The mediator role of emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between emotional availability of parents and well-being

This study examines the mediator role of emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between university students' well-being and their parents' emotional availability. The study group consists of 541 university students. The study group was accessed via online platforms by using an appropriate sampling method. Emotional Availability of Parents Scale, PERMA Profiler, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and a Personal Information Form used to collect data in the study. The structural equation model tested the role of difficulties in emotion regulation in the relationship between university students' well-beings and their parents' emotional availability. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient determined direct relationships between variables. SPSS 22.0 and LISREL 8.80 were utilized in the statistical analyses of data. According to findings, difficulties in emotion regulation plays a partial role in the relationship between well-being and the mother's emotional availability. It was also determined that difficulties in emotion regulation does not play a role in the relationship between well-being and the father's emotional availability. While the father's emotional availability does not predict difficulties in emotion regulation in a statistically meaningful manner, the mother's emotional availability negatively predicts difficulties in emotion regulation in a statistically significant way. Moreover, it was found out that both parents' emotional availability positively predicts well-being in a statistically significant manner. The obtained findings were discussed within the literature frame; recommendations were made for policymakers, researchers, and people working in the field.