understanding the pathology of major depression in a non-clinical student sample: the role of mental pain, cognitive emotion regulation, self-compassion, and anxiety

Background: severe psychological or mental pain is an experience of discomfort that can be associated with mental illness (such as major depression) or loss (such as the death of a child). objectives: the aim of this study is to understand the pathology of major depression using a non-clinical student sample by assessing the roles of mental pain, cognitive emotion regulation, self-compassion, and anxiety. methods: this cross-sectional study selected a sample (n = 300) using a multi-stage random cluster sampling method. data was collected using the orbach mikulincer mental pain questionnaire (ommp), the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire (cerq), the self-compassion scale-short form (scs-sf), the beck anxiety inventory (bai), and the beck depression inventory-ii (bd-ii). results: the results of the forward multiple linear regression model showed significant standardized beta coefficients for the following variables: anxiety and depression (β = 0.21, p = 0.002), mental pain and depression (β = 0.436, p < 0.001), maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depression (β = 0.21, p = 0.002), negative dimensions of self-compassion and depression (β = 0.082, p = 0.041), adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depression (β = -0.135, p = 0.031), and positive dimensions of self-compassion and depression (β = -0.078, p = 0.042). additionally, the results indicated that 56% of the variance in depression is explained by mental pain, cognitive emotion regulation, self-compassion, and anxiety (p < 0.001). conclusions: the results of this study indicate that therapies focused on emotional regulation and self-compassion can effectively address emotional problems, anxiety, and depression in individuals with depression.