The purposes of this research were two, one to explore the causal model of attachment behaviors and emotion regulation in order to find out the paths of attachment behaviors and emotion regulation, and the other to explore the experiment effects of emotion-regulation group on the eighth graders of insecure attachment in an attempt to look for the possible methods to help the insecure attached graders deal with emotion problems.
In study one, a causal model of attachment behaviors and emotion regulation was developed based on attachment theory. The middle variables between attachment behaviors and emotion regulation were self-representation, others-representation, and strategies for dealing with emotions. The scales used for this study were the Interpersonal Relation Scale, the Knowing Self Scale, the Knowing Others Scale, the My Feeling Scale, and the Emotion Regulation Scale. The subjects were 575 eighth graders, male 295 and f
emale 285. The results for this study were as follows:
1. The data collected from the eighth graders fitted the causal model.
2. Direct and indirect paths of attachment behaviors and emotion regulation were found. The factor of intimacy in the Interpersonal Relation Scale had the strongest influence in direct path, and in the indirect path, the strongest influence was the path through the middle variable of self-representation.
In study two, the scale for selecting the subjects for this study was the Interpersonal Relation Scale. Thirty-two subjects whose scores in all three factors of the Interpersonal Relation Scale were below half SD of average score of all the eighth graders in a junior high school were selected and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups, 19 for each group. The experimental group received experiment treatment designed on the base of the process experience therapy for seven weeks, and the contr
ol group received no treatment. The scale for measuring the experimental effects were the Knowing Self Scale, the Knowing Others Scale, the My Feeling Scale, and the Emotion Regulation Scale. In analyzing the data, two-factor variable in mixed design was used. The main findings were as follows:
1. The positive significant experimental effects were found on two factors of the Knowing Self Scale and the Knowing others Scale.
2. The positive significant experimental effects were found on all factors of the My Feeling Scale and the Emotion Regulation Scale.
Based on the findings, some recommendations were made for the future research and helping students with emotion problems.