The phrase "a hard time admitting" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing difficulty in acknowledging or accepting something, often related to feelings or truths.
Example: "She had a hard time admitting that she was wrong about the decision."
Alternatives: "struggles to accept" or "finds it difficult to acknowledge".
It isn't even close, which is why the G.O.P.'s elders have such a hard time admitting it.
I have a hard time admitting anything Facebook does can elicit emotion from me, but this did.
Particularly if a person thinks of himself as clever, he will often have a hard time admitting his own ignorance.
Rubén Gallo, a professor at Princeton who edited The Mexico City Reader, a chronicle of the capital, said Mexicans have a hard time admitting this is the case.
But they also have a hard time admitting that they're not interested in an idea, which results in "pseudoparticipation"—going through the motions of listening, with little intention of following up.
And when people tried to sell their homes in this newly depressed market, many of them had a hard time admitting that their home wasn't worth what they had thought it was.
Should the recoveries prove too generous, said Dr. Rose, whose group is the research arm for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, "the legislators, the commissioners, most of the people involved in the process are going to have a real hard time admitting they made a mistake".
When I went to Clemson, I had a really hard time admitting to myself that what I really wanted to do was work in comedy.
Women who identify as spiritual people tend to have a very hard time admitting to themselves that they are jealous, especially of another woman's success, beauty or power.
They have an even harder time admitting that the answer might be new leadership.
