The examination of the relationship between attachment styles, emotion regulation difficulties and psychosomatic symptoms

In this study, the role of difficulty in emotion regulation as a mediator in the relationship between attachment styles and psychosomatic symptoms in adults aged 18-50 was examined. The research group consisted of 312 participants from various provinces of Turkey. The Demographic Information Form, Closed Relationships Inventory-Revised, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and Somatization Scale were administered to the participants online. In addition to these forms and scales, an informed consent form was provided to the participants to inform them about the research and the option to withdraw from the study if desired. The SPSS 22 program is used to analyze the obtained data. The findings from the research revealed that the variables of attachment styles, difficulty in emotion regulation, and psychosomatic symptoms are related to each other. A regression analysis was conducted to determine which variables predicted the level of somatization and it was found that difficulty in emotion regulation, and anxious and avoidant attachment styles, predict somatic symptoms. Additionally, anxious and avoidant attachment styles were found to predict difficulties in emotion regulation. A mediator analysis was conducted to evaluate the role of emotion regulation in the relationship between attachment styles and psychosomatic symptoms, and it was found that emotion regulation skills had a partial mediating effect between anxious and avoidant attachment styles and somatization levels. The study focused on the concept of difficulty in emotion regulation, which is a common issue in the general population and is the subject of few studies in Turkey. The study is thought to provide useful information for experts in terms of understanding the foundations of emotion regulation skills and the mediation of difficulties in these skills in the relationship between attachment styles and psychosomatic symptoms. All the findings from the research were supported by relevant foreign and domestic literature and suggestions were made regarding the limitations of the research and future studies in practice. Keywords: Attachment, attachment styles, difficulties in emotion regulation, psychosomatic semptoms, somatization.