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. 2017;39(1):117-127.
doi: 10.1007/s10862-016-9570-x. Epub 2016 Sep 7.

Is Distraction an Adaptive or Maladaptive Strategy for Emotion Regulation? A Person-Oriented Approach

Martin Wolgast  1 , Lars-Gunnar Lundh  1
Affiliations

Is Distraction an Adaptive or Maladaptive Strategy for Emotion Regulation? A Person-Oriented Approach

Martin Wolgast et al. J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2017.

Abstract

Distraction is an emotion regulation strategy that has an ambiguous status within cognitive-behavior therapy. According to some treatment protocols it is counterproductive, whereas according to other protocols it is seen as a quite useful strategy. The main purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that distraction is adaptive when combined with active acceptance, but maladaptive when combined with avoidant strategies. A non-clinical community sample of adults (N = 638) and a clinical sample (N = 172) completed measures of emotion regulation and well-being. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify subgroups with different profiles on six emotion regulation variables, and these subgroups were then compared on well-being (positive and negative emotionality, and life quality) and on clinical status. A nine-cluster solution was chosen on the basis of explained variance and homogeneity coefficients. Two of these clusters had almost identical scores on distraction, but showed otherwise very different profiles (distraction combined with acceptance vs. distraction combined with avoidance). The distraction-acceptance cluster scored significantly higher than the distraction-avoidance cluster on all measures of well-being; it was also under-represented in the clinical sample, whereas the distraction-avoidance cluster was over-represented. Limitations include a cross-sectional design, and use of self-report measures. The findings suggest that distraction may be either adaptive or maladaptive, depending on whether it is combined with an attitude of acceptance or avoidance.

Keywords: Acceptance; Avoidance; Cluster analysis; Cognitive restructuring; Distraction; Emotion regulation; Negative emotionality; Positive emotionality; Quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

Martin Wolgast and Lars-Gunnar Lundh declare that they have no conflicts of interest to report.

Experiment Participants

All participants have provided their informed consent to participate in the study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Pattern of z-scores across the 6 factors for all clusters. TA thought avoidance, R resignation, AA active acceptance, ConRef constructive refocusing, CogRe cognitive reappraisal, DR distractive refocusing
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