The role of cognitive distortions and cognitive emotion regulation strategies on the marriage anxiety of non-married individuals

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between marriage anxiety degrees, cognitive distortion types and cognitive emotion regulation strategies of unmarried individuals. The sample of the study consisted of 481 unmarried adults, 256 female and 225 male. Demographic Information Form, Marriage Anxiety Scale (MAS), Cognitive Distortions Scale (CDS), and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Scale (CERQ) were used as data collection tools in the study. The Independent Sample T-Test and Kruskal-Wallis test were applied to analyze the differentiation of the participants' marital anxiety levels according to socio-demographic characteristics. Pearson Correlation Analysis was applied to examine the relationship between the scores obtained from the MAS and the sub-dimensions of CDS and CERQ. As a result of the analyzes, it is showned that the marital anxiety levels of individuals differed according to gender; It is seen that there is no difference according to age, education level and marital status. In this differentiation seen on the basis of gender, it means that men have a higher level of marital anxiety than women. Research findings also shows that there is a significant relationship between marriage anxiety and acceptance, rumination, and positive refocusing. In addition, it is seen that there is a significant relationship between marital anxiety and all CERQ sub-dimensions.