Plonsker Reut, Gavish Biran Dana, Zvielli Ariel, Bernstein Amit
a Department of Psychology , University of Haifa , Haifa , Israel.
Cogn Emot. 2017 Sep;31(6):1286-1293. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2016.1211993. Epub 2016 Aug 2.
We tested whether cognitive fusion impairs emotion differentiation and thereby mediates relations between cognitive fusion and depression and panic symptoms among 55 adults (M = 26.8 (3.9), 50.9% women). Using visual stimuli, we elicited multiple emotion states and measured (a) emotional intensity - the subjective emotion intensity of elicited emotions (i.e. Specific Emotion Intensity - SEI), as well as (b) emotional differentiation - the degree of co-activation of multiple negative emotions when a specific emotion was elicited (i.e. Multiple Emotion Co-Activation - MECA). First, as hypothesised, we found that cognitive fusion predicted lower levels of emotion differentiation (MECA). In contrast, as hypothesised, these effects were significantly greater than the (null) effects of cognitive fusion on emotion intensity (SEI). Second, as predicted, MECA, but not SEI, predicted depression and panic symptoms. Finally, we found that MECA mediated the effects of cognitive fusion on depression and panic symptoms. The present findings contribute novel, preliminary empirical insight into associations between cognitive fusion, impaired emotion differentiation and mental ill-health.
我们对55名成年人（平均年龄M = 26.8岁（3.9岁），女性占50.9%）进行了测试，以探究认知融合是否会损害情绪分化，进而在认知融合与抑郁及惊恐症状之间起中介作用。我们使用视觉刺激引发多种情绪状态，并测量了：（a）情绪强度——所引发情绪的主观情绪强度（即特定情绪强度——SEI），以及（b）情绪分化——引发特定情绪时多种负面情绪的共同激活程度（即多种情绪共同激活——MECA）。首先，正如我们所假设的，我们发现认知融合预示着较低水平的情绪分化（MECA）。相比之下，同样如我们所假设的，这些效应显著大于认知融合对情绪强度（SEI）的（零）效应。其次，正如预测的那样，MECA而非SEI预示着抑郁和惊恐症状。最后，我们发现MECA在认知融合对抑郁和惊恐症状的影响中起中介作用。本研究结果为认知融合、受损的情绪分化与心理健康问题之间的关联提供了新颖的初步实证见解。
