Understanding the role of self‐esteem and emotion dysregulation in victims of intimate partner violence

Abstract

AbstractSelf‐esteem and emotion dysregulation appear to be important factors in the psychological well‐being of trauma survivors. On the one hand, self‐esteem may act as a shield against the psychological consequences of traumatic experiences; on the other hand, emotion regulation can affect the way individuals deal with post‐traumatic affects (e.g., fear, terror, shame, and guilt). Consequently, the objective of this study was to investigate the role that emotion dysregulation and self‐esteem play in the well‐being of a sample of women after the traumatic experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). This study involved 282 women (meanage = 41.55, SD = 10.52) who experienced IPV in the last year. Conditional process analyses and Johnson‐Neyman analysis for regions of significance were performed. The results showed that emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between post‐trauma affectivity (i.e., fear, terror, shame and guilt) and survivors' well‐being. Furthermore, self‐esteem negatively predicted lack of well‐being and acted as a moderator of the relationship between emotion dysregulation and lack of well‐being. In this regard, through the Johnson‐Neyman analysis for regions of significance, it was possible to identify a cut‐off value above which the relationship between emotion dysregulation and lack of well‐being became non‐statistically significant. This study contributed to understanding the role that emotion dysregulation and self‐esteem play in the well‐being of IPV survivors. In this regard, clinical implications will be presented.