Revisiting Attachment to Parents and Depression Link in Adolescence: the Importance of Language Use and Emotion Regulation

Abstract

Although past research has provided important information about the relationship between attachment and mental health during the period of adolescence, the role of intervening variables in this association has been neglected. The aim of the present study was to illuminate the association between adolescents' secure attachment to parents and mental health, i.e., emotion regulation and depression, and to focus on the mediating role of language use operationalized by the gap between experience and language. Three-hundred seventy-four adolescents (220 females, 154 males) participated in the study. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results provided support for the intervening role of language use and it was further shown that the relationship between language use and depression is mediated by emotion regulation. Language use and emotion regulation are potential mediators between attachment to parents and depression. The effects of problematic attachment experiences on attachment might be intervened by focusing on language use of adolescents, which in turn could improve insight.