ADHD Emotional Regulation Revolution: Mapping Gross’s Categories onto Bonding Health
Aug 9, 2024
Managing ADHD involves not only addressing symptoms but also leveraging effective emotional regulation strategies. The Bonding Health app is designed to help parents and children navigate the complexities of ADHD by incorporating James Gross’s four emotional regulation categories: situation change, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation. Here’s how the app aligns with these categories to provide practical support for ADHD management.
1. Situation Change: Problem-Solving in Action
Situation change involves choosing or avoiding situations (situation selection) and altering them (situation modification). The Bonding Health app offers various problem-solving techniques to help manage daily challenges.
Forgetfulness Strategies:
Creating Lists: Encourage children to write lists of items needed for events.
Pre-Check Routine: Pause to ensure they have all necessary items before leaving for school.
Making Tasks Fun: Turn mundane tasks into games to increase engagement.
Setting Goals: Set specific goals to improve skills like spelling and memorization.
Calming Techniques for Loud and Noisy Behavior:
Bath Time: Use baths as a calming activity.
Adjusting Environment: Turn down lights and play soft music.
Requests Instead of Complaints: Ask them what would help them to speak more quietly
Connection Time: Read your child a story
2. How to Direct Focus
Attentional deployment involves directing attention towards or away from specific aspects or features of a situation (Sheppes et al. 2014).
Won’t Wait Turn Tools
Redirecting Attention: Focus on specific issues rather than global problems to avoid learned helplessness. This makes problems seem more solvable. They can wait their turn in the lunch line but not on the playground.
Promoting Positive Attributes: Parents are prompted to reflect on their child's positive traits, redirecting focus from persistent issues to strengths including:
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They are patient with their little sister because they are caring, but not at dinner time because they are hungry
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They are competitive and that helps them wait their turn in baseball but they won’t be patient taking their turn at a birthday party
Does Not Follow Directions
Situation Change to Increase Following Directions
Limit Smartphone Use: They are distracted by the phone, a screen, or other entertainment
One Step at a Time: They may need shorter directions that are easier to understand
Show Benefits of New Activity: They may not want to transition away from a different activity that they are enjoying
3. Cognitive Change: Reappraisal and Reframing
Cognitive change involves altering interpretations or appraisals of a situation.
Attention Strategies:
Visualizing Success: Imagine the best possible future for the child one year from today.
Loses Things Strategies:
Finding Strengths: Link traits like daydreaming and emotional sensitivity to creativity and empathy, reframing forgetfulness in a positive light.
They may be empathic and likable, but when they tune into others’ emotions, they forget needed items
Parenting Perspective:
Remember happy memories with your child to take a broader perspective
Ask yourself “how will I feel about this a week from now?”
Ask yourself “What’s the worst thing that can happen if we don’t find it soon?”
Tell yourself that this is part of child development and ADHD
4. Response Modulation: Adjusting Emotional Responses
Response modulation involves changing one's emotional response (behavioral, experiential, and physiological) once it begins to unfold.
Procrastination
Good Feelings: Ask the child “how good will you feel when you complete this task?”
Behavioral Rewards: Remind them of a fun activity they can do when they complete the task
Take Small Steps: Ask your child “what is the smallest first step you can take to get started?”
Forgetful
Reduce Stress: Practice breathing in through your nose and into your belly
Positive Feedback: Show appreciation for your child when they remember needed items
Change Behavior: Coach your child to “Ask yourself, “What do I need before I leave the house today?”
Reminders: Coach your child to “slow down and think”
Vignette 1: Situation Change - Managing Morning Chaos
Scenario:
Every morning, Emma struggles to get her 8-year-old son, Ben, ready for school. Ben often gets distracted and forgets items needed for school, leading to a chaotic and stressful start to their day.
Strategy:
Emma decides to implement situation change by modifying their morning routine. Approach:
Preparation the Night Before: Emma helps Ben choose his clothes and pack his school bag the night before.
Morning Checklist: They create a visual checklist for Ben to follow each morning, including tasks like brushing teeth, getting dressed, and packing lunch.
Outcome:
With the new routine in place, mornings become more organized and less stressful. Ben is more focused and ready for school on time, reducing Emma’s frustration and improving their overall morning experience.
Vignette 2: Attentional Deployment - Handling Disruptive Behavior
Scenario:
Laura’s 10-year-old daughter, Mia, often disrupts family dinners with loud and noisy behavior. Laura finds it difficult to manage Mia’s disruptions, which affects the entire family’s meal time.
Strategy:
Laura uses attentional deployment to address Mia’s behavior.
Approach: Calm Environment: Laura dims the lights and plays soft music during dinner to create a calming atmosphere.
Engaging Mia: She asks Mia to help set the table and involves her in dinner conversations, redirecting her energy positively.
Pre-Dinner Activity: Laura introduces a pre-dinner activity where Mia can release some energy, such as a quick game or a short walk.
Outcome:
Mia becomes more engaged and less disruptive during dinner. The calming environment and structured activities help Mia focus and participate positively, enhancing family meal times.
Vignette 3: Cognitive Change - Reframing Forgetfulness
Scenario:
David’s 12-year-old son, Alex, frequently loses his school supplies and forgets homework assignments. David is concerned that Alex’s forgetfulness will affect his academic performance.
Strategy:
David employs cognitive change by reframing Alex’s forgetfulness in a positive light. Approach: Strength-Based Reframing: David recognizes that Alex’s daydreaming, which leads to forgetfulness, is also linked to his creativity.
Positive Examples: He shares stories of successful people who were also forgetful but used their creativity to excel.
Future Visualization: David encourages Alex to imagine a future where he uses his creativity and improved organization skills to succeed.
Outcome:
Alex begins to see his forgetfulness not as a flaw but as part of his creative process. This positive reframe boosts Alex’s self-esteem and motivates him to work on his organizational skills.
Vignette 4: Response Modulation - Managing Parental Stress
Scenario:
Samantha often feels overwhelmed and stressed when her 9-year-old daughter, Lily, forgets important things like her homework or lunch. This stress affects Samantha’s ability to handle the situation calmly.
Strategy:
Samantha adopts response modulation to manage her stress.
Approach:
Breathing Exercises: Samantha practices deep breathing techniques to calm herself when she feels stressed.
Positive Memories: She recalls happy moments with Lily to shift her perspective from frustration to appreciation.
Future Perspective: Samantha asks herself how she will feel about the situation a week from now, helping her realize that these moments are temporary.
Understanding Development: She reminds herself that forgetfulness is a part of Lily’s development and ADHD, and not a personal failure.
Outcome:
By using these techniques, Samantha reduces her stress levels and responds to Lily’s forgetfulness with more patience and understanding. This approach not only improves Samantha’s well-being but also fosters a more supportive environment for Lily.
These vignettes illustrate how parents can apply the four affect regulation strategies—situation change, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation—to manage ADHD-related challenges effectively.
The Bonding Health app is designed to empower parents of children with ADHD, which includes Dr. James Gross's categories of emotional regulation into everyday life. Gross's model identifies key strategies for emotional regulation, including situation change, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation. The Bonding Health app offers practical tools aligned with these strategies, enabling users to modify situations to reduce emotional triggers, direct their focus toward positive stimuli, reframe negative thoughts, and adjust emotional responses in real-time. By leveraging these discrete categories, the app provides a comprehensive and user-friendly platform to enhance emotional well-being and resilience.
