Adaptive affect regulation predicts lower cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality risk, while psychotherapies enhancing affect regulation appear promising for physical health outcomes in CVD.
Do psychotherapies enhancing affect regulation improve cardiovascular outcomes in general and cardiac populations?
Adaptive affect regulation and targeted psychotherapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy may reduce cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality risk.
Psychological factors are modifiable determinants of cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality. Among those, affect regulation -the ways individuals cope with stressors and regulate emotions- is of special interest because it is a core psychotherapy target. Growing research from general and cardiac populations suggests adaptive affect regulation (eg, reinterpreting challenging situations) predicts lower CVD incidence/mortality risk, and related risk factors (eg, diabetes onset, unhealthy behaviors), whereas maladaptive affect regulation (eg, disengaging from stressors) predicts worse outcomes. Furthermore, psychotherapies enhancing affect regulation (eg, cognitive-behavioral therapy) are beneficial for mental health and appear promising for certain physical health outcomes among CVD populations.
Maukel et al. (Wed,) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease. Affect regulation and psychotherapies was evaluated. Adaptive affect regulation predicts lower cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality risk, while psychotherapies enhancing affect regulation appear promising for physical health outcomes in CVD.