Serial Mediators Between Loneliness and Resilience: Mental Well-Being and Difficulty in Emotion Regulation

Loneliness is defined as a situation where there is a mismatch between the relationships an individual desires and feels uncomfortable with, and the relationships they believe they have. Studies have shown that loneliness causes both physiological and mental health problems. Additionally, the relationships between loneliness and psychological concepts have been examined in the literature. One of these psychological concepts, resilience, draws attention as a protective factor for human mental health. Considering the relationship between resilience and loneliness, identifying the mediating factors is crucial for maintaining mental health. This study aimed to reveal the effects of mental well-being and emotion regulation, which are strong predictors of loneliness and are predicted to play a mediating role in this dual relationship, and thus, to identify areas that require psychological intervention. In the present study, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Brief Resilience Scale, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale Short Form, and Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale were utilised to obtain data from a total of 640 adult participants over the age of 18. The findings indicated that mental well-being and emotion regulation challenges partially mediated the relationship between loneliness and resilience. Consequently, the current study examined the serial mediating role of mental well-being and difficulty in emotion regulation in the relationship between loneliness and resilience, and the hypothesis was confirmed by the findings. The present study constitutes a cross-sectional investigation. Cross-sectional studies, however, are insufficient for establishing causality. In order to achieve this objective, the emphasis should be placed on causality in longitudinal studies. Furthermore, the development of psycho-education programs has the potential to enhance resilience.