Can Emotion Dysregulation Explain the Association Between Attachment Insecurities and Teen Dating Violence Perpetration?
Abstract
Attachment theory provides important insight regarding the etiology of teen dating violence perpetration (TDV-P). Attachment insecurities have been associated with TDV-P, but the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Furthermore, as of now, studies have failed to explore whether the relation between attachment insecurities and TDV-P varied according to its forms (i.e., psychological, physical or sexual) or to the perpetrator’s gender. This study aimed to investigate if emotion dysregulation mediates the association between attachment insecurities and different forms of TDV-P among girls and boys. Adolescents ( M age = 16 years; n = 3,214; 60% girls) were recruited from a one-stage stratified cluster sample of 34 high schools in Quebec, Canada. Path analyses with probit regression models were conducted separately for girls and boys. Attachment anxiety and avoidance were associated with more emotion dysregulation. Emotion dysregulation was, in turn, associated with higher probabilities of physical TDV-P in girls and psychological TDV-P in girls and boys. Surprisingly, emotion dysregulation was not associated with sexual TDV-P. Attachment anxiety remained directly related to higher probabilities of perpetrating all forms of TDV. These findings support the hypotheses set forth by attachment theory and highlight the utility of this theory to understand and potentially prevent TDV-P. Practitioners should more specifically address adolescents’ attachment anxiety, as it seems more related to TDV-P. Finally, this study underscores the necessity of considering gender and specific forms of TDV-P to understand the association between attachment insecurities, emotion dysregulation, and TDV-P.
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- Authors
- Théorêt, V., Lapierre, A., Blais, M., & Hébert, M.
- Affiliations
- Université du Québec à Montréal (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Hébert, Martine
- Venue
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-04-20
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 743-763
- ISSN
- 0886-2605 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-6518
- OpenAlex
- W3016657622
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (103944)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- insecure attachment, emotional dysregulation, attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, physical violence, psychological violence, sexual violence, gender differences, adolescents, mediation
- MeSH terms
- Intimate Partner Violence, Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Sexual Behavior, Sex Offenses
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