Predicting People's State Anxiety During the Covid-19 Epidemic Based on Attachment Styles: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation Difficulty

The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty in the relationship between attachment styles and anxiety in individuals during the virus epidemic. The general design of the present study was descriptive-correlation of structural equations. The statistical population of this study was 370 Iranian adults who were easily selected as a sample. Spielberger State Anxiety-Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI, 1970), Emotional Regulation Difficulty Scale (DERS, 2004), and Collins and Reed Attachment Scale (RAAS, 1990) was used to assess the variables. structural equation analysis was used to analyze the hypotheses expressing the mediating role. The results showed that avoidant attachment with the size of effects -0.08, 0.10, respectively, has a direct and significant effect on anxiety (sig> 0.05). Anxiety attachment with an effect size of 0.31 also has a significant effect on anxiety due to difficulty in emotion regulation (sig> 0.05). Considering the type of emotional regulation, individuals with anxious attachment styles express more anxiety than those with secure and avoidant attachment styles during crises such as the Coronavirus virus epidemic. Individuals with avoidant attachment perceive more anxiety than secure attachment.