Parental Factors that Influence Emotion Regulation Difficulties Among Adolescents

Although there is a growing evidence that indicates the importance of emotion regulation, there are limited studies which examined this construct during adolescence. In addition, most studies failed to provide a general index of emotion regulation that assesses both positive and negative emotions. This study explored the relationship of interparental conflict and parental attachment on the emotion regulation difficulties of adolescents. Participants were 42 female and 54 male adolescents, ages 16 to 18. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Results demonstrated that when taken together, interparental conflict and parental attachment predict emotion regulation difficulty. Interparental conflict was positively related to positive emotion regulation difficulty with resolution as its most significant dimension. Parental attachment was negatively related to negative emotion regulation difficulty. The key findings were mostly contributing to the field of Guidance and Counseling. Future research exploring other attachment figures is recommended.