Emotion Regulation Training to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Depressed Young Adults in Southern Mississippi: A Single-Session Design

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in Mississippi, accounting for over a third of deaths within the state. Mississippians face numerous health disparities that enhance disease risk throughout our community. In addition to behavioral factors, several notable biological markers enhance risk for CVD including low resting heart rate variability (HRV), high blood pressure, and inflammation. In Mississippi, an estimated 20.9% of adults meet criteria for depression. Adults experiencing depressive disorders experience high rates of emotion dysregulation, and psychological interventions that include emotion regulation training components are highly efficacious in reducing psychological and physical symptoms associated with depression. Depression, particularly major depressive disorder, is routinely linked with enhanced CVD risk. Understanding and intervening on the relationship between CVD risk factors and depression in young adulthood offers potential to prevent exacerbation of risk later in life. This pilot study will investigate the utility of a single-session emotion regulation training to reduce CVD risk among young adults living in Southern Mississippi who are diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). The study aims are to: 1) examine whether the single-session emotion regulation training promotes changes in biological risk factors for cardiovascular disease immediately following the training and at a 1-week follow-up visit; 2) to assess whether the single-session emotion regulation training reduces depressive symptoms among research subjects; and 3) to test whether use of emotion regulation skills learned during the training in the week following the intervention session promotes greater changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors. Using a lab-based experimental intervention design, young adults will undergo a single-session emotion regulation skills training. Before and after the skills training session, research subjects will supply several physiological metrics tied to CVD risk: resting HRV, c-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and blood pressure. Subjects will provide the same biological metrics at a one-week follow-up visit to assess short-term sustained gains following the single-session intervention. Results from this study offer potential to reduce emotion regulation difficulties associated with major depression, reduce CVD risk factors among young adults in Mississippi, and advance our knowledge of how psychological interventions can improve both psychological and physical risk factors for chronic health conditions among young adults, potentially buffering depression's long-term health impact.