Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Emotional Regulation and Romantic Relationship Quality Among Young Adults in South West Nigeria

Emotional regulation capacity is theoretically linked to relationship quality, and empirically characterising this relationship among young Nigerian adults informs both couples counselling and pre-marital counselling programme design. This study empirically investigated the relationship between emotional regulation strategies and romantic relationship quality among young adults aged 20 to 35 in Lagos and Ogun States, South West Nigeria. A correlational cross-sectional survey was conducted among 320 young adults in established romantic relationships (minimum six months duration). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (measuring cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), the Couples Satisfaction Index, and the Relationship Quality Index were administered. Multiple regression analysis and path analysis were applied. Results showed that cognitive reappraisal was a significant positive predictor of relationship satisfaction (beta = 0.46, p < 0.001) and relationship quality (beta = 0.41, p < 0.001). Expressive suppression was a significant negative predictor of both outcomes (beta = -0.38 and -0.34, p < 0.001 respectively). Together, emotion regulation strategies explained 38.7 percent of variance in relationship satisfaction. Gender moderation analysis showed that suppression had a significantly stronger negative effect on relationship quality for women than men (interaction p < 0.05). The study fills an empirical gap in Nigerian relationship counselling research and recommends that both pre-marital and couples counselling in South West Nigeria incorporate emotional regulation skills training as a core therapeutic component. Keywords: emotional regulation, romantic relationship quality, young adults, South West Nigeria, couples counselling