This Bass Connections project team evaluated whether the new intervention using mobile phone reminder scan help people better understand other people’s emotions. The study assessed 80 adults with emotional regulation issues. Starting with an initial intake session,the researchers assessed the subjects for psychiatric diagnoses. The subjects’ second session was a training session, in which they were randomly assigned to habituation (tone if stress reduces), mindful breathing intervention (MBI; practice skill during stressor, tone if stress reduces), or control (no tone). The testing phase occurred over the next 7 days, where subjects received mobile prompts six times per day, and the MBI group would hear the tone and practice skills if in high distress. Each subject also completed an online survey at the end of their testing period. This study found that mindful breathing skills lead to positive bias and results in a tendency to shift attention to positive social cues instead of negative ones.

Timing

Summer 2019 – Spring 2020

Team Outputs

Combating Social Isolation (Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Virtual Showcase 2020)

Emotional Connection: Developing a Mobile Intervention for Social and Emotional Dysfunction (poster by Carly McGregor, Jessica Su, Yeonju Suh, Adam Nawrocki, Jasalyn Bennekin, Jacqueline Trumbull)

See earlier related team, Emotional Connection: Developing a Mobile Intervention for Social and Emotional Dysfunction (2018-2019).