RESUMEN
Resumen La literatura en el campo de la regulación emocional nos ha presentado un amplio panorama frente a cómo es el proceso por medio del cual influenciamos en nuestras propias emociones. Sin embargo, pocos estudios, se han centrado en resaltar la importancia de ayudar a otros en su gestión de estados emocionales. El objetivo de este artículo es sintetizar, discutir y organizar algunos elementos teóricos y empíricos sobre la regulación emocional interpersonal. Se presenta cómo se ha analizado la regulación emocional desde el surgimiento de estos estudios en los años noventa, describiendo características, procesos, clases, motivos, elementos y consecuencias de la regulación emocional interpersonal que han sido reportados en la literatura. Se concluye que existe una falta de consenso teórico entre los investigadores, una escasa investigación en diversas áreas del conocimiento, tales como en la educación. Existe también una incipiente exploración en el contexto latinoamericano y una carencia de estudios con niños, niñas y adolescentes. Estas limitaciones sirven para señalar los vacíos teóricos y motivar a futuros investigadores a colaborar en estos campos.
Abstract Literature available in the field of emotional regulation has presented a broad overview of the process through which we influence our own emotions. Nonetheless, few studies have focused on highlighting the importance of helping others in the management of their emotional states. This paper aims to synthesize, discuss, and organize some theoretical and empirical contributions to interpersonal emotional regulation. The paper presents how emotional regulation has been analyzed since the emergence of these studies in the 1990s, including the characteristics, processes, classes, motives, elements, and consequences of interpersonal emotional regulation reported in the literature. It is concluded that there is a lack of theoretical consensus among researchers and a lack of research in different fields of knowledge, such as education. There is also an incipient exploration in the Latin American context and a lack of studies with children and adolescents. These limitations can help to point out theoretical gaps and motivate future researchers to collaborate in research production in these fields.
RESUMEN
Old age is likely to cause a crisis in one's life because of the vulnerabilities it brings up, acting as stressful elements disrupting the elder's feeling of security. It leads to the activation of what is called his attachment system, consisting in attachment styles and interpersonal emotional regulation strategies. To recover a higher sense of safety, the elder would refer to his attachment figures, that is to say closed people paying attention to him, showing towards him availability and consideration. However older adults particularly see their tolerance threshold lowered, regarding an accumulation of losses (true or symbolic) and stressful events within their lifetime. In a psychological and organic exhaustion phenomenon, the risk is to wear out the interpersonal emotional regulation strategies. These are as much vulnerabilities that may increase psychiatric decompensation, including depression. To resolve the tension of this period and to found a necessary secure feeling, the elder will have to redesign the attachment links previously settled and proceed to adjustments to this new context. The need of relational closeness comes back in the elders' attachment behaviour, counting on attachment figures not only to help their loneliness or dependency, but essentially to support them in a narcissist and affective way. That is why attachment theory enlightens the late life period, such as the new challenges older adults have to face. Many studies recognize its value in understanding the transition to old age, but without proposing conceptualization. We aim first to focus on attachment conception to say how much it is relevant with elderly, and then to describe specific terms of attachment within this population in order to better understand those patients. To finish, we must think about new therapeutic proposals taking into consideration the attachment perspective for a better understanding of old age transition.