SPECIFICITY OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF EMOTION REGULATION IN YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ALEXITHYMIA

Dorosheva Elena Alekseevna, Rushenko Mikhail Valerievich

The features of the psychophysiological correlates of the reaction to stressful stimuli in young people with different levels of alexithymia were examined under conditions without presentation of instructions and with instructions on the use of effective means of emotion regulation (distraction of attention from the stimulus and cognitive reappraisal). There were no differences in the characteristics of galvanic skin response and heart rate at the first stage of the experiment. Reduced response when using regulatory strategies as instructed for the measures studied was demonstrated for participants with low, but not with high, levels of alexithymia; in the latter case, only the response configuration was changed. The role of voluntary self-regulation strategies in the processing of emotional information and the formation of resistance to stress factors is discussed.

Keywords:alexithymia, emotion regulation, response to stressors, galvanic skin response, heart rate