Document Type : Original Article
Author
M.Sc. in General Psychology, Roshdieh Institute of Higher Education
10.5281/zenodo.21297911
Abstract
This expanded article examines whether cognitive flexibility and emotional regulation predict post-traumatic growth (PTG) among adult survivors of natural disasters. Drawing on post-traumatic growth theory, the organismic valuing perspective, and the regulatory-flexibility framework, the manuscript argues that growth after disaster depends not only on the severity of exposure but also on survivors’ capacity to revise assumptions, tolerate emotional distress, and select regulation strategies that fit changing demands. A cross-sectional design is proposed with 328 adult survivors recruited 6 to 36 months after an earthquake, flood, landslide, storm, wildfire, or related natural hazard. The study uses the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form, the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, together with demographic, loss-severity, displacement, and social-support variables. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, hierarchical regression, and assumption checks are specified in detail. The editable results show that cognitive flexibility and cognitive reappraisal are significant positive predictors of PTG, whereas expressive suppression and broader emotion-regulation difficulties are significant negative predictors after controlling for age, gender, education, injury, property loss, displacement, time since disaster, and perceived social support. The model explains a meaningful proportion of variance in PTG and highlights the need for integrated disaster mental-health interventions that combine cognitive flexibility training, reappraisal skills, emotional awareness, culturally sensitive expression, and community-based support. The manuscript is prepared in the AJMHSS style and includes APA in-text citations and an APA-formatted reference list. Statistical values, affiliation details, ORCID, and ethics information finalized with the author’s actual dataset before submission.
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