Bio


Kate Petrova is a third-year PhD student at the Stanford Psychophysiology Laboratory. In her research, Kate uses the tools of computational affective science to better understand how people use affect as a source of information in decision-making. Her other interests include applying computational modeling to formalize existing theories of emotion generation and regulation, as well as using a combination of behavioral experiments and intensive longitudinal methods to study interpersonal emotion regulation, Kate earned her A.B. in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and spent several years working on the Harvard Study of Adult Development before joining SPL.

Education & Certifications


  • A.B., Bryn Mawr College, Psychology and Neuroscience (2020)

Work Experience


  • Research Assistant, Harvard Study of Adult Development

    Location

    United States

All Publications


  • Alexithymia profiles and depression, anxiety, and stress. Journal of affective disorders Preece, D. A., Mehta, A., Petrova, K., Sikka, P., Pemberton, E., Gross, J. J. 2024

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: Alexithymia is a multidimensional trait comprised of difficulties identifying feelings, difficulties describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. It is regarded as an important risk factor for emotional disorders, but there are presently limited data on each specific facet of alexithymia, or the extent to which deficits in processing negative emotions, positive emotions, or both, are important. In this study, we address these gaps by using the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) to comprehensively examine the relationships between alexithymia and depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms.METHODS: University students (N = 1250) completed the PAQ and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. Pearson correlations, hierarchical regressions, and latent profile analysis were conducted.RESULTS: All facets of alexithymia, across both valence domains, were significantly correlated with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms (r = 0.27-0.40). Regression analyses indicated that the alexithymia facets, together, could account for a significant 14.6 %-16.4 % of the variance in depression, anxiety, and stress. Difficulties identifying negative feelings and difficulties identifying positive feelings were the strongest unique predictors across all symptom categories. Our latent profile analysis extracted eight profiles, comprising different combinations of alexithymia facets and psychopathology symptoms, collectively highlighting the transdiagnostic relevance of alexithymia facets.LIMITATIONS: Our study involved a student sample, and further work in clinical samples will be beneficial.CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that all facets of alexithymia, across both valence domains, are relevant for understanding depression, anxiety, and stress. These findings demonstrate the value of facet-level and valence-specific alexithymia assessments, informing more comprehensive understanding and more targeted treatments of emotional disorder symptoms.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2024.02.071

    View details for PubMedID 38387670

  • Alexithymia or general psychological distress? Discriminant validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire. Journal of affective disorders Preece, D. A., Petrova, K., Mehta, A., Sikka, P., Gross, J. J. 2024

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: Alexithymia is an important transdiagnostic risk factor for emotion-based psychopathologies. However, it remains unclear whether alexithymia questionnaires actually measure alexithymia, or whether they measure emotional distress. Our aim here was to address this discriminant validity concern via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ).METHOD: United States general community adults (N = 508) completed the TAS-20, PAQ, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21). EFA was used to examine the latent dimensions underlying these measures' scores.RESULTS: Our EFA extracted two higher-order factors, an "alexithymia" factor and a "general distress" factor (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress). All PAQ scores loaded cleanly on the alexithymia factor, with no cross-loadings on the distress factor. However, for the TAS-20, Difficulty Identifying Feelings (DIF) facet scores cross-loaded highly on the distress factor.LIMITATIONS: Our sample consisted of general community adults; future work in clinical settings will be useful.CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that the PAQ has good discriminant validity. However, the TAS-20 appears to have significant discriminant validity problems, in that much of the variance in its DIF facet reflects people's current levels of distress, rather than alexithymia. The TAS-20, which has traditionally been the most widely used alexithymia questionnaire, may therefore not be the optimal alexithymia tool. Our findings add to the body of evidence supporting the validity and utility of the PAQ and suggest that, moving forward, it is a superior option to the TAS-20 for alexithymia assessments.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.271

    View details for PubMedID 38320659

  • The role of emotion beliefs in depression, anxiety, and stress AUSTRALIAN PSYCHOLOGIST Johnston, T. E., Petrova, K., Mehta, A., Gross, J. J., Mcevoy, P., Preece, D. A. 2023
  • Occurrent beliefs about emotions predict emotion regulation in everyday life. Emotion (Washington, D.C.) Petrova, K., Zielke, J. N., Mehta, A., Gross, J. J. 2023

