Comparison of Emotion Regulation in Gastric Ulcer Sufferers and Non-Sufferers

Subjective: 

Psychological problems are involved in many psychosomatic disorders. Gastric ulcer is also related to psychological problems as one of the psychosomatic disorders. This research was conducted with the aim of comparison of emotion regulation in gastric ulcer sufferers and non-sufferers.

This research is descriptive and causal-comparative. 100 patients with gastric ulcer and referred to Imam Hussein Hospital in Tehran in 2022 were selected by convenience sampling method and compared with 100 of their companions who did not have gastric ulcer. Both groups responded to Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Data were analyzed with multivariate analysis of variance and SPSS-21 software.

The findings showed that the total score of difficulties in emotion regulation and its subscales (non-acceptance of negative emotions, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behaviors, difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors, limited access to effective emotion regulation strategies, lack of emotional awareness, lack of emotional clarity) in patients with gastric ulcer is significantly higher than of non-afflicted people (P<0.001).

According to this finding, it can be concluded that the difficulty in regulating emotions may play a role in gastric ulcers. It seems that patients with gastric ulcer are less able to identify and understand their emotions and less able to manage their emotions properly. Therefore, the accumulation of psychological pressure caused by negative emotions can cause their symptoms to appear or intensify.