Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effects of the fear of compassion and the difficulties of emotional regulation on the relationship between attachment trauma and interpersonal problems. The participants in this study were 296 Korean university students. The participants completed self-report questionnaires that assessed their attachment trauma, fear of compassion, emotional regulation difficulties, and interpersonal problems. Those with high attachment trauma had significantly more interpersonal problems, fear of compassion from others, fear of self-compassion, and emotional regulation difficulties than those with low attachment trauma. Further, fear of compassion and difficulties in emotional regulation were shown to fully mediate and fully dual-mediate the relationship between attachment trauma and interpersonal problems. These findings suggest that attachment trauma affects the degree to which university students experience interpersonal problems and that fear of compassion and emotional regulation difficulties may be the mechanism underlying that relationship. This paper discusses several limitations of this study and areas for future research.