    Abstract

    Whether and how people regulate their negative emotions matters a great deal. However, it is not yet clear why people regulate as they do. One promising idea is that people's beliefs shape their emotion regulation choices, and initial evidence indicates that individuals' dispositional beliefs about emotions are indeed associated with general patterns of emotion regulation. The present study extends prior work on emotion beliefs to better understand how occurrent (i.e., momentary) beliefs about helpfulness, controllability, and justification of specific emotions shape whether and how people regulate negative emotions in everyday life. Participants (N = 143; U.S. community college students recruited in 2022; 76% female; age = 18-60) completed a 7-day experience-sampling protocol in which they were pinged three times per day to describe their most recent negative experiences and answer questions about their emotions, occurrent beliefs about emotions, and emotion regulation. With respect to whether people regulate their emotions, results reveal that people regulate their emotions more when they perceive them to be less helpful. Exploratory analyses additionally show that people regulate negative emotions more when they perceive them to be more controllable and when emotional intensity is relatively high. In terms of how people regulate their emotions, people are more likely to use reappraisal when emotions are seen as more helpful, more controllable, and less justified; and more likely to use distraction when emotions are seen as less helpful and more justified. These findings contribute to a more fine-grained understanding of how beliefs shape emotion regulation in everyday life.respect to whether people regulate their emotions, results reveal that people regulate their emotions more when they perceive them to be less helpful. Exploratory analyses additionally show that people regulate negative emotions more when they perceive them to be more controllable and when emotional intensity is relatively high. In terms of how people regulate their emotions, people are more likely to use reappraisal when emotions are seen as more helpful, more controllable, and less justified; and more likely to use distraction when emotions are seen as less helpful and more justified. These findings contribute to a more fine-grained understanding of how beliefs shape emotion regulation (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

    View details for DOI 10.1037/emo0001317

    View details for PubMedID 38060019

  • The Future of Emotion Regulation Research: Broadening Our Field of View. Affective science Petrova, K., Gross, J. J. 2023; 4 (4): 609-616

    Abstract

    Over the past few decades, emotion regulation research has matured into a vibrant and rapidly growing field (in 2022 alone, more than 30 thousand papers were published on emotion regulation). Taking stock of our progress, we ask "What does the future hold?" In this manuscript, we offer a roadmap for the next generation of research on emotion regulation. We begin by painting a picture of the field's journey so far. We then outline a forward-looking agenda for broadening our field of view along three key dimensions: (1) increasing our resolution to see how regulatory strategies are flexibly and dynamically translated into tactics; (2) widening our viewing angle to embrace interpersonal emotion regulation; and (3) extending the timescale of emotion regulation research to examine how regulatory efforts are fine-tuned across the regulatory cycle and in the context of a broader range of affective experiences. In doing so, we highlight empirical studies that exemplify these three areas of focus and discuss the opportunities that lie before us. We close by offering a set of concrete practical and methodological recommendations for how the field can accomplish the goals we have outlined.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s42761-023-00222-0

    View details for PubMedID 38156255

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10751286

  • The Future of Emotion Regulation Research: Broadening Our Field of View AFFECTIVE SCIENCE Petrova, K., Gross, J. J. 2023
  • The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short Form (ERQ-S): A 6-item measure of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Journal of affective disorders Preece, D. A., Petrova, K., Mehta, A., Gross, J. J. 2023

    Abstract

    Emotion regulation plays a crucial role in affective functioning. One of the most commonly used measures of emotion regulation is the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), a 10-item self-report measure assessing frequency of use of two common emotion regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. In this study, we aimed to optimize the utility of the ERQ for time-pressured settings by introducing and validating a 6-item short form called the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short Form (ERQ-S).General community (N = 508) and college student (N = 245) samples from the United States completed online surveys containing a range of psychometric self-report measures. For each sample, we examined the factor structure, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of the ERQ-S.Our confirmatory factor analyses supported the intended 2-factor structure of the ERQ-S (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression factors), with all items loading well on their intended factor in both samples. As expected, the ERQ-S correlated highly with the ERQ. A profile of low cognitive reappraisal use and high expressive suppression use on the ERQ-S was significantly associated with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties, alexithymia, and affective symptoms.We did not examine psychometric performance in a clinical sample, or other cultural groups outside the US. All concurrent validity markers were self-report questionnaires.Our data suggest that the ERQ-S successfully retains the psychometric strengths of the ERQ. The shorter format of the ERQ-S should therefore help to optimize the measurement of emotion regulation in time-pressured settings.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.076

