Background: Attachment insecurity is associated with poor mental health across the life span, and increasing evidence suggests that emotion regulation difficulties are implicated in these associations. To date, research has focused largely on adult attachment in the context of romantic relationships; however, close friendships are well‐established predictors of mental health and well‐being, and little is known about the influence of attachment in the context of close friendships on mental health, and the potential role of emotion regulation. The present research examined whether attachment to friends was associated with mental health and interpersonal functioning, and whether emotion regulation mediated these associations. Method: A sample of 243 adults (Mage = 20.91 years) completed an online questionnaire assessing attachment to friends, emotion regulation, mental health, and interpersonal functioning. Results: Emotion dysregulation mediated the association between attachment anxiety and depression, anxiety, stress, and interpersonal distress. There were also direct effects of attachment anxiety on symptoms of anxiety and interpersonal distress. Emotion dysregulation did not mediate the association between attachment avoidance and psychosocial outcomes, though attachment avoidance directly predicted depression and interpersonal distress. Conclusions: This research highlights that emotion dysregulation may be one mechanism underlying the association between anxious attachment to friends and poor psychosocial functioning. Clinical interventions may therefore benefit from assessing attachment in the context of friendships, and targeting emotion dysregulation for those high in attachment anxiety.

中文翻译：

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对朋友的依恋和社会心理健康：情绪调节的作用

背景：依恋不安全与整个生命周期的心理健康状况不佳有关，越来越多的证据表明情绪调节困难与这些关联有关。迄今为止，研究主要集中在恋爱关系中的成人依恋。然而，亲密的友谊是心理健康和幸福的公认预测指标，关于亲密友谊背景下依恋对心理健康的影响以及情绪调节的潜在作用知之甚少。本研究调查了对朋友的依恋是否与心理健康和人际交往能力有关，以及情绪调节是否介导了这些关联。方法：243 名成年人（法师 = 20.91 岁）的样本完成了一项评估对朋友的依恋度的在线问卷 情绪调节、心理健康和人际交往能力。结果：情绪失调介导了依恋焦虑与抑郁、焦虑、压力和人际关系困扰之间的关联。依恋焦虑对焦虑和人际关系困扰的症状也有直接影响。情绪失调并未调节依恋回避和社会心理结果之间的关联，尽管依恋回避直接预测了抑郁和人际关系困扰。结论：这项研究强调，情绪失调可能是对朋友的焦虑依恋与不良心理社会功能之间关联的一种机制。因此，临床干预可能会受益于在友谊的背景下评估依恋，