The relationship between differentiation of self, social skills and psychotherapy attendance in a sample of Spanish adults

Background: Differentiation of self is the intrapsychic capacity to distinguish emotions from cognitions and the interpersonal capacity to maintain significant bonds and to be autonomous. Objetive: To analyze the relationship between differentiation and social skills, and the differences in differentiation according to therapy attendance in a Spanish sample. Method: The sample consisted of 126 Spanish subjects, 78 women and 48 men, aged between 18 and 65 years, who answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Differentiation of Self Scale and the Social Skills Scale. Results: Significant relationships between differentiation of self and social skills were observed. Furthermore, fusion with others and emotional cutoff predicted social skills. On the other hand, subjects who had previously undergone therapy and those who had never attended therapy had higher levels of differentiation than those who were attending therapy at the time of the study. Conclusion: There are associations between differentiation of self, social skills, and therapy attendance. Results are discussed and future lines of research are suggested.