The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation in the Relationship Between Defense Styles and Psychological Vulnerability Among Emergency Medicine Physicians

Background: Excessive work-related psychological pressures can endanger health by causing physical, mental, and behavioral complications. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between defense styles and psychological vulnerability among emergency medicine physicians. Methods: The statistical population of this descriptive correlational study comprised all emergency medicine physicians working in Tehran hospitals in 2021 - 2022, from whom a sample of 380 was selected using cluster sampling. The research instruments included the symptom checklist-25 (SCL-25), The Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ), and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). The data were analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) in LISREL 8.8. Results: Based on the results, the research model had a good fit (CFI = 0.96, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.058). There was an indirect relationship between the defense styles of emergency medicine physicians and psychological vulnerability, mediated by emotion regulation (P < 0.001). There were direct relationships between defense styles and psychological vulnerability, between emotion regulation and psychological vulnerability, and between defense styles and emotion regulation (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Health professionals and therapists can thus reduce psychological vulnerability among emergency medicine physicians by improving their immature and neurotic defense styles and enhancing their cognitive emotion regulation.