The mediating role of difficulty in emotion regulation on the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and alexithymia

Alexithymia causes many problems in both personal and social life. What is the role early maladaptive schemas in development and maintaining of these problems? What is the role of difficulty in emotion regulation on the possible relationship between early maladaptive schemas and marital problems? To achieve answers of such questions, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of difficulty in emotion regulation on the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and alexithymia. Two hundred and eighty seven married students (158 females, 129 males) who were living in Urmia participated in this study as volunteers. Participants completed the Farsi version of Toronto Alexithymia Scale (FTAS-20), Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF), and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Analysis of data involved both descriptive and inferential statistics including frequency, means, standard deviation, Pearson's correlation coefficients and path analysis. The results showed a significant positive correlation between early maladaptive schemas, alexithymia, and difficulty in emotion regulation. The results of path analysis showed that the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and alexithymia 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 alexithymia is not a linear and one dimensional correlation. Difficulty in emotion regulation can play a meditational role between the two.