Cognitive reappraisal
Cognitive reappraisal has been studied in 7 papers since 2022: 7 observational studies in people. The newest paper, Sep 13, 2025: “Perceived stress and cognitive decline: the moderating role of emotion regulation”.
7 papers study it5 findingsUpdated
“there was a significant, negative association between cognitive reappraisal and depressive symptoms and perceived stress”
None of its findings points the other way.
- 4 independent labs in 2 countries
- Funders: National Institute on Aging and 7 more
- Humans7
What did studies of Cognitive reappraisal find?
3Studies of Cognitive reappraisal measured 3 outcomes; the most studied are IL-6 (1 study), late-differentiated NK cells (1) and executive functioning accuracy (1).
IL-6
downin humans1
1 study
IL-6
downin humans1
Cognitive reappraisal decreases IL-6 in humans.
“older adults who experienced less desirable stressors but also used more reappraisal had significantly lower proportions of late-differentiated NK cells on average and lower levels of IL-6 within-person.”
Humansin older adults experiencing less desirable stressors, within-personbloodn = 149
Life stressors and immune aging: Protective effects of cognitive reappraisal
Brain, behavior, and immunity
Late-differentiated NK cells
downin humans1
1 study
Late-differentiated NK cells
downin humans1
Cognitive reappraisal decreases late-differentiated NK cells in humans.
“older adults who experienced less desirable stressors but also used more reappraisal had significantly lower proportions of late-differentiated NK cells on average”
Humansin older adults experiencing less desirable stressorsbloodn = 149
Life stressors and immune aging: Protective effects of cognitive reappraisal
Brain, behavior, and immunity
Executive functioning accuracy
downin humans1
1 study
Executive functioning accuracy
downin humans1
Cognitive reappraisal impairs executive functioning accuracy in humans.
“Both recent ES and CR appear to have a deleterious impact on EF performance accuracy”
Humansn = 201
Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology
What is Cognitive reappraisal linked with?
1Studies link Cognitive reappraisal with 1 measure, most often depressive symptoms (1 study).
Depressive symptoms
downin humans1
1 study
Depressive symptoms
downin humans1
Cognitive reappraisal is associated with depressive symptoms in humans.
“there was a significant, negative association between cognitive reappraisal and depressive symptoms and perceived stress”
Humansn = 267
Emotion Regulation, Parasympathetic Function, and Psychological Well-Being
Frontiers in psychology
What acts on Cognitive reappraisal?
1Studies name 1 thing that act on Cognitive reappraisal, most often Older age (1 study).
Older age
downin humans1
1 study
Older age
downin humans1
older age decreases cognitive reappraisal in humans.
“Younger adults were more likely to use reappraisal than were older adults”
Humans
Experimental aging research