Trauma Exposure and Emotional Regulation as Predictors of Hypervigilance Among Young Adults

The study was conducted to examine the relationship between trauma exposure and levels of hypervigilance in young adults. A quantitative correlational study involving a cross-sectional research design was used, and 150 young adults were studied on a quantitative basis by using a questionnaire on trauma exposure, emotion regulation skills, and hypervigilance. Using the JASP statistical software, descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression analysis were conducted. According to the results, there was a significant positive relationship between trauma exposure and hypervigilance and a negative relation between trauma exposure and emotion regulation skills and also a negative relation between emotion regulation skills and hypervigilance. Moreover, exposure to trauma and emotion regulation skills exhibited a significant predictive value of hypervigilance and explained a large percentage of the variance in hypervigilance in young adults, which states that exposure to a large number of traumatic events also increases hypervigilance, and a high level of emotion regulation has a shrinking impact on hypervigilance. The results underscore the relevance of emotion regulation skills as a protective psychological factor in trauma-related vigilance and propose that amplification of emotion regulation skills can be an element in enhancing the psychological adaptation of trauma-exposed young adults.