Although widely accepted, attachment theory’s hypothesis that insecure attachment is associated with the development of depressive symptoms through emotion regulation strategies has never been longitudinally tested in adolescence. Additionally, previous research only focused on strategies for regulating negative affect, whereas strategies for regulating positive affect may also serve as a mechanism linking insecure attachment to depressive symptoms. This study aimed to fill these research gaps by testing whether the association between attachment and change in depressive symptoms over time is explained by strategies for regulating negative and positive affect in adolescence. Adolescents (N = 1706; 53% girls; M_age = 12.78 years, SD_age = 1.54 at Time 1) were tested three times, with a 1-year interval between measurement times. They reported on their attachment anxiety and avoidance at Time 1, depressive symptoms at Times 1 and 3, and regulation of negative affect (brooding and dampening) and positive affect (focusing and reflection) at Time 2. The results from multiple mediation analyses showed that more anxiously attached adolescents developed more depressive symptoms via increased brooding and dampening. More avoidantly attached adolescents developed more depressive symptoms via decreased focusing. These findings provide longitudinal support for attachment theory’s emotion regulation hypothesis, and show that the regulation of both negative and positive affect is important.

尽管被广泛接受，但依恋理论的假设是，不安全依恋与通过情绪调节策略产生抑郁症状有关，但从未在青春期进行过纵向检验。此外，之前的研究只关注调节消极情感的策略，而调节积极情感的策略也可能作为一种将不安全依恋与抑郁症状联系起来的机制。本研究旨在通过测试依恋与抑郁症状随时间变化之间的关联是否可以通过调节青春期消极和积极情绪的策略来解释，从而填补这些研究空白。青少年（ N = 1706；53% 为女孩； M_年龄= 12.78 岁，SD_年龄= 1.54，时间 1）测试 3 次，测量时间间隔 1 年。他们在时间 1 报告了依恋焦虑和回避，在时间 1 和 3 报告了抑郁症状，在时间 2 报告了消极情感（沉思和抑制）和积极情感（聚焦和反思）的调节。多重中介分析的结果表明，更加焦虑的青少年会因为更多的沉思和抑制而出现更多的抑郁症状。回避型依恋的青少年由于注意力下降而出现更多的抑郁症状。这些发现为依恋理论的情绪调节假说提供了纵向支持，并表明消极和积极情绪的调节都很重要。