A Comparison of Cognitive Emotion Regulation, Hope, Psychological Flexibility, and Quality of Life Between Male Working Adolescents and Non-Working Male Adolescents
Keywords:
Cognitive Emotion Regulation, Hope, Psychological Flexibility, Quality of Life Between AdolescentsAbstract
Purpose: This study aimed to compare cognitive emotion regulation, hope, psychological flexibility, and quality of life between male working adolescents and non-working male adolescents.
Methods and Materials: In terms of its objective, this was an applied study, and in terms of the data-collection method, it employed a descriptive causal-comparative design. The statistical population consisted of all male working adolescents aged 12–18 years residing in Khorramabad, Iran, during 2023–2024 (N = 160), whose names and records were registered with the Welfare Organization of the city. G*Power software was used to determine the sample size required for two independent groups and the comparison of four variables. The results indicated that a sample of 30 participants was appropriate for this study. The participants were selected through simple random sampling. Four questionnaires were used to collect the data: Gross’s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Snyder’s Hope Scale, the Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire developed by Bond et al., and the Quality of Life Questionnaire developed by Varni et al. Using SPSS version 23, multivariate analysis of variance was employed to examine differences between the groups, and independent-samples t tests were used to compare each of the study variables separately between the two groups.
Findings: The statistical analyses revealed significant differences between male working adolescents and non-working male adolescents in terms of quality of life, psychological flexibility, hope, and cognitive emotion regulation (p < .001).
Conclusion: Considering the findings and the significant differences between male working adolescents and non-working male adolescents in quality of life, psychological flexibility, hope, and cognitive emotion regulation, researchers in psychology, counseling, social work, and educational sciences are advised to design and conduct intervention-oriented studies in various institutions and organizations, including schools, municipalities, and welfare organizations, to improve the quality of life of working children and adolescents.
Downloads
References
Bakht Shokuhi, Z., Shalchi, B., Malek, A., Pour Hasan, S., & Amiri, S. (2025). Developmental family functions and cognitive emotion regulation in adolescents with conduct disorder and normal peers. Medical Journal of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 47(2). https://doi.org/10.34172/mj.025.33944
Bowers, R. M., & Bowers, E. P. (2023). A literature review on the role of hope in promoting positive youth development across non-WEIRD contexts. Children, 10(2), 346. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10020346
Cherry, K. (2023). Psychological flexibility: What it means and why it is important. https://www.verywellmind.com/psychological-flexibility-7509628
Cilar Budler, L., & Stiglic, G. (2023). Age, quality of life and mental well-being in adolescent population: A network model tree analysis. Scientific reports, 13(1), 17667. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44493-w
Daniel, P. C. (2025). The influence of trauma on street children and their family relationships in Lusaka. British Journal of Multidisciplinary and Advanced Studies, 6(2), 27-37. https://doi.org/10.37745/bjmas.2022.04272
Danielsdottir, H. B., Aspelund, T., Shen, Q., Halldorsdottir, T., Jakobsdottir, J., Song, H., & Valdimarsdottir, U. A. (2024). Adverse childhood experiences and adult mental health outcomes. JAMA Psychiatry, 81(6), 586-594. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.0039
Debra, G., Michels, N., & Giletta, M. (2024). Cognitive control processes and emotion regulation in adolescence: Examining the impact of affective inhibition and heart-rate variability on emotion regulation dynamics in daily life. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 70, 101454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101454
Decker, S. L., Meille, G., Wu, X., & Zuvekas, S. H. (2024). Children's mental health: Living with parents who had adverse childhood experiences. Health Affairs, 43(12), 1698-1702. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.00562
Dimoski, J., Markovic, M. V., Stojadinovic, I., Milic, A., & Ajdukovic, D. (2025). Conceptualization of hope among adolescents and youth from refugee backgrounds in a transit context. Children and Youth Services Review, 171, 108171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108171
Fombouchet, Y., Pineau, S., Perchec, C., Lucenet, J., & Lannegrand, L. (2023). The development of emotion regulation in adolescence: What do we know and where to go next? Social Development, 32(4), 1227-1242. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12684
Gruning Parache, L., Vogel, M., Meigen, C., Kiess, W., & Poulain, T. (2024). Family structure, socioeconomic status, and mental health in childhood. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(7), 2377-2386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02329-y
Hartjen, B., Kakon, S., Rahman, N., Greaves, G., Xie, W., Tofail, F., & Nelson, C. A. (2024). The association between malnutrition and cognitive development in infancy as manifest in EEG functional connectivity and power spectral density. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.11.24313505
Herbers, J. E., DeCandia, C. J., Volk, K. T., & Unick, G. J. (2023). Profiles and predictors of neurodevelopmental functioning among young children experiencing family homelessness. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 65, 407-416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.08.001
Hussain, S., Khawar, R., Amin, R., Hamdani, A., & Majeed, A. (2023). Psychological flexibility, cognitive emotion regulation and mental health outcomes among patients with asthma in Pakistan. Peerj, 11, e15506. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15506
Jayawardana, D., Baryshnikova, N. V., & Cheng, T. C. (2023). The long shadow of child labour on adolescent mental health: A quantile approach. Empirical Economics, 64(1), 77-97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-022-02241-5
Lancastle, D., Davies, N. H., Gait, S., Gray, A., John, B., Jones, A., & Tyson, P. (2024). A systematic review of interventions aimed at improving emotional regulation in children, adolescents, and adults. Journal of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, 34(3), 100505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbct.2024.100505
