The Relationship Between Alexithymia, Attachment Styles, and Interpersonal Problems in Female Lower Secondary School Students
Keywords:
alexithymia, attachment styles, interpersonal problemsAbstract
The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between attachment styles and interpersonal problems among female lower secondary school students in Sari County. In terms of purpose, this study was applied research, and in terms of methodology, it was a descriptive correlational study. The statistical population consisted of all female students enrolled in public lower secondary schools in Sari County during the 2023–2024 academic year, totaling 3,500 students. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table, 346 female lower secondary school students were selected as the sample size. The data collection instruments included the standardized Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment developed by Armsden and Greenberg (1987), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (1994), and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems developed by Barkham (1994). Data analysis was performed using SPSS-24 software, Pearson correlation tests, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The findings indicated that there was a positive and statistically significant correlation between the components of alexithymia (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking) and interpersonal problems among students. Furthermore, there was a negative and statistically significant correlation between attachment to father and attachment to mother and interpersonal problems among students. In addition, the regression findings demonstrated that alexithymia had the greatest contribution in predicting interpersonal problems among students.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Sahar Eftekhari Gole Kelayi (Author); Eftekhar Sadat Samadi; Seyedeh Hamideh Salim Bahrami (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
