcohol on amygdala reactivity to threatening information in humans. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a validated task to probe amygdala responses to social signals of threat in 12 healthy, social drinkers after a double-blind crossover administration of alcohol or placebo. We found that alcohol significantly reduced amygdala reactivity to threat signals. The current findings fit well with the notion that alcohol may attenuate threat-based responding and provide a potential brain-based mechanism for the link between alcohol and anxiety and/or social threat perception.

matched on Emotions (mesh)

Mindfulness training increases momentary positive emotions and reward experience in adults vulnerable to depression: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To examine whether mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) increases momentary positive emotions and the ability to make use of natural rewards in daily life. Method: Adults with a life-time history of depression and current residual depressive symptoms (mean age = 43.9 years, SD = 9.6; 75% female; all Caucasian) were randomized to MBCT (n = 64) or waitlist control (CONTROL; n = 66) in a parallel, open-label, randomized controlled trial. The Experience Sampling Method was used to measure momentary positive emotions as well as appraisal of pleasant activities in daily life during 6 days before and after the intervention. Residual depressive symptoms were measured using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Hamilton, 1960). Results: MBCT compared to CONTROL was associated with significant increases in appraisals of positive emotion (b* = .39) and activity pleasantness…

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Bounded empathy: neural responses to outgroup targets' (mis)fortunes.

The current study investigates whether mere stereotypes are sufficient to modulate empathic responses to other people's (mis)fortunes, how these modulations manifest in the brain, and whether affective and neural responses relate to endorsing harm against different outgroup targets. Participants feel least bad when misfortunes befall envied targets and worst when misfortunes befall pitied targets, as compared with ingroup targets. Participants are also least willing to endorse harming pitied targets, despite pitied targets being outgroup members. However, those participants who exhibit increased activation in functionally defined insula/middle frontal gyrus when viewing pity targets experience positive events not only report feeling worse about those events but also more willing to harm pity targets in a tradeoff scenario. Similarly, increased activation in anatomically defined bilateral…

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Omega-3 supplementation lowers inflammation and anxiety in medical students: a randomized controlled trial.

Observational studies have linked lower omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and higher omega-6 (n-6) PUFAs with inflammation and depression, but randomized controlled trial (RCT) data have been mixed. To determine whether n-3 decreases proinflammatory cytokine production and depressive and anxiety symptoms in healthy young adults, this parallel group, placebo-controlled, double-blind 12-week RCT compared n-3 supplementation with placebo. The participants, 68 medical students, provided serial blood samples during lower-stress periods as well as on days before an exam. The students received either n-3 (2.5 g/d, 2085 mg eicosapentaenoic acid and 348 mg docosahexanoic acid) or placebo capsules that mirrored the proportions of fatty acids in the typical American diet. Compared to controls, those students who received n-3 showed a 14% decrease in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulat…

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Pilot study of psilocybin treatment for anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer.

Context: Researchers conducted extensive investigations of hallucinogens in the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1970s, however, political and cultural pressures forced the cessation of all projects. This investigation reexamines a potentially promising clinical application of hallucinogens in the treatment of anxiety reactive to advanced-stage cancer. Objective: To explore the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in patients with advanced-stage cancer and reactive anxiety. Design: A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of patients with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety, with subjects acting as their own control, using a moderate dose (0.2 mg/kg) of psilocybin. Setting: A clinical research unit within a large public sector academic medical center. Participants: Twelve adults with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety. Main outcome measures: In addition to monitoring safety and subjective experie…

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Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: an experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being.

An 8-month-long experimental study examined the immediate and longer term effects of regularly practicing two assigned positive activities (expressing optimism and gratitude) on well-being. More important, this intervention allowed us to explore the impact of two metafactors that are likely to influence the success of any positive activity: whether one self-selects into the study knowing that it is about increasing happiness and whether one invests effort into the activity over time. Our results indicate that initial self-selection makes a difference, but only in the two positive activity conditions, not the control, and that continued effort also makes a difference, but, again, only in the treatment conditions. We conclude that happiness interventions are more than just placebos, but that they are most successful when participants know about, endorse, and commit to the intervention.

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Why envy outperforms admiration.

Four studies tested the hypothesis that the emotion of benign envy, but not the emotions of admiration or malicious envy, motivates people to improve themselves. Studies 1 to 3 found that only benign envy was related to the motivation to study more (Study 1) and to actual performance on the Remote Associates Task (which measures intelligence and creativity; Studies 2 and 3). Study 4 found that an upward social comparison triggered benign envy and subsequent better performance only when people thought self-improvement was attainable. When participants thought self-improvement was hard, an upward social comparison led to more admiration and no motivation to do better. Implications of these findings for theories of social emotions such as envy, social comparisons, and for understanding the influence of role models are discussed.

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Personality-dependent effects of oxytocin: greater social benefits for high alexithymia scorers.

