The Relationship between Emotion Regulation Difficulties with the Quality of Life Veterans' Spouses: the Mediating Role of Positive and Negative Emotions

The influential consequences of war on mental health, well-being, and the quality of life of veterans and their families continue long after the end of the war. The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of mediators of positive and negative emotions in the relationship between difficulty in regulating emotion and quality of life in the spouses of veterans.

The present study was a descriptive-analytical study of correlational designs that used structural equation modeling or causal modeling. The statistical population included all the spouses of veterans of Noorabad, Mamasani, among whom 215 people were selected by available sampling method considering the entry and exit conditions of the research. The tools used included a positive and negative emotion program, a quality of life scale, and a scale of difficulty in regulating emotion. Data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling. Indirect relationships were also analyzed by the bototherapy method.

The results revealed that all the coefficients of the paths between the variables and the quality of life were significant. In this model, the relationship was difficult to regulate emotionally with a negative and significant quality of life. There was also a significant relationship between difficulty in regulating emotion and positive and negative emotions with quality of life (p <0.001). Fitness indicators displayed that the model had acceptable fit with the data. Fitness indicators showed that the model has acceptable fit with the data. The results of indirect path coefficients, using bootstrap method, showed that the difficulty in regulating emotion indirectly and through positive and negative emotions with the quality of life of veterans' spouses.

The research model indicated a suitable and acceptable fit with the obtained data and the assumed structural relationships were confirmed. Based on the results, the difficulty in regulating emotion can be predicted through positive and negative emotions with quality of life in veteran spouses.