    View details for PubMedID 37597776

  • Alexithymia and Emotion Regulation AFFECTIVE SCIENCE Preece, D. A., Mehta, A., Petrova, K., Sikka, P., Bjureberg, J., Becerra, R., Gross, J. J. 2023; 4 (1)
  • The Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire-Short Form (PAQ-S): A 6-item measure of alexithymia. Journal of affective disorders Preece, D. A., Mehta, A., Petrova, K., Sikka, P., Bjureberg, J., Chen, W., Becerra, R., Allan, A., Robinson, K., Gross, J. J. 2023

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: Alexithymia is a trait characterized by difficulties identifying feelings, difficulties describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. It is widely regarded as an important transdiagnostic risk factor for a range of psychopathologies, including depressive and anxiety disorders. Whilst several well-validated psychometric measures of alexithymia exist, these are relatively lengthy, thus limiting their utility in time-pressured settings. In this paper, we address this gap by introducing and validating a brief 6-item version of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire, called the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire-Short Form (PAQ-S).METHOD: Across two studies with adult samples (Study 1 N = 508 United States community; Study 2378 Australian college students), we examined the psychometric properties of the PAQ-S in terms of its factor structure, reliability, and concurrent/criterion validity.RESULTS: In exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, all PAQ-S items loaded well on a single general alexithymia factor. The PAQ-S total score had high reliability, and correlated as expected with the long-form of the PAQ, as well as other established markers of alexithymia, emotion regulation, and affective disorder symptoms.LIMITATIONS: Our samples were general community or college student samples from two Western countries; future validation work in clinical samples and more diverse cultural groups is thus needed.CONCLUSIONS: The PAQ-S retains the psychometric strengths of the PAQ. As such, the PAQ-S can be used as a quick, robust measure of overall alexithymia levels. The introduction of the PAQ-S hence enables valid assessments of alexithymia in a more diverse range of settings and research designs.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.036

    View details for PubMedID 36642314

  • Alexithymia and emotion regulation. Journal of affective disorders Preece, D. A., Mehta, A., Petrova, K., Sikka, P., Bjureberg, J., Becerra, R., Gross, J. J. 2022

    Abstract

    Alexithymia is a key transdiagnostic risk factor for emotion-based psychopathologies. Conceptual models specify that this is because alexithymia impairs emotion regulation. However, the extent of these putative emotion regulation impairments remains underexplored. Our aim in this study was to begin to address this gap by examining whether people with high, average, or low levels of alexithymia differ in the types of emotion regulation strategies they typically use.General community adults from the United States (N = 501) completed a battery of alexithymia and emotion regulation measures. Participants were grouped into high, average, and low alexithymia quantiles.After controlling for demographics and current levels of distress, the high, average, and low alexithymia groups differed in their use of cognitive and behavioral emotion regulation strategies. Compared to the other groups, the high alexithymia group reported lesser use of generally adaptive regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal, approaching problems, and seeking social support) and greater use of generally maladaptive regulation strategies (expressive suppression, behavioral withdrawal, ignoring).Our data were cross-sectional and from self-report questionnaires. Future work in other cultural groups would be beneficial.Our results support the view that alexithymia is associated with impaired emotion regulation. In particular, people with high alexithymia seem to exhibit a less adaptive profile of emotion regulation strategies. Direct targeting of these emotion regulation patterns in psychotherapy may therefore be a useful pathway for the treatment of emotional disorder symptoms in people with high alexithymia.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.065

    View details for PubMedID 36566943

  • Emotional experiences in technology-mediated and in-person interactions: an experience-sampling study. Cognition & emotion Petrova, K., Schulz, M. S. 2022: 1-8

    Abstract

    As the ubiquity of technology-mediated communication grows, so does the number of questions about the costs and benefits of replacing in-person interactions with technology-mediated ones. In the present study, we used a daily diary design to examine how people's emotional experiences vary across in-person, video-, phone-, and text-mediated interactions in day-to-day life. We hypothesised that individuals would report less positive affect and more negative affect after less life-like interactions (where in-person is defined as the most life-like and text-mediated as the least life-like). In line with this hypothesis, the analysis of 527 unique interactions reported by 102 individuals (mean age=19.3; 85.6% female) over the course of 7 days reveals that people feel lonelier, sadder, less affectionate, less supported, and less happy following less life-like interactions. Additional analyses show that the links between life-like communication and momentary experiences are independent of properties of individual interactions such as interaction length and participants' overall evaluations of interaction quality. These findings provide initial evidence that there may be inherent properties of common technology-mediated communication tools that may lead to momentary changes in affective experiences and make social connection more challenging.

