Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Emotion regulation (ER) refers to the attempts by an individual to influence the experience and expression of emotions. The way in which people regulate their emotions influences cognition. Many models of ER propose changes in attention as cause or consequence of ER, but a systematic investigation of the link between ER and attention is missing. Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are a model case for dysregulated emotions. Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) has been developed specifically for treatment of patients with BPD, and teaches patients to regulate their emotions through attending to positive emotional information. My research has two goals: First, I will determine whether and which ER habits lead to better attentional control in healthy people. Secondly, I will study whether ER training in DBT measurably increases ER abilities and attentional control in BPD patients. My studies will point to ER habits that help attention in healthy controls and BPD patients. The results will suggest which basic emotion regulation processes one should target to increase the effectiveness of mental health therapy.