Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Turkish University Students
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between behavioral emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among Turkish university students. Participants consisted of 633 students continuing their university education in two different universities in T...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/1/6 |
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| author | Edib Şevki Keskiner Ertuğrul Şahin Nursel Topkaya Zehra Yiğit |
| author_facet | Edib Şevki Keskiner Ertuğrul Şahin Nursel Topkaya Zehra Yiğit |
| author_sort | Edib Şevki Keskiner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The purpose of this study was to examine the association between behavioral emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among Turkish university students. Participants consisted of 633 students continuing their university education in two different universities in Türkiye. Participants completed a data collection tool comprising a Sociodemographic Information Form, the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient analysis, and multivariate multiple regression analysis. The results of this study revealed that seeking distraction was negatively associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas withdrawal, seeking social support, and ignoring were positively associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among university students. Additionally, actively approaching was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Overall, the findings demonstrate that university students who use maladaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies (e.g., withdrawal, ignoring) tend to have higher levels of psychological distress, whereas university students who use adaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., distraction) tend to have lower levels of psychological distress. However, contrary to expectations, seeking social support was positively associated with symptoms of psychological distress. Given the paucity of research on the relationship between behavioral emotion regulation strategies and psychological distress in the Turkish cultural context, this study may contribute to identifying both universal and culturally specific strategies associated with depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms among Turkish university students. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-631df3559dc345a38098dd9cb826ff50 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-631df3559dc345a38098dd9cb826ff502025-01-24T13:22:35ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2024-12-01151610.3390/bs15010006Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Turkish University StudentsEdib Şevki Keskiner0Ertuğrul Şahin1Nursel Topkaya2Zehra Yiğit3Department of Counseling and Higher Education, Patton College of Education, Ohio University, 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USADepartment of Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Faculty of Education, Amasya University, Amasya Merkez 05100, TürkiyeDepartment of Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Faculty of Education, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale 17000, TürkiyeIndependent Researcher, İstanbul 34000, TürkiyeThe purpose of this study was to examine the association between behavioral emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among Turkish university students. Participants consisted of 633 students continuing their university education in two different universities in Türkiye. Participants completed a data collection tool comprising a Sociodemographic Information Form, the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient analysis, and multivariate multiple regression analysis. The results of this study revealed that seeking distraction was negatively associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas withdrawal, seeking social support, and ignoring were positively associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among university students. Additionally, actively approaching was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Overall, the findings demonstrate that university students who use maladaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies (e.g., withdrawal, ignoring) tend to have higher levels of psychological distress, whereas university students who use adaptive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., distraction) tend to have lower levels of psychological distress. However, contrary to expectations, seeking social support was positively associated with symptoms of psychological distress. Given the paucity of research on the relationship between behavioral emotion regulation strategies and psychological distress in the Turkish cultural context, this study may contribute to identifying both universal and culturally specific strategies associated with depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms among Turkish university students.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/1/6behavioral emotion regulation strategiesdepressionanxietystressuniversity studentsTürkiye |
| spellingShingle | Edib Şevki Keskiner Ertuğrul Şahin Nursel Topkaya Zehra Yiğit Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Turkish University Students Behavioral Sciences behavioral emotion regulation strategies depression anxiety stress university students Türkiye |
| title | Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Turkish University Students |
| title_full | Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Turkish University Students |
| title_fullStr | Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Turkish University Students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Turkish University Students |
| title_short | Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies and Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Turkish University Students |
| title_sort | behavioral emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of psychological distress among turkish university students |
| topic | behavioral emotion regulation strategies depression anxiety stress university students Türkiye |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/1/6 |
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