Obsessive Thoughts and Emotional Regulations of Day Scholars and Hostelers

Obsessive-compulsive thoughts are recurrent ideas that can lead to repetitive behaviors. These are inappropriate thoughts, visuals, cravings, anxieties, or doubts that frequently come to the mind of an individual. Emotional regulation is the capacity to identify, control, and appropriately react to emotions. Compared with day scholars, hostellers frequently experience higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (Preet Kamal, 2023). Day scholars usually have the support of their family and friends, maintain a sense of familiarity and strength, and have greater freedom to manage their time and activities regarding regulating, balancing, and contributing to their emotional regulation. There are few studies on obsessive-compulsive thoughts in this demographic. This study examined and compared the obsessive-compulsive thoughts and emotional regulation of day scholars and hostellers. The researcher adopted an ex post facto study design. Data were gathered using a convenient sampling technique, and 141 participants were selected. The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (Foa et al., 2002) and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (Gross & John, 2003) were used to collect the data. Data were assessed using the independent sample t-test and Karl Pearson’s product-moment correlation. The findings showed a strong positive correlation between emotional regulation and compulsive thoughts. Obsessive thoughts are more common among hostelers than among day scholars, and among those who have been at the hostel for more than three years, the frequency of obsessive thoughts is higher. There were no gender differences in emotional regulation or obsessive thoughts. Compared with urban residents, rural residents have more obsessive thinking. In terms of obsessive thought and emotional regulation, there was no significant difference between an extended family and a nuclear family.