Self-differentiation, adult attachment, and difficulties in emotion regulation among undergraduate nursing students

This study examined self-differentiation, adult attachment, and difficulties in emotion regulation among undergraduate nursing students in China and identified significant differences, relationships, and predictive influences among the variables to inform the development of a university-based mental health education program. A descriptive-correlational research design was employed involving 500 undergraduate nursing students selected through stratified random sampling. Data were gathered using the Differentiation of Self Inventory-Revised (DSI-R), Adult Attachment Scale-Revised (AAS-R), and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, an independent-samples t-test, a one-way ANOVA, a Pearson correlation, and a multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that the respondents demonstrated a lower level of differentiation of self, a moderate level of adult attachment, and a high level of difficulties in emotion regulation. Significant differences were observed in differentiation of self and emotion regulation by place of origin, whereas adult attachment differed significantly by year level. Pearson correlation analysis indicated no significant relationship between differentiation of self and adult attachment. However, differentiation of self-exhibited a significant weak negative relationship with difficulties in emotion regulation, whereas adult attachment showed a significant weak positive relationship with difficulties in emotion regulation. Multiple regression analysis further revealed that the overall model significantly predicted difficulties in emotion regulation, accounting for 6.7% of the variance. Among the predictors, emotional reactivity and emotional cutoff emerged as the only significant predictors, while self-position, fusion with others, close attachment, and overall adult attachment did not significantly predict emotion regulation difficulties. Based on these findings, a psychological intervention program was proposed to strengthen self-differentiation, promote attachment security, and develop adaptive emotion regulation skills, thereby enhancing the psychological well-being and interpersonal functioning of undergraduate nursing students.