Relationship between Attachment Styles and Interpersonal Problems of Delinquent People: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Social Problem Solving

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of strategies of cognitive emotion regulation and social problem solving in the relationship between attachment styles and interpersonal problems of people with delinquency history. The research method was descriptive with the correlation based on path analysis. The research population included males with a history of delinquency in Shiraz, who were 20 to 30 years old in the winter of 2018. The sample has selected by using of Snowball method and 320 participants entered into the final analysis. The data were collected by using of Colling Reid Attachment Questionnaire (RAAS), Index of Peer Relations (IPR), Cognitive Emotion, Regulation Questionnaire - Short Form (CERQ – P- Short), and Social Problem Solving Inventory Revised (SPSI-R). Data were analyzed by using of path analysis. The findings indicated that the causal model had a goodness of fit. According to the findings, both secure and insecure attachment styles explained interpersonal problems, by increasing adaptive cognitive emotion regulation and efficient problem solving. Also, both variables of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation and inefficient problem solving had a direct and significant relationship with the interpersonal problems of people with delinquency history, but did not mediate the relationship between attachment styles and interpersonal problems. In general, in the sample of people with a history of delinquency, both of the secure and insecure attachment styles by increasing the use of adaptive cognitive emotion regulation and efficient social problem solving, can help to reduce the interpersonal problems of these individuals.