Emotion regulation difficulties and attachment styles in patients and normal samples

Emotion regulation difficulties and attachment styles play an important role in the formation of depressive, anxious and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The purpose of the present study was to compare difficulties in emotion regulation and attachment styles in people with major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and normal individuals. For this purpose, 160 participants (40 depressed patients, 40 anxious patients, 40 obsessive-compulsive patients, 40 normal individuals) were selected by purposive sampling method in a causal-comparative study and were evaluated in terms of emotion regulation difficulties and attachment. The results of MANOVA and Tukey test showed that there was a significant difference between the clinical groups with normal individuals in total score of emotion regulation difficulty and attachment styles. The results also revealed a significant difference of emotion regulation difficulties between anxious/depressed patients and obsessive-compulsive patients. No statistically significant difference was found between the attachment styles of clinical groups. The results of the present study could be used in diagnosis and differentiate among these three high prevalent comorbid disorders. The findings could be used in preventive and therapeutical programs for emotional problems.