The role of executive function in cognitive reappraisal: A meta-analytic review.

Cognitive reappraisal refers to the reinterpretation of a situation to alter its emotional meaning. Theoretically, executive functions (EFs), such as inhibition, updating, and shifting, are core elements of reappraisal processes. However, empirical studies have yielded inconsistent evidence as to whether and to what extent EFs are associated with reappraisal. To address this issue, we conducted a meta-analysis of the literature in which 179 effect sizes from 59 independent samples (N = 4,703) were included. Using random-effects metaregression with robust-variance estimates and small-sample corrections, we also examined whether variation in effect sizes could be accounted for by potential moderators, such as the way reappraisal was assessed (i.e., questionnaires vs. task-based measures) and the type of stimuli used in EF tasks (i.e., affective vs. nonaffective). Overall, results indicate relatively small to typical associations between reappraisal and all three EFs (rs = .13-.19). While the way reappraisal was measured did not moderate any of the relations between EF and reappraisal, we found stronger relations between inhibition and reappraisal when EF was assessed using tasks that involved affective, relative to nonaffective, stimuli. Our meta-analytic findings offer modest support for the idea that EFs are cognitive constituents of reappraisal processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

To switch or not to switch? Individual differences in executive function and emotion regulation flexibility.

Emotion regulation (ER) constitutes strategies that modulate the experience and expression of emotions. While past work has predominantly assumed that ER strategies are consistently adaptive (or maladaptive) across situations, recent research has begun to examine individual-difference factors that are associated with the flexible use of ER strategies in line with contextual demands (i.e., ER flexibility). Theoretical accounts maintain that the choice to use ER strategies in a given context is contingent on individual differences in executive function (EF), which refers to a collection of general-purpose regulatory operations. Based on a comprehensive battery of EF tasks, we investigated how the various EF facets (i.e., common EF, working-memory-specific, and shifting-specific factors) are related to the frequency of maintaining and switching ER strategies in response to stimuli that elicit varying levels of emotional intensity. Results indicated that individuals with higher EF demonstrated a more flexible pattern of ER strategy use across high- and low-intensity conditions. Specifically, better working-memory-specific ability (i.e., manipulating information within a mental workspace) was associated with a greater frequency of reappraisal-to-distraction strategy switching in high-intensity contexts. Furthermore, more proficient common EF (i.e., sustaining relevant goals in the face of competing goals and responses) corresponded to a higher propensity to maintain the use of reappraisal in low-intensity situations. The outcomes of this study offer a first glimpse of the cognitive factors underlying ER flexibility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Executive function moderates the effect of reappraisal on life satisfaction: A latent variable analysis.

Emotion regulation strategies, such as reappraisal and suppression, have been shown to dissimilarly affect life satisfaction. Specifically, reappraisal is linked to higher life satisfaction, while suppression is associated with lower life satisfaction. Less is known, however, about the potential moderators of these established relations. Given that reappraisal and suppression are contingent, in part, on executive function (EF), which comprises a group of adaptive, goal-orientated control processes (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, and shifting), we explored whether different components of EF could moderate the impact of reappraisal and suppression on life satisfaction. Using latent moderated structural equation analyses, we found that the positive contribution of reappraisal to life satisfaction was more pronounced at higher than lower levels of inhibitory control and working memory. Shifting did not moderate the associations of reappraisal and suppression with life satisfaction. Further analyses, however, indicated that the interactive effects of reappraisal with inhibitory control and working memory on life satisfaction were driven primarily by the shared variance among EF constructs (i.e., common EF). Our findings underscore the pivotal role of common EF in moderating the relation of reappraisal with life satisfaction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Common executive function predicts reappraisal ability but not frequency.

Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion-regulation strategy that positively impacts various facets of adaptive functioning (e.g., interpersonal relations, subjective well-being). Although reappraisal implicates cognitive processing, no clear consensus has been reached regarding its cognitive correlates. Therefore, we examined how executive function (EF)-i. e., a group of general-purpose control abilities comprising working memory, inhibition, and shifting-would be associated with task-based reappraisal ability and self-reported reappraisal frequency. Using a latent-variable approach, we found that the shared variance among EF facets (i.e., common EF)-a general goal-management ability that facilitates the activation and maintenance of task-relevant goals-was positively related to reappraisal ability but not reappraisal frequency. However, the three EF components were not uniquely associated with either reappraisal ability or frequency. Further, when EF was conceptualized at the individual-task level, we found inconsistent patterns of associations between EF constituents and reappraisal. This underscores the need to measure all aspects of EF using multiple indicators at the latent-variable level. Our findings provide vital theoretical, methodological, and empirical insights into the cognitive correlates of reappraisal. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Seeking control during uncontrollable times: Control abilities and religiosity predict stress during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent need to understand the protective factors that can buffer individuals against psychological distress. We employed a latent-variable approach to examine how control-related factors such as religiosity, self-control, cognitive control, and health locus of control can act as resilience resources during stressful periods. We found that cognitive control emerged as a protective factor against COVID-19-related stress, whereas religiosity predicted a heightened level of stress. These results provide novel insights into control factors that can safeguard individuals' psychological well-being during crises such as a pandemic.

