Background: Adolescence is a critical developmental period characterized by profound changes and personality formation that shape individuals’ capacity to cope with life challenges. Inadequate parental care is associated with a range of adverse psychological consequences, and adolescents experiencing inadequate parental care are more likely to rely on maladaptive coping styles. Given that alexithymia and attachment styles are among the factors associated with coping styles, the present study aimed to examine the relationship between alexithymia and coping styles, with attachment styles as mediating variables, in adolescent girls with inadequate parental care.
Methods: This descriptive-correlational study employed structural equation modeling to examine the proposed model. The study population comprised all adolescent girls with inadequate parental care residing in welfare facilities in Mashhad, Iran, in 2025. A total of 100 participants were recruited using convenience and voluntary sampling. Participants completed three questionnaires assessing alexithymia, coping styles, and attachment styles. Descriptive statistics (means and variances) and inferential statistics (path analysis) were used to analyze the data. SPSS version 22 was used for descriptive and basic inferential analyses, and SmartPLS 3 was used for structural equation modeling.
Results: The results indicated that alexithymia had significant direct effects on emotion-focused coping (β = 0.406), problem-focused coping (β = −0.325), and avoidance-focused coping (β = 0.388; p < 0.01). Furthermore, alexithymia had significant indirect effects on emotion-focused coping through avoidant attachment (β = 0.201), on problem-focused coping through ambivalent attachment (β = −0.125), and on avoidance-focused coping through avoidant attachment (β = 0.300; p < 0.05). Alexithymia also had significant direct effects on avoidant attachment (β = 0.545) and ambivalent attachment (β = 0.601; p < 0.01). The model demonstrated an acceptable fit, as indicated by the NFI (0.958) and SRMR (0.070) indices.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that alexithymia is associated with coping styles through the mediating role of attachment styles, particularly avoidant and ambivalent attachment. Specifically, alexithymia appears to reinforce emotion-focused and avoidance-focused coping through avoidant attachment, while weakening problem-focused coping through ambivalent attachment. These findings underscore the importance of developing interventions targeting attachment security and emotional regulation in adolescent girls experiencing inadequate parental care.