The Moderating Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies in the Relationship between the Severity of Sexual Trauma Experience and Somatic Symptom

Regard to the impact of the sexual traumatic event on somatic and psychological functioning and the importance of this issue in students, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the severity of sexual trauma experience on somatic symptoms and the role of moderating cognitive emotion regulation strategies in Student girls abused.

The present research method was descriptive-correlation and the statistical population was all students aged 14 to 17 in Tehran province in the academic year of 1997-98. In this study, two areas were selected as available (Rudehen Education Area and Four Area). By screening the cases of sexual experience (sexual harassment and sexual abuse), 273 people participated in the analysis as the main sample. The data were collected by checklist of Traumatic Experiences of Nugent Hues and Wonder Hart & Kruger (2002), Cognitive emotion regulation strategies questionnaire Garnefsky et al. (2001), Greek’s Mental Health Questionnaire (2015), and analyzed using correlation, bootstrap test, and conditional effects.

The results of the present study showed that among the strategies of emotion regulation, Catastrophizing and rumination positivity, and acceptance negatively, were able to significantly moderate the effects severity of the experience of sexual trauma on somatic symptoms.

Due to the moderating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between the severity of sexual experience and somatic symptoms in order to promote physical health and reduce somatic symptoms, it is recommended to develop programs to study the history of trauma, especially sexual trauma in adolescents with somatic symptoms, and also by training the emotion regulation consistence strategies, effective interventions should be performed.