Effects of Emotion Regulation Difficulties on the Tonic and Phasic Cardiac Autonomic Response

International audienceBackground:Emotion regulation theory aims to explain the interactions between individuals and the environment. In thiscontext, Emotion Regulation Difficulties (ERD) disrupt the physiological component of emotions through the autonomicnervous system and are involved in several psychopathological states.Objective:We were interested in comparing the influence of a film-elicited emotion procedure on the autonomic nervoussystem activity of two groups with different levels of emotion regulation difficulties.Methods:A total of 63 women (undergraduate students) ranging from 18 to 27 (20.761.99) years old were included. Usingthe upper and lower quartile of a questionnaire assessing the daily difficulties in regulating emotions, two groups, one withlow (LERD) and one with high (HERD) levels of emotion regulation difficulties, were constituted and studied during a film-elicited emotion procedure. Cardiac vagal activity (HF-HRV) was analyzed during three periods: baseline, film-elicitedemotion, and recovery.Results:The cardiovascular results showed a decrease in HF-HRV from baseline to elicitation for both groups. Then, fromelicitation to recovery, HF-HRV increased for the LERD group, whereas a low HF-HRV level persisted for the HERD group.Conclusions:The HERD group exhibited inappropriate cardiac vagal recovery after a negative emotion elicitation hadended. Cardiac vagal tone took longer to return to its initial state in the HERD group than in the LERD group. Prolongedcardiac vagal suppression might constitute an early marker of emotion regulation difficulties leading to lower cardiac vagaltone