Structural Relationships between Attachment Style and Psychological Distress: Mediating Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation

Given the role of insecure attachment in psychological distress and the effects of emotion regulation on psychological disorders, the aim of current research was to investigate the contribution of cognitive emotion regulation in explaining the relationship between attachment style and psychological distress. The study sample included 300 B.A and M.D students of Shahed University. Instruments for the study were Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire (ECR-R) and the short form of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-S). The extracted data analyzed by SPSS-23 and AMOS-18 softwares. The findings were shown significant positive relationships between attachment anxiety and the components of psychological distress, anxiety, depression and stress, and maladaptive emotion regulation. Both Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Sobel’s test confirmed the mediating role of maladaptive emotion regulation in the relationship between attachment anxiety and the components of psychological distress. The findings confirmed the mediating role of maladaptive emotion regulation in the relationship between attachment anxiety and the components of psychological distress. Hence the foregoing variables could be attended in the interpersonal relationships, educational, familial and therapeutic domain.