Structural Model of Psychological Vulnerability Based on Dysfunctional Attitudes Mediated by Emotion Regulation in Emergency Medicine Physicians

Background: Dysfunctional attitudes among the personality traits can jeopardize people’s mental health. This study aimed to construct a structural model of the psychological vulnerability of emergency medicine physicians based on dysfunctional attitudes mediated by emotion regulation. Methods: A descriptive-correlational method was used in this study. The study’s statistical population included all physicians of origin medicine working in Tehran hospitals in 2021, and 380 persons were selected using the multistage sampling method (cluster and census). The checklists of psychological vulnerability symptoms (Carpenter & Davoodi, 2001), dysfunctional attitudes (Weissman & Beck, 1978), and emotion regulation (Garnefski & Kraij, 2006) were employed for data collection. Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the research data with Lisrel-8.8. Results: The results revealed that dysfunctional attitudes indirectly affect the psychological vulnerability of emergency medicine physicians with the mediating role of emotion regulation (RMSEA=0.063, GFI=0.91). There was a direct effect between dysfunctional attitudes and the psychological vulnerability of emergency medicine physicians (β=0.60, P<0.01). Moreover, a direct effect was found between dysfunctional attitudes with adaptive (β=-0.54, P<0.01) and inadaptive (β=0.45, P<0.01) emotion regulation of emergency medicine physicians. Conclusion: Overall, health professionals and therapists can improve psychological vulnerability in emergency medicine physicians by reducing dysfunctional attitudes and increasing cognitive emotion regulation.