The Role of Differentiation of Self in Predicting Rumination and Emotion Regulation Difficulties
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The Role of Differentiation of Self in Predicting Rumination and Emotion Regulation Difficulties Çiğdem Yavuz Güler1 · Tuğba Karaca2 Accepted: 6 November 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The present study examined the predictive power of differentiation of self on rumination and emotion regulation difficulties. The participants (n = 300), all aged over 26, responded to a personal information form, the Differentiation of Self Scale, a ruminative thought style questionnaire, and a difficulties in emotion regulation scale. The sample consisted of 182 female and 118 male adults. The results indicated that the female participants were more emotionally reactive compared to their male counterparts and that parents had higher scores of emotional reactivity than childless participants. There was a non-significant relationship between differentiation of self and age. Also, regarding differentiation of self, there was no significant difference between participants who were in a relationship and those who were not. The differentiation of self scores accounted for 24% of the variance in the ruminative thought style scores and 39% of the variance in the emotion regulation difficulty scores. The results of the study indicated that differentiation of self was a crucial in influencing both rumination and emotion regulation difficulties. These results suggest that clinicians working with clients who experience emotion regulation difficulties in ruminative thinking or who demonstrate various symptoms due to it should treat these clients’ levels of differentiation of self as a facilitating factor in the therapy and treatment process. Keywords Bowen’s family systems theory · Differentiation of self · Rumination · Emotion regulation difficulties
Introduction According to Bowen’s family systems theory, the emotional, value, belief, and behavioral patterns in a system (i.e., family) are passed on generationally through multigenerational transmission (Bowen 1978). Bowen (1978) asserted that protecting mental health, achieving well–being, and maintaining functionality are possible if the individual ensures the differentiation of emotions and thoughts and breaks free from symbiotic bonds with his or her family by leaving behind the pathological relationship style (Bowen 1978; Kerr 1981; Kerr and Bowen 1988). From this perspective, * Çiğdem Yavuz Güler [email protected] Tuğba Karaca [email protected] 1
Faculty of Education, Department of Psychological Counseling & Guidance, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University, Istanbul, Turkey
Uskudar University, Social Sciences Institute, Clinical Psychology, Istanbul, Turkey
2
the individual’s differentiation process is important for the quality of life and mental health of his or her family members. Bowen’s (1978) concept of differentiation of self refers to the individual’s ability to balance (a) emotional and intellectual functioning and (b) intimacy and autonomy in relationships. Differentiation allows ind
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