The relationship between difficulty in emotion regulation and metaworry and the tolerance of ambiguity in patients with schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder, and one of the variables that are important in people with schizophrenia is emotional self-regulation. On the other hand, another study has shown that there is a relationship between emotion regulation disorder and ambiguity intolerance.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotion regulation and meta-concern in the tolerance of ambiguity in patients with schizophrenia.

The present study was a correlational study and a cross-sectional study was conducted. The research population was schizophrenic patients referred to the Forghani-Nekoui Psychiatric Center in Qom in 2020. The sample of the study was 141 hospitalized patients or referred to a psychiatric center, which were selected using the convenience sampling method. In order to collect information, Questionnaires on Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale, Wells' Metacognitions Questionnaire and Ambiguity Tolerance Questionnaire were used. Research data were analyzed using pathway analysis with PLS software.

The average score of the difficulty in performing purposeful behaviors in times of helplessness was 54.1±21.63 and the average score of the difficulty in controlling impulsive behaviors in times of helplessness was 67.27±19.27. The average score of the ambiguity tolerance questions was 25.12±4.32. No significant relationship was found in the relationship between the variables, difficulty of emotion regulation and transcendence, difficulty of emotion regulation and tolerance of ambiguity. The only significant relationship was shown between the effect of meta-worry on the ambiguity tolerance (P=0.049).

Therefore, it can be concluded that these patients, as mentioned, have less capacity to tolerate ambiguity and meta-worry. It is suggested to pay more attention to these aspects in the treatment of schizophrenia patients.