The relationship between adult attachment security and emotion regulation strategies.

摘要

This research included both a concurrent and a short-term longitudinal study examining the relationship between adult attachment and emotion regulation. Study 1 included 322 undergraduate students, 42 of whom continued on to complete Study 2. This research both confirmed and extended previous findings linking adult attachment with emotion regulation; going beyond previous research by including both conscious and unconscious emotion regulation strategies. Attachment security was related to coping, defensive repression, and the experience of positive and negative emotions. Specifically, preoccupied and fearful individuals were more likely to over-rely on coping strategies, while secure and dismissing individuals were more likely to be repressors. As expected, secure individuals experienced more positive than negative affect compared with insecure individuals. Practical applications and future directions for this research are also discussed.