Relationship between adult attachment and cognitive emotional regulation style in women and men

Cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies are useful in evaluating the risk of developing emotional disorders and that they may define subjects’ styles. This study aims to explore the extent to which specific styles of CER strategies relate to the anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions in adults and whether such relationships operate similarly for women and men. Two hundred and fifteen adults (between 22 and 67 years old) completed the Spanish versions of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Experiences in Close Relationships instrument. Cluster analysis, ANOVA and Student's t-test were used. Our results show that women and men can be successfully classified into two CER clusters (Protective and Vulnerable), distinguished by the higher use in the protective cluster of the CER strategies considered most adaptive and complex (Acceptance, Positive Refocusing, Refocus on Planning, Positive Reappraisal, and Putting into Perspective). However, only in women were the anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions significantly associated with CER style. In conclusion, from a clinical and interpersonal perspective, it is interesting to be able to predict the belonging to a Protective or Vulnerable coping style by analysing the CER strategies and to know their relationship with the adult affective system.