The Relationship between Cognitive Emotion Regulation and the Severity of Emotional Distress in Patient with Psychosomatic Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

Gastrointestinal disorders are ranked first among medical disorders to seek psychiatric consultation. Various researches report multiple causes for and emphasize the role of psychological factors in causing or exacerbating symptoms of this disorder. Emotional distress highly affects people. Emotional regulation mechanisims are among the factors that could affect the level of emotional distress. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive role emotional regulation on determining emotional distress in ipatients with psychosomatic and Functional Gastrointestinal disorder.

In this descriptive and correlational study, the population included 150 patients with FGIDs were selected by purposeful sampling method from indivisuals who referred to a specilalized clinic for Gastroenterology in Tehran. The participants completed Garnefski Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire :CERQ-36 )2006 ( and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale DASS-21 (1995). Data analysis was done in SPSS 24 using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression.

Fndings showed a significant positive relationship between Maladaptive (negative) emotional regulation and emotional distress and its components (depression, anxiety, and stress). Also an indirect significant relationship was detected between Adaptive (positive) emotional regulation and two components of emotional distress in which adaptive emotional regulation signicantly predict depression and stress as two components of emotional distress .

Positive (adaptive) cognitive regulation Mechanisim play a role in decreasing the severity of emotional distress in individuals with Functional Gastrointestinal disorders/