Examining the Role of Difficulty in Emotional Self-Regulation, Impulsiveness and Defensive Mechanisms in Discriminate Smokers and Non-Smokers Students

Background & Aims of the Study: It is believed that immature defensive mechanisms and impulsiveness make people vulnerable to smoker and drugs, and these individuals experience more negative emotions and have less options for reducing their psychological disorders. The study sought to determine the role of difficulty in emotional self-regulation, impulsiveness, and defensive mechanisms in discriminate smoker and non-smoker students. Materials & Methods: This study is a case-control study. The sample consisted of 140 smoker students, and 140 non-smoker students who were studying at Nourabad PNU (Payam-e-Noor University) at 2013-14. Forcollecting data, Difficulty Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Impulsiveness Scale, and Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) were used. For data analysis, discriminate analysis is technique was applied, using SPSS.16 Software. Results: The results showed that 74% of the variance of 6 variables of emotional denial, emotional clarity, deregulation, cognitive impulsiveness, mature defensive mechanism and immature defensive mechanism explain the distinguishable features between the two groups of smokers and nonsmokers. Conclusions: The results showed that the smoker and non-smoker students could be distinguished by emotional denial, emotional clarity, deregulation, cognitive impulsiveness and immature defensive mechanisms.