The prediction level of childhood traumas and self-compassion level on emotion regulation difficulties

The main purpose of the study is to explore the predictive power of childhood traumas and Self-compassion in the prediction of emotion regulation. The model of this research is quantitative, predictive correlational research design. Research data were collected by online sampling method. A total of 325 (73.4%) female and 118 (26.6%) male (N=443) university students living in Istanbul were included in this study. The socio-demographic information form prepared by the researcher to collect the data, the 36-item Emotion Regulation Difficulty Scale (DERS) adapted into Turkish by Rugancı and Gençöz (2010), and the 33-item Childhood Trauma Scale adapted into Turkish by Şar et al. (2021). (CTQ-33), the 26-item Self-Compassion Scale, which was adapted into Turkish by Akın and Abacı (2007) was used. The obtained data were analyzed with the SPSS program. Descriptive statistics, One-Way Analysis of Variance, Multiple Regression Analysis, Independent Groups t-test and Post-Hoc Test were used in the analysis of the data and the results are presented in the tables. According to the results of the study, childhood trauma, and self-compassion level were found to have a predictive role on the emotion regulation difficulties of university students (p< .05). Significant differences were found between the emotion regulation difficulty total score and psychological discomfort, socio-economic level, and perceived fatherly attitude (p< .05). There was no significant difference between the emotion regulation difficulty total score and gender, education level, birth order, maternal attitude and parental education level (p> .05). It was concluded that the emotional neglect sub-dimension of the childhood traumas of university students significantly predicted the difficulty of emotion regulation difficulty in a positive way. It was found that self-compassion sub-dimensions such as self-sensitivity, self-judgment, isolation, consciousness, and hyper-identification negatively predicted difficulty in emotion regulation. The limitations and findings of the study are discussed in the relevant literature. Along with these, suggestions for future work are presented.