Psychological distress and emotion regulation in Thai adolescents : the moderating role of mindfulness

Abstract

The current study aims to investigate how Mindfulness moderates the relationship between Psychological Distress (depression, anxiety, stress) and Emotion Regulation. Previous studies have found that Emotion Regulation was negatively correlated to Psychological Distress. Furthermore, Mindfulness was also found to negatively correlate with Psychological Distress and positively correlate with Emotion Regulation. Such that, higher self-reported ratings of Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation led to lower scores on self-reported of Psychological Distress. This suggests that Mindfulness may have the potential to affect the relationship between Emotion regulation and Psychological distress. Therefore, the current study hypothesized that those who score high on Emotion Regulation and Mindfulness would have lower score on Psychological Distress. In addition, it was hypothesized that Mindfulness would strengthen the relationship between Emotion Regulation and Psychological Distress. Specifically, individuals with high Emotion Regulation and Mindfulness would have lower levels of Psychological Distress than those with high Emotion Regulation and low Mindfulness. One hundred and one undergraduate students completed a set of questionnaires measuring Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, and Psychological Distress. The findings showed that Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation were negatively correlated with Psychological Distress. However, the moderation effect of Mindfulness on Emotion Regulation and Psychological Distress was not found.