Review of studies on bodily sensations related to emotion regulation : With a focus on attentional regulation

The aim of this article was to review the previous studies the relationship between emotion regulation and attention to bodily sensations. Conventionally, self-focused attention has been noted to be associated with sustained negative emotion and mental disorders. But on the other hand, avoidance from attending to negative emotions might increase the risk of failure of emotional regulation over the medium-and long-term. Therefore, in recent years, researchers have studied what concentrating to attention would lead to the promotion of emotion regulation. We considered that the knowledge about mindfulness was to provide one of perspectives on this issue. In particular, we thought studies conducted by John D. Teasdale and Ed Watkins as important. They suggested that, in emotion regulation, it was important to attend to negative emotions meta-cognitively and experientially. Based on such a useful view, we reviewed the previous studies on attention to bodily sensations related to emotion regulation and discussed the development of future research. Finally, we discussed the use of clinical practice of attention to bodily sensations on the basis of our review