The Role of Attachment Styles and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Predicting the Tendency to High-Risk Behaviors in Adolescents

One of the most important predictors of adolescents' tendency to high-risk behaviors are related to psychological factors. Attachment style has provided a useful framework for promoting useful representations from parent to child that is rooted in the mother-fetus relationship and has lasting effects on emotional regulation. To date, the role of attachment styles and cognitive emotional regulation in predicting the tendency to high-risk behaviors in Iranian adolescent girls has not been studied.

In a cross-sectional study conducted from October to December 2019, 375 girls referred to the Drop In Center (DIC) in Tehran were selected to participate in the study using multi-stage cluster sampling method. Participants entered the study process after obtaining informed consent and meeting the necessary criteria. Three questionnaires of cognitive emotional regulation, risk-taking and attachment were utilized in this study and Data was analyzed through multiple regression analysis test.

The results showed that the correlation between attachment styles and cognitive regulation in the two dimensions of blaming others and coping and acceptance with high-risk behaviors was significant (P<0.05). Also, from three attachment styles, ambivalent attachment style, and from the four dimensions of cognitive emotional regulation, blaming others dimension, predicted the most changes in high-risk behaviors (all P’s<0.001).

The findings of this study indicate a complex relationship between the three indices of attachment, emotional regulation, and high-risk behaviors. Attachment and emotion regulationin young people reduce high-risk behaviors. These findings can be associated with several clinical applications in designing of macro-level preventive interventions.