Executive Function and Subjective Well-being in Middle and Late Adulthood.

OBJECTIVES: A growing body of research has investigated psychosocial predictors of subjective well-being (SWB), a key component of healthy aging, which comprises life satisfaction and affective well-being. However, few studies have examined how executive function (EF)-a collection of adaptive, goal-directed control processes-could affect SWB in middle and late adulthood. METHODS: By analyzing a nationally representative adult cohort ranging from the early 30s to early 80s from the Midlife Development in the United States 2 study, we examined two potential mediators (i.e., sense of control vs positive reappraisal) that could underlie the relation between EF and SWB. Further, we assessed how these mediational pathways would differ across midlife and older adulthood. RESULTS: Our results revealed that sense of control, but not positive reappraisal, significantly mediated the relation between EF and life satisfaction and affective well-being. Moreover, these mediation effects were significantly moderated by age, with more pronounced effects among older adults. DISCUSSION: We found that EF in later adulthood facilitates a sense of control over obstacles that interfere with the attainment of goals, which in turn is associated with greater life satisfaction and positive affect. This underscores the role of EF as an increasingly valuable resource that buffers against declines in sense of control and SWB in late adulthood.

Bidirectional Associations between Obesity and Cognitive Function in Midlife Adults: A Longitudinal Study.

The links between obesity and cognition remain equivocal due to a variety of methodological limitations with current research, such as an overreliance on body mass index (BMI) as a measure of obesity, the use of cross-sectional designs, and inadequate specification over the domains of cognitive function to be examined. To address these issues, we used data from the Cognitive Project of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, a large-scale, longitudinal dataset on non-institutionalized midlife adults (N = 2652), which enabled us to examine the long-term bidirectional relations between obesity and two latent factors of cognition-executive function and episodic memory-while controlling for potential confounds. Results showed that, over a span of nine years, an increase in obesity in Time 1 is associated with a decline in episodic memory in Time 2 (but not executive function), while an increase in executive function in Time 1 (but not episodic memory) is associated with a reduction in obesity in Time 2. These results were elucidated when obesity was indexed with waist-to-hip ratio but not with BMI. Our findings highlight important directions for further research, in particular the use of more valid obesity indices and a greater focus on the bidirectional effects between obesity and cognition.

Above, on, or shang ()? Language and spatial representations among English-Mandarin bilinguals.

This study investigated if exposure to spatial language could affect spatial cognition in English-Mandarin bilinguals by focusing on contact/noncontact distinctions, an area that has been a source of contention in the language-and-thought literature. Sixty-three participants were first primed with sentences containing spatial terms (e.g., above, on) before performing a spatial decision task. Approximately half of the participants (n = 33) were primed in English; for the remaining participants (n = 30), primes comprising Mandarin spatial terms-which mark spatial distinctions differently than in English (e.g., shang in Mandarin signifies both above and on in English)-were employed instead. Our findings revealed that participants' performance was influenced by spatial primes in the English experiment, thereby proffering evidence for thinking-for-speaking effects. However, these findings were not mirrored for the Mandarin experiment, confirming that the contact/noncontact specificity of spatial terms may have been instrumental in engendering the thinking-for-speaking effects observed in English.

Age matters: The effect of onset age of video game play on task-switching abilities.

Although prior research suggests that playing video games can improve cognitive abilities, recent empirical studies cast doubt on such findings (Unsworth et al., 2015). To reconcile these inconsistent findings, we focused on the link between video games and task switching. Furthermore, we conceptualized video-game expertise as the onset age of active video-game play rather than the frequency of recent gameplay, as it captures both how long a person has played video games and whether the individual began playing during periods of high cognitive plasticity. We found that the age of active onset better predicted switch and mixing costs than did frequency of recent gameplay; specifically, players who commenced playing video games at an earlier age reaped greater benefits in terms of task switching than did those who started at a later age. Moreover, improving switch costs required a more extensive period of video-game experience than did mixing costs; this finding suggests that certain cognitive abilities benefit from different amounts of video game experience.