Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7148-9761
Date Available
5-12-2027
Year of Publication
2025
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Psychology
Faculty
Kate Leger
Faculty
Michael Bardo
Abstract
Cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy, has been shown to reduce how reactive we are to stressors. Age can also affect reactivity due to older adults’ ability to employ cognitive reappraisal strategies more readily. Lastly, how much perceived control one has over a stressor, as well as the stressor context, can play a role in reactivity. The current study investigated the effects of a cognitive reappraisal intervention and perception of stressor control in younger and older adults both in lab and in daily life on different components of reactivity: affective, somatic and physiological. Using random assignment, the cognitive reappraisal intervention prompted participants to think about upcoming stressors with a positive framing while the control condition did not receive a prompt. This study consisted of a 1 hour in-person lab session (n = 263) and 7 days of twice daily surveys (n = 222). Reactivity was measured via affect, somatic symptoms and blood pressure (for the lab portion) after the task while controlling for baseline scores for lab, and daily life compared non-stressor to stressor days. Most of our hypotheses were unsupported as there were no significant differences in reactivity between the conditions for younger and older adults. However, results showed that the cognitive reappraisal condition significantly buffered the decrease in positive affect on stressor days compared to the control condition in daily life. We also found that contrary to hypotheses, somatic symptoms in lab were greater for the cognitive reappraisal condition compared to the control condition when they had low perceptions of stressor control. These findings and lack thereof may potentially be due to the cognitive reappraisal intervention not being strong enough to elicit use of this strategy. However, the results can still help us understand the nuanced differences in facets of stress reactivity, as well as showcase that cognitive reappraisal might work differently in lab versus in daily life.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2025.84
Funding Information
This study was supported by the "Broadening Our Funded Research Base in Arts and Sciences" mechanism - College of Arts and Sciences, UKY awarded to mentor Dr. Kate Leger in 2023.
Recommended Citation
Maras, Jessica, "REFRAMING STRESS: HOW COGNITIVE REAPPRAISAL, PERCEIVED CONTROL, AND STRESSOR CONTEXT SHAPE REACTIVITY ACROSS ADULTHOOD" (2025). Theses and Dissertations--Psychology. 275.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/275
