THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EMOTIONAL REGULATION IN RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIFE ORIENTATION AND SELFCONTROL AMONG PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION

Abstract

This study intended to explore the association between life orientation, self-control, and depression, with a particular focus on the mediating role of emotional regulation among patients with depression. The study recruited 100 individuals through purposive sampling technique with 50 male and 50 female patients from various clinics and hospitals in Karachi, who had previously been diagnosed with mild, moderate and severe forms of depression. To comprehensively assess various aspects of their psychological well-being, three distinct scales were employed as measurement tools. These scales encompassed the evaluation of life orientation, focusing on optimistic and pessimistic behaviors, an assessment of emotional regulation, and the brief self-control scale to gauge self-control abilities of the sample. Findings of this study revealed several significant results. Firstly, it was observed that there exists a significant and positive correlation between an individual's life orientation and their emotional regulation. Additionally, a positive relationship was found between emotional regulation and self-control. Moreover, the study's results provided support for the proposed mediating role of emotional regulation in the relationship between life orientation and self-control. Furthermore, the study also explored demographic variations in the study variables.