Research Seminar with Katherine Maurer: The Phenomenology of Adolescent Affect Regulation - Preliminary Findings

The current project explores affect regulation as a key mechanism of the intergenerational transmission of family violence. Adolescence is a crucial window of affect regulation maturation and social development during which regulation processes are uniquely malleable to intervention. Our study explored the construct of affect regulation deconstructed into biological, psychological, and behavioral components as experienced by adolescents with maltreatment histories. Although much is known about the physiology of affect regulation, little is known, however, of the phenomenology, the lived experience of maltreated adolescents’ affect regulation.

In the research seminar, we will present our application of phenomenological qualitative methods to generate a rich lexicon of description that prioritizes the experiential domain of affect regulation without prioritizing any of the interactive components of the phenomenon of regulation. We will report preliminary findings on adolescents’ descriptions of the feelings, physical sensations, and cognitions about experiencing elevated emotional states and their capacities to inhibit acting on aggressive and violent impulses. Implications for future research and links to practice and policy issues will also be discussed.

Bring your lunch. Cookies & coffee will be served.

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