The Mediating Effects of Emotional Self-Disclosure on the Relationship between Avoidance Attachment and Posttraumatic Growth

Mediating Effects of Emotional Self-Disclosure on the Relationship between Depression and Quality of Life for Women Undergoing In-Vitro Fertilization

“…Some examples of the items include, "When I feel upset, I usually confide in my friends" and "When I am in a bad mood, I talk about it with my friends." The Cronbach's α was 0.93 in the study by Song and Lee [19] and 0.89 in this study.…”

“…In this study, the degree of emotional self-disclosure was negatively correlated with depression and positively correlated with QOL, suggesting that it can help women undergoing fertility treatment to cope with, and better adjust to, their situations by relieving their anxiety and tension [19], ultimately having a positive impact on their QOL. Further, emotional self-disclosure was found to mediate the relationship between depression and QOL in women undergoing fertility treatment, confirming that emotional self-disclosure can help to counterbalance the negative effect of depression on QOL.…”

“…Due to the stigmatizing nature of infertility, women conceal their negative emotions because of the diagnosis itself, and during the treatment process, perceiving it as something to be endured alone, which isolates them from their families or social relationships [21]. In this context, emotional disclosure helps reduce mental health problems [19] and will counterbalance the adverse impact on QOL.…”

“…Such psychological discomfort and difficulties may be mitigated by helping women understand their own emotions and appropriately expressing them verbally and behaviorally [23]. Emotional self-disclosure [19]-the act of expressing one's own emotions through writing or disclosing them to others-diminishes negative emotions incurred by a stressful event, improves one's subjective well-being, and fosters positive perceptions of health [31]. Stated differently, disclosing (as opposed to suppressing) emotions experienced during the entire process of fertility treatment will enable women to recognize their emotions, positively understand themselves, face the situation, and solve the problems at hand.…”

“…Emotional self-disclosure was measured using the Distress Disclosure Index (DDI), originally developed by Kahn and Hessling [18], and adapted by Song and Lee [19]. The tool consists of 12 items that measure whether an individual expresses their negative emotions toward other people, and whether they tend to disclose or conceal emotions and thoughts provoked by a painful event.…”