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 (R2∆ = .10). Length of stay in prison did not significantly predict somatic complaints among prison inmates (β = .09) (R2∆ = .01). Recommendations were made on possible benefits of incorporating emotion regulation and mindfulness strategies in psychosocial interventions to reduce somatic complaints in correctional setting.
