Gender Differences in the Relationship between Emotional Regulation Strategies and Psychological Distress among First Year Undergraduate College Students of Jammu city

Neelam Kumari and Pallavi Sachdeva
University of Jammu, Jammu

Pages:97-113

Background: College is often a time of significant emotional challenges, such as
academic pressure, relationship issues, and the transition to adulthood. Students in
college deal with significant life issues like obtaining a professional education, adjusting
to new situations, making friends, and selecting careers. However, because of their
underdeveloped minds, they are more likely to experience psychological conflicts,
which can cause intense mental stress and a loss of self-assurance. Therefore,
having strong emotional regulation skills is vital for college students to navigate these
challenges successfully. Objectives: The purpose of the present research study is to
find the differences and relationships between emotional regulation strategies and
psychological distress among first year undergraduate male and female college
students in Jammu city, J&K, UT. The study is conducted on 200 students, 100 are
males and 100 are females. The data was collected using convenient sampling
technique. Methods: After permission from higher authorities of colleges and consent
from students for participating in study they were presented with the Demographic
Information form, Emotional Regulation Scale and Kessler psychological distress scale
K10 to gather data. It was analysed using statistical methods. Independent t-test and
Pearson product moment correlation were used to find out differences and relationship
respectively. Results: The findings of the study have shown that there is a significant
gender differences between male and female first year undergraduate college students
in expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal strategies of emotional regulation.
Correlation analysis revealed that there is a significant negative correlation between
emotional regulation strategies- expressive suppression, cognitive reappraisal and
psychological distress. Conclusion: Mean score of first year male students on both the
strategies of emotional regulation I,e expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal
is more than first year female first year undergraduate students whereas mean score
of first year undergraduate female students on the variables of psychological distress
is more than first year male students. This shows that the first year males have
more control over their emotions and it shows first year female students have high
psychological distress