The Relationship between the Maladaptive Schemas with Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Regulation in the Diabetic Elderly

Aging is a biological process that all living beings, including humans, experience. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between early maladaptive schemas with emotional intelligence and emotional regulation in the elderly with diabetes.

This research was a descriptive and correlational study. The statistical population of this study included all elderly people with diabetes referred to the Charity Association for the Support of Diabetic Patients in Guilan Province in the last month of 2019 to 541 people, of whom 225 were sampled. A class was selected randomly. To collect data, Youngchr('39')s early maladaptive schema questionnaires (1998), Meyer and Salovi (1997) emotional intelligence questionnaires, and Gross and John (2003) emotional regulation questionnaires were used. Research data were analyzed using Pearson parametric statistics and multivariate regression.

The results showed that there was a significant relationship between early maladaptive schemas and emotional intelligence in the elderly (P˂0.01). There was also a significant relationship between early maladaptive schemas and emotional regulation in the elderly (P˂0.01). In another part of this study, the results showed that 24.4% of changes in early maladaptive schemas in the elderly can be explained using changes in emotional intelligence variables and emotional regulation.

Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that the variables of emotional intelligence and emotional regulation are good predictors of early maladaptive schemas in the elderly with diabetes.