Emotion Dysregulation Affects Functionality in Major Depressive Disorder

Abstract

Purpose: Mood disorders are recurrent chronic mental illnesses known to affect functionality. In this study, it was aimed to compare coping strategies and emotion regulation difficulties in depression and bipolar disorder and observe the effects of coping strategies and emotion regulation on functionality.
 Methods: 31 patients with bipolar disorder (BD), 29 with major depressive disorder (MDD), and 27 healthy controls (HC) were included in the study. Participants completed the Coping Strategies Inventory (COPE), Bipolar Disorder Functioning Questionnaire (BDFQ), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D), and Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS).
 Results: In the BD group, a positive significant correlation was found between COPE-M and DERS scores, and a negative significant correlation was found between COPE-M and BDFQ. In the MDD group, a positive significant correlation was found between COPE-A and BDFQ scores, and a negative significant correlation was found between DERS and BDFQ. BDFQ was statistically significantly predicted positively by COPE-A and negatively by DERS.
 Conclusion: It was thought that emotion dysregulation may predispose to depressive symptomatology and negatively affect clinical course and functionality. Addressing emotion regulation difficulties and increasing the use of adaptive coping strategies in therapeutic interventions contribute to the improvement of functionality as well as clinical improvement.