| Abstract: |
Parental attachment styles established during early childhood exert lasting influence on emotional regulation capacities across the lifespan. This study examines how secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized parental attachment styles differentially affect emotional regulation in young adults aged 18–30 years. A quantitative correlational cross-sectional design was employed with 200 young adults recruited from universities in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. The Experiences in Close Relationships–Revised scale and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale served as primary instruments. It was hypothesized that insecure attachment styles would be significantly associated with greater emotional regulation difficulties than secure attachment. Results revealed that disorganized attachment produced the highest DERS scores (M = 97.80, SD = 15.62), followed by anxious (M = 94.12, SD = 14.37) and avoidant styles (M = 86.55, SD = 12.90), while securely attached young adults demonstrated the lowest scores (M = 61.43, SD = 10.21). Attachment anxiety explained the largest proportion of variance (β = .47). Gender significantly moderated attachment anxiety and impulse control difficulties. Findings advocate for attachment-based psychological screening and culturally responsive emotion regulation interventions within Indian higher education institutions. |
