The aim of the present study was to examine the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and risky behaviors among male adolescents. This research employed a descriptive-correlational design, and the statistical population consisted of male students in the first grade of secondary school in District Four of Karaj city (a city in Iran). A total of 315 students were selected through convenience sampling and completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), the Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale (CD‐RISC), and the Iranian Adolescents Risk-taking Scale (IARS). The findings indicated that adaptive emotion regulation strategies had a positive and significant effect on resilience (P < 0.01), but no significant effect on risky behaviors (P > 0.05). In contrast, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies had no significant effect on resilience (P > 0.05), but exerted a positive and significant effect on risky behaviors (P < 0.01). Resilience itself showed a negative and significant effect on risky behaviors (P < 0.01). Additional results revealed that only the indirect effect of adaptive emotion regulation strategies on risky behaviors through resilience was negative and significant (P < 0.01). In other words, resilience mediated solely the relationship between adaptive emotion regulation strategies and risky behaviors in male adolescents. Accordingly, it seems that reducing risky behaviors in male adolescents requires attention to the role of adaptive emotion regulation strategies and their impact on enhancing resilience.