Identifying attentional deployment tactics in older adults’ written narratives about emotionally upsetting events

Essays about distressing events written by 58 older adults on three occasions ( n = 174) were coded to identify how older adults responded when confronting an emotionally upsetting event. Participants limited the experience of negative emotion by transitioning from negative to positive aspects of the event within a writing session, and across sessions, switched writing topics and moved from writing about past events to current problems. The use of attentional deployment tactics was associated with lower negative affect. This study confirms results found in quantitative studies and uncovers new processes that promote emotion regulation.