Parental Attachment and Emotional Dysregulation

Kryzsko Commons Ballroom, Winona, Minnesota

There has been extensive research to show a relationship between parent attachment and emotional dysregulation (Yaghoubipoor, Seyed &Khoshab, 2021; Mota, Goncalves, Carvalho & Costa,2021; Kullik &Petermann,2013). Parental and peer attachment is a construct that describes the emotional bond between self and others (Armsden & Greenberg, 2009). Generally, insecurely attached individuals have greater difficulty with emotional functioning (Casselman & McKenzie, 2014). Gratz and Roemer (2004) conceptualized emotional dysregulation (ED) in their Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) as having six dimensions: nonacceptance, lack of goals, impulsivity, low awareness, lack of strategies, and lack of clarity. Yaghoubipoor et al. (2021) found that adolescents in correctional facilities had greater difficulty regulating emotions when they felt their parental attachments were unstable. Kullik and Petermann (2013) showed that secure parental attachments were associated with emotional regulation and decreased depressive symptoms in adolescence. Although there is limited research examining the specific facets of ED and parental attachments, Stevens (2014) found strong positive correlations between anxious attachment and the impulsivity and strategies factors, and the goals factor had a nonsignificant relationship with avoidant attachment (Stevens, 2014). There is also limited research on whether mothers or fathers have a stronger impact on specific ED aspects. This current exploratory study sought to expand our understanding of these relationships. Based on the research, we hypothesized the following based on the research literature: 1) DERS subscales will be significantly and negatively correlated with parental attachment. 2) Insecure parental attachment will not significantly predict the goals factor. 3) Insecure parental attachment will strongly predict the impulsivity and strategies factors. We also had one research question: Will mother or father attachment have a stronger relationship in predicting facets of ED? Data will be analyzed in early April and impressions and future research will be discussed.