The Relationship between Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Addiction Tendency: The Mediating Roles of Social and Emotional Loneliness and Early Maladaptive Schemas

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive emotion and regulation addiction tendency with the mediating roles of loneliness and early maladaptive schemas among students.

The present study was descriptive-correlational and structural equations. The statistical population included all students in master degree in Islamic Azad University of Zanjan in the academic year of 2017-2018 that 300 people were selected by stratified random sampling. To collect data, Garnefski, Kraaij and Spinhoven cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire (2001), Weed and Butcherchr('39')s addiction potential scale (1992), Ditommasso, Brannen and Bestchr('39')s social and emotional loneliness scale (2004), and the Young schema questionnaire-short (1998) were used. The proposed model was evaluated using structural equation modeling using SPSS 25 and PLS software.

The suggested model had an appropriate fit. Adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and early maladaptive schemas had no significant direct effects on addiction tendency, while maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and loneliness had. Loneliness and early maladaptive schemas mediated the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and addiction tendency, while early maladaptive schemas did not mediate the relationship between adaptive emotion regulation strategies and addiction tendency.

The results of the present study, in addition to explaining the interpersonal factors affecting the tendency to addiction among students, can be useful as a suitable model for designing addiction prevention programs among students and the youth.