Originally known for its role in labor and lactation, oxytocin (OT) has recently been shown to facilitate social behaviour by improving socio-emotional abilities. However, whether OT is equally beneficial to all people, or whether is it particularly beneficial to less emotionally/socially competent (i.e., high alexithymia) individuals it is not yet known. We investigated the effects of OT on individuals of varying socio-emotional ability by randomly assigning sixty male students to receive either oxytocin (OT) or a placebo (PL), and had them perform the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET). Results showed that whereas the performance of lower alexithymia individuals was equally good in both OT and PL conditions, the performance of higher alexithymia people was better under OT than PL. These results suggest that the effects of OT are not only context-dependent-as recently shown-but al…

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Oxytocin increases recognition of masked emotional faces.

The neuropeptide oxytocin has been shown to improve many aspects of social cognitive functioning, including facial emotion recognition, and to promote social approach behaviour. In the present study, we investigated the modulatory effects of oxytocin on the recognition of briefly presented facial expressions. In order to diversify the degree of visual awareness for the facial stimuli, presentation duration was systematically varied. Fifty-six participants were administered intranasal oxytocin or a placebo in a double-blind, randomized, between-subjects design. Participants viewed angry and happy target faces or neutral distractors for 18, 35, or 53 ms subsequently masked by neutral faces. Participants had to indicate the presence or absence of the briefly presented target face. Discrimination indices (d') showed that oxytocin generally enhanced detection accuracy of emotional stimuli. Th…

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Effects of intranasal oxytocin on 'compassion focused imagery'.

This study explored the effects of oxytocin on Compassion Focused Imagery (CFI), that is, imagining another "mind" being deeply compassionate to oneself, and the interaction of these effects with self-criticism and feeling socially safe with others. Forty-four healthy participants (29 men and 15 women) completed self-report measures of self-criticism, attachment style, and social safeness before taking part in a double-blind randomized placebo controlled study. They attended two imagery sessions, receiving oxytocin in one and a placebo in the other. Positive affect was measured before and after each imagery session, and "imagery experience" was assessed after each session. Overall, oxytocin increased the ease of imagining compassionate qualities but there were important individual differences in how CFI was experienced. Participants higher in self-criticism, lower in self-reassurance, so…

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Oxytocin indexes relational distress following interpersonal harms in women.

The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin, known for its involvement in social affiliation and bonding in animals, has recently been associated with a host of prosocial behaviors that are beneficial for maintaining positive social relationships in humans. Paradoxically, however, people with high endogenous levels of oxytocin also tend to report relational distress and interpersonal difficulties in their everyday lives. To address these contradictory findings, oxytocin reactivity was measured in response to a well-defined laboratory task in young adult women following recent interpersonal harms. Elevated mean peripheral oxytocin reactivity (but not baseline levels of oxytocin or cortisol reactivity) was associated with increased post-conflict anxiety and decreased levels of forgiveness. These results corroborate previous research implicating oxytocin as a neuroendocrine marker of relational …

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Mild dehydration impairs cognitive performance and mood of men.

The present study assessed the effects of mild dehydration on cognitive performance and mood of young males. A total of twenty-six men (age 20·0 (sd 0·3) years) participated in three randomised, single-blind, repeated-measures trials: exercise-induced dehydration plus a diuretic (DD; 40 mg furosemide); exercise-induced dehydration plus placebo containing no diuretic (DN); exercise while maintaining euhydration plus placebo (EU; control condition). Each trial included three 40 min treadmill walks at 5·6 km/h, 5 % grade in a 27·7°C environment. A comprehensive computerised six-task cognitive test battery, the profile of mood states questionnaire and the symptom questionnaire (headache, concentration and task difficulty) were administered during each trial. Paired t tests compared the DD and DN trials resulting in >1 % body mass loss (mean 1·59 (sd 0·42) %) with the volunteer's EU trial (0·…

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The effectiveness of yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace.

Objectives: Recent research has indicated concern for the degree of stress and emotional well-being among university staff. This study examined the effectiveness of yoga in enhancing emotional well-being and resilience to stress among university employees. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial at a British university, we recruited 48 employees and randomized them into either a yoga or a wait-list control group. The yoga group was offered six weeks of Dru Yoga, comprising one 60-minute class per week. These classes were offered by a certified Dru Yoga instructor at lunchtime from January-March 2008. The wait-list control group received no intervention during this six-week study. Baseline and end-program measurements of self-reported mood and well-being were self-assessed with the Profile of Mood States - Bipolar (POMS-Bi) and the Inventory of Positive Psychological Attitudes (IPPA). R…

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The effects of expressive writing following first myocardial infarction: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To assess the effects of expressive writing on health care utilization, clinical variables and subjective quality of life following first myocardial infarction (MI). Methods: One-hundred and seventy-nine first MI patients were randomized to Intervention (N = 88) or Control (N = 91) groups. The intervention group wrote about their thoughts and feelings in relation to having had an MI. Controls wrote in a neutral way about daily activities. The main outcome measures were health care utilization, physical status and subjective quality of life (QOL), assessed after one, two, and five months. Results: One-hundred and fifty-six (87%) completed the study. Five months post-intervention, the intervention group had significantly fewer recorded medical appointments compared to controls. The number of prescribed medicines decreased over time within the intervention group but increased wit…

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A school-based expressive writing intervention for at-risk urban adolescents' aggressive behavior and emotional lability.

