This study examines the complex interplay between maladaptive personality traits, coping with
humor, emotional regulation, and recovery outcomes among a sample of individuals seeking
psychological support. When it comes to assessment, specialized inventories capture maladaptive
personality traits and directly or indirectly predict recovery outcomes through maladaptive
humor and emotional regulation. On the contrary, adaptive humor and effective emotional
regulation strategies ideally buffer these negative effects, therefore enhancing recovery
outcomes. To quantitatively validate this idea, we took a sample of n=152 respondents from a
few rehabilitation centers from the NCR region. We measured PID-5 trait domains, coping with
humor, and emotional regulation strategies (reappraisal, suppression, acceptance) using
standardized tools. Recovery outcomes were operationalized through measures of empowerment,
self-esteem, symptom management, and social reintegration. We analyzed the hypothesized
relationships and tested the model through a structural modeling approach. Our results highlight
the critical role of coping with humor and emotional regulation in rehabilitation success when
assessing the pathway between maladaptive traits and recovery outcomes. Our findings
underscore the importance of assessing implied mechanisms in addition to the explicit
mechanisms to better understand the dynamics of the recovery process. Our research has direct
implications for therapeutic approaches and practices that augment overall rehabilitation
efficacy.