Investigating the effectiveness of instructing emotion regulation flexibility to individuals with low and high anxiety

Figures & data

Figure 1. Illustration of experimental trial structure in the instructed ER flexibility paradigm. ms = milliseconds.

Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics.

Demographic Variables	M (SD) or n (%)
Age	37.27 (11.84)
Gender	63 (57.8%) male, 46 (42.2%) female
Ethnic background
European American	65 (59.6%)
African American	29 (26.6%)
Native American or Alaskan Native	6 (5.5%)
Latinx or Hispanic	4 (3.7%)
Asian or South Asian	3 (2.8%)
Other	2 (1.8%)
Highest educational attainment
Completed Senior High	13 (11.9%)
Undergraduate College degree	63 (57.8%)
Vocational or Technology Institute qualification	2 (1.8%)
Masters degree and/or PhD	31 (28.4%)
Anxiety (DASS-21) symptoms	7.62 (6.17)
Low (Normal to Mild range)	42 (38.5%)
High (Moderate to Extremely Severe range)	67 (61.5%)

Note: N = 109.

Figure 2. Differences in negative affect ratings between instructed ER conditions for participants in the low and high anxiety groups.

Note: Error bars represent ± 1 standard error (SE). For ease of interpretation, only the error bars for the flexible and the Reappraisal only condition are presented. a: p = .049, b: p = .025.

Data availability statement

The dataset generated and analyzed in the present study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.