This school-based randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of 2 expressive writing interventions among youth living in high-violence urban neighborhoods. Seventeen classrooms (n = 258 seventh graders; 55% female; 91% African American/Black) from 3 public schools were randomized to 3 conditions in which they wrote 8 times about a nonemotional topic (control condition) or about experiencing and witnessing violence following either a standard or an enhanced expressive writing protocol. Outcomes were assessed 1 month prior and 2 and 6 months postintervention and included teacher-rated emotional lability and aggressive behavior and child-rated physical aggression. Intent-to-treat, mixed-model analyses controlled for preintervention measures of outcomes, sex, race, and family structure. At 2 months postintervention, relative to controls, students in the standard expressive writing condi…

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Is ecstasy an "empathogen"? Effects of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine on prosocial feelings and identification of emotional states in others.

Background: Users of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), "ecstasy," report that the drug produces unusual psychological effects, including increased empathy and prosocial feelings. These "empathogenic" effects are cited as reasons for recreational ecstasy use and also form the basis for the proposed use of MDMA in psychotherapy. However, they have yet to be characterized in controlled studies. Here, we investigate effects of MDMA on an important social cognitive capacity, the identification of emotional expression in others, and on socially relevant mood states. Methods: Over four sessions, healthy ecstasy-using volunteers (n = 21) received MDMA (.75, 1.5 mg/kg), methamphetamine (METH) (20 mg), and placebo under double-blind, randomized conditions. They completed self-report ratings of relevant affective states and undertook tasks in which they identified emotions from images of f…

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Looking beyond fear: the extinction of other emotions implicated in anxiety disorders.

Previous research examining anxiety has traditionally focused on models of fear. More recently, attention has been directed to the role of disgust as an important emotion in the context of certain anxiety disorders. Further, it has been suggested that disgust, a form of evaluative responding, may be resistant to extinction and may contribute to relapse. However, previous work on this has largely relied on self-report ratings. In the current experiment, using a disgust conditioning and extinction procedure, disgust reactions were indeed shown to be resistant to extinction, as indexed by both self-report and an objective behavioral measure (visual avoidance). Furthermore, our research shows that individuals with greater levels of disgust sensitivity exhibit heightened resistance to extinction. In addition, expectancy of the disgusting US during extinction was dissociated from measures of d…

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Mechanisms of behavior change in alcoholics anonymous: does Alcoholics Anonymous lead to better alcohol use outcomes by reducing depression symptoms?

Rationale: Indices of negative affect, such as depression, have been implicated in stress-induced pathways to alcohol relapse. Empirically supported continuing care resources, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), emphasize reducing negative affect to reduce relapse risk, but little research has been conducted to examine putative affective mechanisms of AA's effects. Methods: Using lagged, controlled, hierarchical linear modeling and mediational analyses this study investigated whether AA participation mobilized changes in depression symptoms and whether such changes explained subsequent reductions in alcohol use. Alcohol-dependent adults (n = 1706), receiving treatment as part of a clinical trial, were assessed at intake, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 months. Results: Findings revealed elevated levels of depression compared to the general population, which decreased during treatment and then remained…

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Expressive writing for gay-related stress: psychosocial benefits and mechanisms underlying improvement.

Objective: This study tested the effectiveness of an expressive writing intervention for gay men on outcomes related to psychosocial functioning. Method: Seventy-seven gay male college students (mean age = 20.19 years, SD = 1.99) were randomly assigned to write for 20 min a day for 3 consecutive days about either (a) the most stressful or traumatic gay-related event in their lives or (b) a neutral topic. We tested an exposure-based hypothesis of written emotional expression by asking half of the participants who were assigned to write about gay-related stress to read their previous day's narrative before writing, whereas the other half did not. Posttest and 3-month follow-up outcomes were assessed with common measures of overall psychological distress, depression, physical health symptoms, and positive and negative affect. Gay-specific social functioning was assessed with measures of gay…

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Aerobic exercise improves self-reported sleep and quality of life in older adults with insomnia.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of moderate aerobic physical activity with sleep hygiene education to improve sleep, mood and quality of life in older adults with chronic insomnia. Methods: Seventeen sedentary adults aged >or=55 years with insomnia (mean age 61.6 [SD±4.3] years; 16 female) participated in a randomized controlled trial comparing 16 weeks of aerobic physical activity plus sleep hygiene to non-physical activity plus sleep hygiene. Eligibility included primary insomnia for at least 3 months, habitual sleep duration <6.5h and a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score >5. Outcomes included sleep quality, mood and quality of life questionnaires (PSQI, Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS], Short-form 36 [SF-36], Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]). Results: The physical activity group improved in sleep quality on the global PSQI (p<.0001), sleep latency …

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