A FLEXIBILIDADE PSICOLÓGICA E A DIFICULDADE NA REGULAÇÃO EMOCIONAL EM ESTUDANTES UNIVERSITÁRIOS DA PARAÍBA

The present study aimed to evaluate the association between measures of psychological flexibility and emotional deregulation in university students from the State of Paraíba. A cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive field study was conducted, applied online, through a form generated by Google Forms. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 21.0), with Pearson's correlational analysis, Student's t-test and descriptive statistics of the means. The instruments used were the AAQ-II, the Emotional Regulation Difficulty Scale (DERS), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The sample consisted of 288 participants, of both genders with a mean age of 25.4 years. The results showed that the students presented moderate levels for both Psychological Flexibility factor and Emotional Regulation, moreover, strong and positive correlations were observed between Psychological Inflexibility and Difficulty in Emotional Regulation, indicating the possibility of functionality of such transdiagnostic mechanisms in the maintenance of psychological distress. The group that reported having a psychiatric diagnosis showed higher scores on the measures of inflexibility and emotion dysregulation. Therefore, the relevance of strategies to maintain psychological flexibility and emotion regulation in the mental health of college students from Paraiba is perceived.