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The Association between the Parent–Child Relationship and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression: The Roles of Attachment and Perceived Spouse Attachment Behaviors
Author(s) -
Bradford Angela B.,
Burningham Kayla L.,
Sandberg Jonathan G.,
Johnson Lee N.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/jmft.12190
Subject(s) - spouse , psychology , anxiety , depressive symptoms , association (psychology) , insecure attachment , developmental psychology , depression (economics) , attachment theory , clinical psychology , perception , psychiatry , psychotherapist , economics , macroeconomics , neuroscience , sociology , anthropology
Research shows that the parent–child relationship affects attachment security, which correlates with anxiety and depression in adulthood. Additional research shows that romantic attachment behaviors may supersede individual attachment security and buffer against negative processes. Using data from 680 married couples in the general population, we examined whether attachment mediates the link between the parent–child relationship and depressive and anxiety symptoms in adulthood. In addition, we tested whether perceived spouse attachment behaviors moderate the effects of attachment insecurity. There was an indirect effect of poor parent–child relationships on symptoms via insecure attachment. Perception of spouse's attachment behaviors was related to depression for both spouses, and they moderated the effect of attachment insecurity on depressive symptoms for husbands. Clinical implications are discussed.