The linkage between negative affectivity with emotional distress in college student: The mediator and moderator role of difficulty in emotion regulation, repetitive negative thinking, and emotional invalidation

The purpose of the present study was to determine the mediator and moderator roles of difficulty in emotion regulation (DER), repetitive negative thinking (RNT), and emotional invalidation (EI) in the relationship between negative affectivity (NA) and emotional distress. 384 students of University completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Repetitive Negative Thought Questionnaire (RNTQ-10), The Perceived Invalidation of Emotion Scale (PIES), the short version of Adult Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ), and also depression, anxiety and stress questionnaire (DASS-21). The data was then analyzed by AMOS and SPSS software, using the path analysis method. The results of SEM indicated that the Conceptual model of the current study is in a good fit with observed values (CFI = 0.997، NFI = 0.998، RMSE = 0.077). Path analysis showed that negative affectivity can predict anxiety and depression in both direct and indirect ways with the mediating role of difficulty in emotion regulation and repetitive negative thinking. Furthermore, emotional invalidation moderates the relationship between negative affectivity and emotion regulation. An individual’s mood traits and emotional invalidation have been shown to work together to cause anxiety and depression through difficulty in emotion regulation. Furthermore, negative affectivity (NA) Predisposes individuals to be trapped in a repetitive negative thinking cycle which makes them vulnerable to anxiety and depression.