A Study to Examine the Relationship between Emotion Regulation and Resilience among First-year Undergraduates

Introduction: Transitioning to undergraduate college life can be stressful as students have to make multiple adjustments. Emotional Regulation (ER) plays a crucial role in the psychosocial development of college students. Adaptive ER strategies are important for developing resilience. Objective: To examine the relationship between emotional regulation and resilience among first-year undergraduates. Methodology: The sample included first-year undergraduate students from respective colleges (Medical, Engineering and Degree), who completed the following instruments; Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross and John, 2003) and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS; Smith, Dalen, Wiggins, Tooley, Christopher & Bernard, 2008). Statistical analyses were carried out and the findings were discussed by referring to relevant literature. Results: A significant positive correlation was obtained between cognitive reappraisal and resilience. On the other hand, expressive suppression demonstrated a significant negative correlation with both cognitive reappraisal and resilience. Conclusion: Effective life skills training program is necessary to battle various psychological in competencies.