Kişilik Özellikleri ve Depresyon Belirtileri Arasındaki İlişkide Duygu Düzenleme Esnekliğinin Aracı Rolünün İncelenmesi

Abstract

Difficulties in regulating emotions, which are noted to have significant functions for humans, are among the causes of many psychological disorders. An increasing number of studies demonstrate that the choice and effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies can vary significantly depending on individuals and situations, that emotion regulation flexibility is associated with good mental health, and that it can be considered adaptive. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of emotion regulation flexibility on the relationship between personality traits and depressive symptoms. In line with this aim, the current study consists of two stages. In the preliminary stage, adaptation studies were conducted for two scales developed to measure components of the Multicomponent Model of Regulation Flexibility, which serves as the basis for this study: the "Context Sensitivity Index," developed to measure Context Sensitivity, and the "Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression Scale," developed to measure Strategy Repertoire. In this stage, a total of 436 individuals aged between 18–65 contributed to the research. When the psychometric properties of the two scales adapted into Turkish were examined, they were found to be valid and reliable measurement tools that can be used with the Turkish sample. In the main study, the mediating role of emotion regulation flexibility components in the relationship between personality traits and depressive symptoms was examined. At this stage, parallel mediation models were tested using data from a total of 319 participants aged between 19–65. It was found that the tested mediating roles of emotion regulation flexibility components in the relationship between personality traits and depressive symptom levels were not significant. However, the results showed that the inclusion of the components as mediating variables in the model slightly reduced the effect sizes of extraversion and conscientiousness personality traits on depression. Additionally, it was found that the components of emotion regulation flexibility had no role in the positive relationship between neuroticism and depression. While the Context Sensitivity component did not show significant relationships with personality traits and depression in mediation models, the Feedback Sensitivity component demonstrated the strongest relationship. The present study is largely considered to have an exploratory approach, and the findings are regarded as preliminary. The obtained findings were discussed in the context of the existing literature.