Emotional Dysregulation and Attention

Emotional regulation has been described as an individual’s ability to modify an emotional state so as to promote adaptive, goal-oriented behaviors. It describes the processes that permit an individual to select, attend to, and evaluate emotionally arousing stimuli in a flexible manner. These processes result in behavioral and physiological responses that can be modulated in line with value-determined goals. Emotional dysregulation is what happens when these adaptive processes are impaired or disrupted. This impairment leads to behavior that is often not in the individual’s best interests. Emotional dysregulation often reflects the abnormal allocation of attention to emotional laden stimuli. We review the interaction of emotional dysregulation, attention, and specific clinical conditions in detail.