Effects of Imagery Rescripting Versus Rumination on Emotion Regulation in an Online Pilot Study

Imagery rescripting (IR) has been shown to be effective for emotion regulation in both patients with mental disorders and in experimental settings. However, the effects of rumination on emotion regulation remain ambiguous, with some studies classifying rumination as an adaptive emotion regulation strategy and others as maladaptive. In this pilot study, we aimed to compare the effect of IR with rumination on emotion regulation following sad autobiographical recall. We expected IR to be more effective in recovering positive affect compared to rumination and a control group. In an online experiment, 70 healthy students were randomly assigned to IR, rumination, or a passive control group after recalling a sad autobiographical memory. Mood was assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) before and after the intervention. In this study, IR was superior to rumination (p = 0.033) in recovering PA after sad autobiographical recall. Therefore, IR affects mood recovery positively after recalling a sad autobiographical memory. Rumination resulted in prolonged impairment in mood and therefore should be regarded as a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy.