Influence of Screen Time and Childhood Trauma on Attachment Styles and Emotional Regulation in Adulthood

Abstract

Childhood trauma refers to negative or distressing experiences during childhood, such as abuse, neglect, or loss, which can significantly impact an individual's emotional and psychological development. The purpose of the present work is to examine the effect of screen time habits and childhood mistreatment on the attachment patterns and affect management in adults by targeting a sample of the Lahore City in Pakistan. This study is quantitative in nature with data collected by the use of structured measuring tools on 300 adults. The Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) were employed to analyze the participants’ attachment patterns as well as the experienced difficulties in regard to emotion regulation. In terms of the quantitative analysis, correlation and regression analyses were used to compare the screen time, childhood trauma, and the effect of these parameters on different types of attachment and on the quality of emotional regulation. Present research evidence suggests direct positive correlations between screen time and childhood trauma, as well as insecure adult attachment patterns, respectively. These findings suggest the desirability of early efforts to target the duration of screen time as well as childhood maltreatment in order to enhance healthy attachment and cope with negative emotions at an adult age.