The Role of Attachment Styles, Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Subjective Vitality in Predicting High-Risk Behaviors of Female Adolescents

It is important to identify factors that can reduce or prevent the risk taking of female adolescents; Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the role of attachment styles, cognitive regulation of emotion and subjective vitality in predicting high-risk behaviors in female adolescents.

The statistical population of this descriptive-correlational study included all female students of the second year of high school in Tabriz in the academic year 2018-2019, from which 282 people were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. Data were collected through Adult Attachment Inventory (Besharat, 2005), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski et al, 2001), Subjective Vitality Scale (Ryan & Frederick, 1997) and Iranian Adolescents Risk-Taking Scale (Zadeh Mohammadi et al, 2011). Data were analyzed using inferential statistics method (Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression analysis) in SPSS. 23 software.

High-risk behaviors have a positive and significant relationship with avoidant attachment styles (p = 0.002, r = 0.184) and ambivalent (p = 0.001, r = 0.201) and a negative and significant relationship with subjective vitality also subjective vitality (p = 0.001, β = -0/313) and ambivalent attachment style (p = 0.011, β = 0.147) have the ability to explain changes in high-risk behaviors.

Given that subjective vitality and ambivalent attachment style have the ability to explain changes in high-risk behaviors; therefore, intervention programs are suggested to improve subjective vitality and security of attachment to prevent the occurrence of risky behaviors in female adolescents.