The relationship of emotional competence with strategies of coping and individual problems and strengths in the process of coping with divorce

Abstract

Divorce (or separation of a long-term partnership) is one of the most stressful life events an individual might face. Emotional processing of particularly diffi- cult emotional states into more acceptable and positive forms of emotion marks an important psychological task in coping with divorce. Well-developed emotional competencies are crucial in the process of functional emotional processing. Our correlation study focuses on the relationship of emotional competency with the capacity to cope with the stress and individual problems and strengths during divorce. A total of 239 participants with experience of going through the process of divorce were included in our research. Three questionnaires were used within this study: Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire (ESCQ), Brief COPE, and Individual Problems and Strengths Scale (IPS).The results show the trend that those with a lower level of emotional competence experience more difficulty in dealing with the stress of divorce (they are more likely to turn to dysfunctional strategies). These individuals also demonstrate increased difficulties in the realm of well-being (more individual problems and less individual strengths). We conclude that a higher degree of emotional competence - something that develops throughout the life cycle - is a significant factor that enables the use of more functional strategies for dealing with the stress of divorce and also promotes better adjustment to the challenges of divorce.