Emotion Regulation, Dispositional Mindfulness And Length Of Stay As Factors In Somatic Symptoms Among Prison Inmates

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate emotion regulation, dispositional mindfulness and

length of stay as factors in somatic symptoms among prison inmates, cross-sectional design was

used. Participants were two hundred and nine (209) prison inmates. Their ages ranged between

18 – 62 years, with mean age of 30.9 and standard deviation of 8.68. Three instruments were

used for data collection: Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Mindfulness Awareness Attention

Scale and Somatization subscale of Symptom Distress Check List (SCL-90). Hierarchical

multiple regression was the main statistic used for data analysis. The results of the regression

analysis showed that of the two subscales of emotion regulation only cognitive reappraisal was a

positive significant predictor of somatic complaints (β = .19, t = 2.80, p < .01), explaining 4% of

the entire variance in somatic complaints and expressive suppression was not a significant

predictor of somatic complaints (β = .12, t = 1.56). Dispositional mindfulness was a negative

significant predictor of somatic complaints (β = -.32, t = -4.98, p < .001), accounting for 10% of

the variance in somatic complaints (R2Δ = .10). Length of stay in prison did not significantly

predict somatic complaints among prison inmates (β = .09) (R2Δ = .01). Recommendations were

made on possible benefits of incorporating emotion regulation and mindfulness strategies in

psychosocial interventions to reduce somatic complaints in correctional setting.