Landa-Blanco, M., Vasquez, G., Portillo, G., Sproviero, F., & Echenique, Y. (2024). The impact of adverse childhood experiences on mental health, sexual risk behaviors, and alcohol consumption in adulthood. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1352824. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1352824
Long, K. N., Wilkinson, R., Cowden, R. G., Chen, Y., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2024). Hope in adolescence and subsequent health and well-being in adulthood: An outcome-wide longitudinal study. Social Science & Medicine, 347, 116704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116704
Magiera, A., & Pac, A. (2022). Determinants of quality of life among adolescents in the Malopolska region, Poland. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(14), 8616. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148616
Morjig, S. (2024). Characterizing the gender gap in adolescent psychology throughout the world. Psychiatry Advisor. https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/news/gender-gap-adolescent-psychology-throughout-world-treatment-risk/
Mualem, R., Morales-Quezada, L., Farraj, R. H., Shance, S., Bernshtein, D. H., Cohen, S., & Biswas, S. (2024). Econeurobiology and brain development in children: Key factors affecting development, behavioral outcomes, and school interventions. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1376075. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1376075
Nazoktabar, H., & Behbahani, M. (2022). The relationship between social support and quality of life of working children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Futures Studies and Policy-Making Journal, 8(1). https://civilica.com/doc/1703895
Oppenheim, C. (2024). The impact of poverty on early childhood. https://centreforearlychildhood.org/news-insights/guest-essays/the-impact-of-poverty-on-early-childhood/
Osman, Y. M., Chen, S., Hirose, N., Komada, M., Madeni, N., Madeni, F., & Shimpuku, Y. (2024). Hope for the future and its associated factors among adolescents in Tanzania: A cross-sectional study. Cureus, 16(9). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.68837
Ren, X., Ren, X., Yan, Z., Lu, S., & Zhou, X. (2022). Parental psychological flexibility and children's behavior problems in rural areas in northeast China: The mediation of children's emotion regulation. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19, 15788. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315788
Ross, D. A., Friedman, H. S., Welch, D., Kaoma, N. S., Bhushan, R., & Rasmussen, B. (2022). Four powerful reasons for increasing investment in adolescents and their wellbeing. bmj, 379. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o2526
Sadri Damirchi, E., Fathy Karkaragh, F., & Taheri, H. (2023). Predicting COVID-19 anxiety based on resilience and cognitive emotion regulation considering the mediating role of coping strategies in individuals with COVID-19 infection experience. Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedical Sciences Quarterly, 9(1), 11-26. http://sjnmp.muk.ac.ir/article-1-553-fa.html
Sanaei, A., Taleifard, A., Cheraghi, K., Farhanian, A., Chaboki, F., Sobhani, M. R., Haghighi, A. H., & Fathy Karkaragh, F. (2023). Anxiety related to COVID-19 as a moderator between cognitive emotion regulation and psychological disturbances in students. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 30(18), 524-537. https://doi.org/10.53555/jptcp.v30i18.3122
Sargenius, H. L., Ro, T. B., Hypher, R. E., Brandt, A. E., Andersson, S., Finnanger, T. G., & Stubberud, J. (2025). Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with pediatric acquired brain injury: Secondary data analysis from a randomized controlled trial. Quality of Life Research, 34(2), 577-588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-024-03838-2
Sasaki, N., Watanabe, K., Kanamori, Y., Tabuchi, T., Fujiwara, T., & Nishi, D. (2024). Effects of expanded adverse childhood experiences including school bullying, childhood poverty, and natural disasters on mental health in adulthood. Scientific reports, 14(1), 12015. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-62634-7
Schornick, Z., Ellis, N., Ray, E., Snyder, B. J., & Thomas, K. (2023). Hope that benefits others: A systematic literature review of hope theory and prosocial outcomes. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 8(1), 37-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-022-00084-0
Scioli, A., MacPherson, N., Murphy, R., Gooding, T., Love, M., Lyons, K. D., & Adachi-Mejia, A. M. (2025). A hope intervention for adolescents: A randomized controlled trial delivered by paraprofessionals. Frontiers in psychology, 16, 1528504. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1528504
Staff, J., & Mortimer, J. T. (2024). Taking the long view of adolescent work quality. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 34(4), 1300-1311. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12915
Swerts, C., Lombardi, M., Gomez, L. E., Verlet, D., Debeer, D., De Maeyer, J., & Vanderplasschen, W. (2023). A tool for assessing the quality of life of adolescents in youth care: Psychometric properties of the QOLYSS. Psychosocial Intervention, 32(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.5093/pi2022a17
Takatsuru, Y., & Miyagawa, K. (2023). Chronic effects on brain development induced by early-life stress. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17, 1293325. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1293325
Thi, A. M., Zimmerman, C., & Ranganathan, M. (2023). Hazardous child labour, psychosocial functioning, and school dropouts among children in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional analysis of UNICEF's multiple indicator cluster surveys (MICS). Children, 10(6), 1021. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10061021
Westhoff, M., Heshmati, S., Siepe, B., Vogelbacher, C., Ciarrochi, J., Hayes, S. C., & Hofmann, S. G. (2024). Psychological flexibility and cognitive-affective processes in young adults' daily lives. Scientific reports, 14(1), 8182. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58598-3
Winding, T. N., Nielsen, M. L., & Grytnes, R. (2024). Impact of stress during adolescence on general and work-related stress in early adulthood: A prospective cohort study. International Journal of Population Studies, 0864. https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0864
Yue, P., & Zhang, J. (2025). Learning engagement and psychological flexibility among Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model. Frontiers in psychology, 15, 1407707. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1407707
Downloads
Published
Submitted
Revised
Accepted
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Farkhondeh Dashab; Mahmood Borjali , Jafar Hasani , Farshid Fathy-Karkaragh (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
