Affect regulation strategies, resilience, and neural mechanisms: evidence from cross-sectional and intervention studies

Adverse experiences and emotional challenges are inherent aspects of life. Importantly, people vary in how they respond to such challenges, faring across outcomes that are either better or worse than expected. The ideal outcome is resilience, which emphasizes one’s ability to overcome or positively adapt to adverse circumstances and is linked to mental health benefits. Therefore, I am interested in investigating and advocating for ways in which individuals can protect themselves against distress and achieve resilience. The present research consists of a series of studies aimed to: a) identify helpful affect regulation strategies and psychological mechanisms for resilience in the context of a unique stressor – the COVID-19 pandemic (Chapter 2); b) consider the operationalization and measurement of cognitive flexibility as an important component of resilience (Chapter 3); and c) assess the effectiveness of a cognitive-emotional training intervention incorporating the flexible use of affect regulation strategies (Chapter 4). As this is an evolving field of research, these studies contribute to the field by providing novel findings, integrating coping and emotion regulation approaches, and implementing a combination of methodologies. Findings from the current research have important implications for identifying protective affect regulation strategies, utilizing cognitive flexibility, and informing the development of targeted interventions to enhance resilience.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Hohl, Kelly Marie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dolcos, Florin
• Dolcos, Sanda
• Fairbairn, Catharine
• Berenbaum, Howard
• Kwapil, Thomas

• Resilience
• Emotion Control
• Affect Regulation
• Cognitive Flexibility
• Coping
• Training

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Kelly Hohl

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130205

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F130205