The mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation on attachment styles of adolescents with conduct disorders.

Adolescence is a period of achieving emotion regulation skills. One of the main responsibilities of adolescents is to learn adaptive emotion regulation and personal autonomy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation in the attachment styles of adolescents with conduct disorders. This was a cross-sectional and correlational study. The study consisted of 105 adolescent residing in detention centers in the southeast of Iran using multi-stage random sampling. Data were collected using various questionnaires such as the Inventory of Parents and Peer Attachment-Revised (IPPA-R), the Difficulties of Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Information was analyzed using path analysis. The results show parental attachment and difficulties in emotion regulation significantly contribute to the prediction of conduct problems. A sense of alienation causes conduct disorders through disturbance in emotional regulation, but trust and communication with parents are only indirectly related to conduct disorders by disturbances in emotional regulation. As attachment is closely correlated with emotional regulation and difficulties in emotion regulation also lead to the conduct disorders, it is suggested to train emotion regulation in adolescents and their families with the aim of shaping relationships that will lead to the formation of a secure attachment style in the child.