The role of hostility and dysfunctional cognitive emotion regulation in the development of psycho-emotional disorders

Abstract

The article presents the results of a research aimed at studying the role of hostility and cognitive coping in the development of distress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. The participation mechanisms of these personality traits in the development of psycho-emotional disorders are discussed as well.
Materials and methods. The study examined 109 generally healthy young people aged 19-34 who completed the following questionnaires: The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), The Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ).
Results. Risk factors for distress are found to be hostility and frequent use of maladaptive cognitive coping strategies, whilst adaptive cognitive coping strategies perform as a protective factor. The rare use of adaptive cognitive coping strategies is a predictor of depressive symptoms. Hostility is shown to be a significant risk factor for anxiety symptoms and somatization. Maladaptive cognitive coping strategies have a partial indirect effect on the relationship between hostility and distress.
Risk factors for psycho-emotional disorders in young people are hostility, the frequent use of maladaptive strategies and the rare use of adaptive cognitive coping strategies. When providing psychological assistance when selecting psychotherapeutic targets, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of cognitive emotion regulation and the level of hostility of the person suffering from psycho-emotional disorders.