Providing a structural model for psychological problems based on disconnection and rejection domain and negative automatic thoughts with mediating role of experimental avoidance

 Psychological problems are the result of a person's interaction with the environment and include behaviors that cause social conflicts, dissatisfaction and individual unhappiness. The present study aimed to provide a structural model for psychological problems based on disconnection and rejection domain and negative automatic thoughts with mediating role of experimental avoidance.

 The present study was descriptive- correlation and based on the applied aim. The statistical population included all individuals with symptoms of psychological problems that referred to the Qom counseling clinics in 2021. 250 patients with psychological problems were selected by the convenient sampling method and, they answered the questionnaires of “Depression Anxiety Stress Scales”, “Young Schema Questionnaire”, “Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire”and “Acceptance and Action Questionnaire”. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and by Smart Pls software.

 The results of structural equation modeling showed that the model had a relatively fit; And it confirmed the direct effect of disconnection and rejection domain (0.11) and negative automatic thoughts (0.68) on psychological problems. Also, the results of the mediating role of experimental avoidance also showed that experimental avoidance has a significant mediating role (0.66) between disconnection and rejection and negative automatic thoughts with psychological problems (P <0.05).

 The results of this study showed that the disconnection and rejection domain and negative automatic thoughts directly, and experimental avoidance indirectly has been effective on the psychological problems of individuals. Therefore, it is suggested that mental health clinics pay attention to their characteristics disconnection and rejection domain, negative automatic thoughts, and experimental avoidance in reviewing people's psychological problems.