Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Communication Skills: The Mediating Role of Co-Rumination

Abstract

Teaching highly depends on good communication skills including emotional regulation. This study specifically examines the mediating role of co-rumination between emotional regulation and communication skills in an educational setting. Data was collected from 4128 (1387 females, 2741 males) teachers working in the Turkish Ministry of National Education. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the mediator role of co-rumination in the relation between difficulties in emotion regulation and communication skills. Difficulties in emotion regulation predicted lower level of communication skills, which was mediated by co-rumination. Contrary to predictions, co-rumination was found to be positively correlated with communication skills. Thus, difficulties in emotion regulation lead individuals to co-ruminate more, which in return seems to be a positive variable that contributes to overall communication skills. Therefore, it can be inferred that when teachers with higher emotion regulation difficulties start to co-ruminate more, which positively increases their communication skills.