Mediator Role of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Between Experiential Avoidance and Somatic Symptoms

Experiential avoidance, defined as unwillingness to stay in contact with personal experiences such as thoughts, emotions and memories and difficulties in emotion regulation are closely related as emotional awareness and acceptance are crucial for regulating distressing emotions. Avoidance of internal experiences is associated with emotion regulation difficulties such as lack of emotional clarity and lack of emotional awareness. Somatic symptoms referring to bodily symptoms such as headaches, nausea and fatigue without any underlying medical conditions are frequently reported among individuals who experience unresolved trauma or emotional conflicts as these manifest as physical symptoms when avoided or not regulated in the long term. The study aimed to examine the mediating role mediator role of difficulties in emotion regulation between experiential avoidance and somatic symptoms. The cross-sectional correlational study included correlation study had a sample size of 397 recruitedemployed from a non-clinical population with convenience sampling technique. The measurement instruments were Brief Experiential Avoidance Quetionnaire (BEAQ), Somatic Symptom Scale (SSS-8) and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 29 computed on SPSS IBM 29 statistical program and SPSS Process Macro 4.2 extension. Correlation and mediation analyses were performed analysis were conducted to test hypotheses of the study. Results indicated thatdifficulties in emotion regulation mediated the relationship between experiential avoidance and somatic symptoms and all variables were significantly correlated with each other.