Emotion regulation and personality traits as mediators between early life trauma and adult psychological distress

• Autor(a) principal: Fidalgo, Daniela dos Santos
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/39631
• topic: Early life trauma; Emotional regulation; Rumination; Cognitive reappraisal; Emotional suppression; Personality traits; Distress; Depression; Anxiety; Stress

Emotional regulation encompasses the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one's emotions in adaptive ways, employing strategies such as cognitive reappraisal or maladaptive strategies like emotional suppression. Another maladaptive emotional regulation strategy is rumination, which can be further categorized into brooding and reflection. When it comes to personality, ELT has the potential to shape and significantly impact an individual's personality, influencing its formation and development. This study aimed to investigate the impact of personality traits, cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, and rumination as mediators in the relationship between ELT and the development of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. The results revealed statistically significant mediating effects of brooding rumination and reflection rumination between ELT and distress. Additionally, cognitive reappraisal showed a statistically significant mediating effect between physical abuse, physical neglect, and psychological distress. Furthermore, emotional suppression exhibited a statistically significant mediating effect between physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, and psychological distress. Notably, neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, and conscientiousness showed statistically significant mediating effects on most ELT subtypes. Understanding the relationship between ELT and mental health is crucial for effective prevention, early intervention, and treatment strategies. Considering the individual's personality traits and the strategies they employ for emotional regulation is essential to tailor interventions for individuals who have experienced ELT, aiming to reduce or prevent possible symptomatology.