Evaluating an online self-distancing intervention to promote emotional regulation and posttraumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Three online studies were conducted to elucidate the role of emotional regulation (ER) in posttraumatic growth (PTG), evaluate the ability of an online self-distancing intervention to achieve ER, and test whether increasing the use of ER strategies promotes PTG.

Design

Cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal randomized controlled trials (RCT) (Studies 2 and 3).

Method

In Study 1, 626 adults completed measures of ER, PTG, and psychosocial functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 2, 149 adults participated in a five-week RCT comparing self-immersed, spatially self-distanced, and temporally self-distanced reflection in their ability to regulate negative affect. In Study 3, 117 adults replicated the RCT of Study 2 and completed the measures from Study 1 a week pre- and post-intervention.

Results

Path analyses confirmed that ER strategies were relevant to COVID-19-related PTG. MANOVAs revealed that self-distancing was effective in regulating state negative affect. However, ANOVAs suggest that this was not due to increased use of ER strategies and did not improve PTG or psychosocial functioning.

Conclusions

These findings support further research into the relevance of ER to PTG, and provide a foundation to understand PTG and develop PTG-promoting interventions within a broader stress-coping framework.

KEYWORDS:

• Posttraumatic growth
• emotional regulation
• self-distancing
• stress-coping
• telehealth

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Although the authors of the CERQ refer to this subscale as “Putting into Perspective,” the items comprising this subscale all refer to perspective-taking in the form of comparing oneself to others. To clarify the nature of this subscale, and to minimize confusion between it and the perspective-taking examined in the present study in the context of self-distancing (see Studies 2 and 3), this CERQ subscale is be referred to as Comparing to Others.

2 Note that this analytic approach involved a total of 19 predictor variables in total, nine in step 1, one in step 2, and nine in step 3, meaning that the study was underpowered, having a sample size of 117 rather than the 153 recommended in order to detect an effect of moderate (0.15) size.