associations between emotional dysregulation, repetitive negative thoughts, and a sense of self-continuity with post-divorce adjustment in divorced women

Background: divorce leads to personal, psychological, and social changes, necessitating an exploration of post-divorce adjustment. this study aimed to investigate the associations between emotional dysregulation, repetitive negative thoughts, and self-continuity with post-divorce adjustment in women.methods: in this cross-sectional study, with a descriptive-correlational design, the statistical population comprised all divorced women using services at social health centers in tabriz, iran in 2024. a sample of 346 participants was recruited using a convenience sampling method. assessments were performed using fisher’s post-divorce adjustment questionnaire (fdas), gratz’s difficulty in emotional regulation scale (ders), mcevoy et al.’s repetitive negative thoughts questionnaire (rtq), and sokol and serper’s future self-continuity questionnaire (fscq). data were analyzed via pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis in spss version 26.results: the findings revealed that the mean scores (sd) were 96.76 (22.33) for emotional dysregulation, 27.45 (9.35) for repetitive negative thoughts, 32.96 (11.75) for a sense of self-continuity and 280.09 (88.24) for post-divorce adjustment. pearson correlation analysis indicated that emotional dysregulation (r=-0.59, p<0.001) and repetitive negative thoughts (r=-0.33, p<0.001) negatively linked to divorce adaptation, while the sense of self-continuity revealed a significant positive association (r=0.29, p<0.001). regression analysis confirmed that emotional dysregulation (β=-0.50, p<0.001) repetitive negative thoughts (β=-0.15, p=0.0007) and a sense of self-continuity (β=0.13, p=0.004) were significantly associated with post-divorce adjustment.conclusions: the findings suggested that lower emotional dysregulation and repetitive negative thoughts, along with higher sense of self-continuity, correlate with improved post-divorce adjustment in women.