DOES EMOTION REGULATION MEDIATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN METACOGNITIVE FUNCTIONING AND INTERPERSONAL PROBLEMS?

Preliminary contributions indicate that emotion regulation may be a useful framework to explain the role of metacognitive functioning in interpersonal problems. However, the interplay between these variables has not yet been empirically investigated. To bridge such gap, we recruited patients with psychiatric diagnoses and healthy controls. Participants completed the Emotion Regulation -estionnaire and the Interpersonal Problems Inventory-47 and were administered the Indiana Psychiatric Illness Interview. Metacognitive capacity was assessed using the Metacognition Assessment Scale-Abbreviated. Compared to controls, individuals with psychiatric disorders showed lower levels of metacognition and emotion regulation and higher levels of interpersonal problems. Both metacognitive functioning and interpersonal problems were signi$- cantly related to emotion regulation capacities. "e structural equation model found that emotion regulation partially mediated the relationship between metacognitive functioning and interpersonal problems. Emotion regulation appears to be a central construct in the explanation of how metacognitive functioning may lead to interpersonal problems.