〔Abstract〕 Objective To explore the cognitive emotion regulation strategies and its influence on quality of life in adult epileptics. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 83 adult epileptics and 53 healthy adults with gender, age and education matching. The Chinese version of cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire(CERQ-C) and the quality of life scale for epileptics(QOLIE-31) were used to evaluate. Results (1) The total score of positive cognitive emotion regulation(PCER) and its sub-items scores in epilepsy group were significantly lower than those in control group(t=-5.587--2.837,P<0.05). The total score of negative cognitive emotion regulation(NCER) and the sub-items scores were significantly higher than those of the control group(t=2.198-4.028,P<0.05).(2) The scores of life quality in epilepsy group were significantly lower than those in control group(t=-7.109--4.226,P<0.001).(3) Pearson correlation analysis showed: the total score of PCER and its sub-items scores were positively correlated with the total score of quality of life(r=0.391-0.581,P<0.001). NCER and its sub-items scores were negatively correlated with the total score of quality of life(r=-0.731--0.540,P<0.001).(4) Multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis showed that seizure worry was negatively correlated with catastrophizing and seizure frequency(t=-3.063--2.574,P<0.05); overall quality of life was positively correlated with catastrophizing(t=-2.214,P<0.05); emotional well being was positively correlated with positive re-attention(t=2.376,P<0.05); emotional well being was negatively correlated with catastrophizing(t=-2.219,P<0.05); fatigue was negatively correlated with blaming others(t=-2.768,P<0.05); cognitive function was positively correlated with positive refocus(t=2.593,P<0.05); medication effects were negatively correlated with blame others(t=-3.348,P<0.05); the total score of quality of life was positively correlated with positive re-attention(t=2.833,P<0.05); the total score of life quality was negatively correlated with catastrophizing(t=-2.729,P<0.05). Conclusion When confronted with negative life events, adult epileptics are more likely to use negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies such as meditation, catastrophizing and blaming others than healthy people, which is closely related to the decline of quality of life of epileptics.