The Mediating Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation in the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Fear of Happiness

Abstract

Background: Although the relationship between childhood trauma and fear of happiness (FOH) is well-documented, little attention has been paid to the mediating factors of this relationship. Objectives: This research aimed to investigate the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation in the relationship between childhood trauma and FOH. Methods: Three hundred and seventy-eight students participated in this descriptive correlational study. The participants were selected by the convenience sampling method among all the students of the Islamic Azad University of Kashmar during 2017 - 2018. Data were collected by the Cognitive Emotion Regulation questionnaire (CERQ), the Childhood Trauma questionnaire (CTQ), and Fear of Happiness scale (FHS). All data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: The relationship between childhood trauma and FOH is mediated by cognitive emotion regulation. The fitness rates of the indices of GFI, CFI, NFI, IFI, NNFI, AGFI, RFI, and RMSEA were equal to 0.90, 0.96, 0.94, 0.96, 0.95, 0.87, 0.93, and 0.074, respectively. Conclusions: The findings of this study supported the proposed conceptual model in which the relationship between childhood trauma and FOH was mediated through positive and negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Therefore, it is necessary for psychologists and other specialists to pay attention to these variables.