Background: Cognitive emotion regulation strategies have different effects on individuals’ mental health (especially soldiery). Emotions management, which consists of internal and external processes, controls, evaluates and changes a person's emotional response in order to achieve their goals. Mental health is a state of mind associated with a number of internal and external variables covering from the absence of disease up to the sense of satisfaction and enjoyment of life. This study aimed to predict the mental health of border staff.

Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive and correlational research. The sample population consisted of 125 randomly selected border cadre personnel of Sistan-Baluchistan in 2015 tested by mental health questionnaire (GHQ-28) and cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire (GERQ). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including regression and Pearson correlation test via SPSS Software.

Results: The results showed that there is a positive significant correlation between strategies of other-blame and catastrophizing with physical impairment, anxiety, social dysfunction, depression and mental health, and there is a negative significant relationship between positive thinking strategies and acceptance with physical impairment, anxiety, social dysfunction, depression and mental health. Also, regression analysis results showed that strategies of other-blame, catastrophizing and positive thinking were able to predict and explain 33.2 percent of changes related to mental health.

Conclusion: The results suggest that cognitive emotion regulation strategies can predict and explain mental health changes in the border cadre.