The mediating role of difficulty of emotion regulation in the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and marital problems

Marital problems cause many crises in daily lives of a large number of families. What is the role of early maladaptive schemas in development and maintaining of these problems? What is the possible role of difficulty in emotion regulation in early maladaptive schemas and marital problems? The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of difficulty in emotion regulation in the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and marital problems. Two hundred and eighty seven married volunteer students (158 females, 129 males), living in Urmia, participated in this study. Participants completed the Golombok Rust Inventory of Marital State Questionnaire (GRIMS), the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF), and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). The results showed a significantly positive correlation between early maladaptive schemas and marital problems, and difficulty in emotion regulation. The results of path analysis showed that the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and marital problems was mediated by difficulty in emotion regulation. According to the results of the present study, it can be concluded that the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and marital problems is not linear and the difficulty in emotion regulation can play a meditational role between the two.