The Mediating Role of Self-Differentiation and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in the Relationship between the Quality of Object Relationships and Marital Satisfaction

The present study aimed to investigate the role of the quality of object relationships on matrimonial satisfaction mediated by the self-differentiation and cognitive emotion regulation.

The study was descriptive-correlational research using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method. The population included all people who were married for at least two years and visited psychological and counseling clinics in Mashhad, Iran, from the period time of 2020 to 21 due to suffering from marital conflicts. The participants were selected using the convenience sampling technique. From 300 questionnaires that were distributed among the participants, a total of 260 questionnaires fulfilled the required analysis criteria. The instruments for data collection included Bell’s object relations and reality testing inventory, the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, the differentiation of self inventory, and the ENRICH marital satisfaction scale. The data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique.

The findings showed that the quality of object relationships predicted the rates of matrimonial satisfaction (p>0/05). Moreover, the findings showed that the differentiation of self and negative cognitive emotion regulation played mediatory roles (p>0/05). Based of these findings, it is concluded that in both pre-marriage counseling and couples therapy programs, considering the quality of object relationships as well as the self-differentiation as the variables that are based on psychoanalytical concepts can be essential for designing beneficial interventions due to this assumption that the dependency on one’s family and the relatives’ interferences are always the most significant predictors of divorce.