Investigating the structural relationships between attachment styles and major depressive symptoms in adolescents: the mediating role of distress tolerance & cognitive flexibility

The current study was conducted to investigate the structural relationships between attachment styles and major depressive symptoms in adolescents with the mediation of cognitive flexibility and distress tolerance. The research method is a correlation type, which was conducted through structural equation modeling on 352 adolescents aged 13-18 years old, who were selected by available sampling from the adolescent population of the 1st district of Tabriz city. Data were collected using the Collins and Reed attachment style scale, Kotcher depression scale, Dennis and Vanderwaal cognitive flexibility questionnaire, and Simmons and Gaher distress tolerance scale. Research data were analyzed using path analysis. The findings of the research indicated the optimal fit of the hypothetical research model. In addition, the results showed that distress tolerance can be considered as a mediating factor in the relationship between secure and insecure avoidant attachment styles with adolescent depression symptoms, on the other hand, the results showed that cognitive flexibility can be the relationship between secure attachment styles to mediate insecure avoidance and insecure anxiety with adolescent depression symptoms. The results of the research showed that distress tolerance and cognitive flexibility can mediate the relationship between attachment styles and the symptoms of major depression in adolescents. The results of this research can be used to identify the causes of adolescent depression and formulate therapeutic, interventions, including teaching adolescents the components of distress tolerance and cognitive flexibility.