Desregulación emocional en población adolescente de la zona 6 del Ecuador, en el año 2025.

Abstract

Emotional dysregulation is defined as the difficulty in managing emotions, which manifests through impulsivity, irritability, and sudden mood swings. During adolescence, this issue becomes more significant due to biological, cognitive, and social changes, which increase the likelihood of experiencing depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as self-harm behaviors. Objective. To analyze emotional dysregulation among adolescents in Zone 6 of Ecuador in 2025. Methodology. A quantitative, non-experimental, observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study was conducted. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-36) was administered along with a sociodemographic questionnaire. After a process of data cleaning and verification, the final sample consisted of 1,211 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years, from Cuenca, Azogues, Cañar, and Macas. The analysis was performed using descriptive statistics in Jamovi software, version 2.6.4.4. Results. Among males: 39.2% were at the low level, 30.5% at the medium level, and 30.3% at the high level. Among females: 42.2% were at the low level, 31.4% at the medium level, and 26.4% at the high level. Overall, adolescents were found in the medium and high levels of emotional dysregulation, reflecting difficulties in emotional regulation. No associations were identified with age or educational level. Conclusion. Although the low level accounted for the largest percentage, a considerable proportion of adolescents was also identified at the medium or high levels of emotional dysregulation, indicating that emotional dysregulation is present in a portion of the sample.