The effect of difficulty in emotion regulation on social adjustment and life satisfaction in patients with major depressive disorder

This study was conducted as a descriptive and relationship-seeking study in order to determine the effect of emotion regulation difficulty in social cohesion and life satisfaction in patients diagnosed with depression. The sample of the study consisted of 146 patients treated with the diagnosis of major depressive disorder in a hospital. Data of the study 31 October 2022- 4 August 2023, Personal Information Form, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form (DERS-16), Social Adaptation Self-Assessment Scale (SASS) and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The data were collected with face -to -face with individuals after the ethics committee permission, institution permit and informed consent was received from the participants. The data obtained in the study were evaluated in the SPSS 22.0 statistical program with independent groups T-test, one-way analysis of variance, pearson correlation and regression analyzes. The average of "emotion regulation difficulty" score of the patients was 53,57 ± 12.3, the average of "Life Satisfaction Scale" score is 8.48 ± 3.5, and the average of "Social Adaptation Self -Assessment Scale" was determined as 24.46 ± 8.3. It was determined that there was a negative relationship between the participants' emotion regulation difficulties, social cohesion and life satisfaction (p <0.05), as emotion regulation difficulties increased, social adaptation and life satisfaction decreased. In the study, it was also found that the life satisfaction of patients with low social harmony was significantly lower (p <0.05). As the difficulty of regulating emotion in depression patients increased, it was determined that the social adaptation and life satisfaction of these patients were adversely affected. It is thought that the development of emotion regulation skills will increase social cohesion and life satisfaction in patients with depression. Psychiatry nurses are recommended to plan and apply psychoeducation interventions to improve emotion regulation and social adjustment skills for depression patients.