    View details for DOI 10.1080/02699931.2022.2043244

    View details for PubMedID 35200113

  • Coherence Between Feelings and Heart Rate: Links to Early Adversity and Responses to Stress. Affective science Petrova, K., Nevarez, M. D., Rice, J., Waldinger, R. J., Preacher, K. J., Schulz, M. S. 2021; 2 (1): 1-13

    Abstract

    Past research suggests that higher coherence between feelings and physiology under stress may confer regulatory advantages. Research and theory also suggest that higher resting vagal tone (rVT) may promote more adaptive responses to stress. The present study examines the roles of response system coherence (RSC; defined as the within-individual covariation between feelings and heart rate over time) and rVT in mediating the links between childhood adversity and later-life responses to acute stressors. Using data from 279 adults from the Second Generation Study of the Harvard Study of Adult Development who completed stressful public speaking and mental arithmetic tasks, we find that individuals who report more childhood adversity have lower RSC, but not lower rVT. We further find that lower RSC mediates the association between adversity and slower cardiovascular recovery. Higher rVT in the present study is linked to less intense cardiovascular reactivity to stress, but not to quicker recovery or to the subjective experience of negative affect after the stressful tasks. Additional analyses indicate links between RSC and mindfulness and replicate previous findings connecting RSC to emotion regulation and well-being outcomes. Taken together, these findings are consistent with the idea that uncoupling between physiological and emotional streams of affective experiences may be one of the mechanisms connecting early adversity to later-life affective responses. These findings also provide evidence that RSC and rVT are associated with distinct aspects of self-regulation under stress.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-020-00027-5.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s42761-020-00027-5

    View details for PubMedID 36042915

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9382966

  • Self-Distancing and Avoidance Mediate the Links Between Trait Mindfulness and Responses to Emotional Challenges MINDFULNESS Petrova, K., Nevarez, M. D., Waldinger, R. J., Preacher, K. J., Schulz, M. S. 2021; 12 (4): 947-958

    Abstract

    Mindfulness has been linked to better emotion regulation and more adaptive responses to stress across a number of studies, but the mechanisms underlying these links remain to be fully understood. The present study examines links between trait mindfulness (Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire; FFMQ) and participants' responses to common emotional challenges, focusing specifically on the roles of reduced avoidance and more self-distanced engagement as key potential mechanisms driving the adaptive benefits of trait mindfulness.Adults (n = 305, age range: 40-72) from the Second Generation Study of the Harvard Study of Adult Development completed two laboratory-based challenges - public speaking combined with difficult math tasks (the Trier Social Stress Test) and writing about a memory of a difficult moment. State anxiety and sadness were assessed immediately before and after the two stressors. To capture different ways of engaging, measures of self-distancing, avoidance, and persistent worry were collected during the lab session.As predicted, individuals who scored higher on the FFMQ experienced less anxiety and persistent worry in response to the social stressors. The FFMQ was also linked to less anxiety and sadness when writing about a difficult moment. The links between mindfulness and negative emotions after the writing task were independently mediated by self-distanced engagement and lower avoidance.Affective benefits of trait mindfulness under stress are associated with both the degree and the nature of emotional engagement. Specifically, reduced avoidance and self-distanced engagement may facilitate reflection on negative experiences that is less affectively aversive.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s12671-020-01559-4

    View details for Web of Science ID 000606410800001

    View details for PubMedID 34149956

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8210843

  • Coherence Between Feelings and Heart Rate: Links to Early Adversity and Responses to Stress Affective Science Petrova, K., Nevarez, M. D., Rice, J., Waldinger, R. J., Preacher, K. J., Schulz, M. S. 2021; 2 (1): 1–13