The Association between the Parent–Child Relationship and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression: The Roles of Attachment and Perceived Spouse Attachment Behaviors

Abstract

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.

When adolescents face both Internet addiction and mood symptoms: A cross-sectional study of comorbidity and its predictors

“…Both the mother-child relationship and the father-child relationship were correlated with the risk of mood symptoms only and comorbid IA and mood symptoms. In general, our findings are consistent with the literature on parent-child relationships but are slightly different in the case of the father-child relationship and IA only (Bradford et al, 2017;Ko et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2016). Studies have proved the importance of parent-child relationships for a child's mental health over time, especially the motherchild relationship (Meng et al, 2018).…”

“…For instance, dysfunctions in dopaminergic pathways have been associated with the development of IA and mood disorders (Caldiroli et al, 2018). Certain factors, including poor sleep quality (Kitazawa et al, 2018), being a current smoker (Seyrek et al, 2017), being in a higher grade at school (Malak et al, 2017) and poor parent-child relationships (Liu and Kuo, 2007), have been consistently reported to be associated with an increased risk of IA and mood symptoms (Bradford et al, 2017;Kaur et al, 2014;Owens et al, 2014;Park et L., 2018). Kardefelt-Winther (2014) argued that individuals could relive their negative feelings by using the Internet when facing stressors from negative life situations.…”

Family process and structure, attachment style, and emotional intelligence in runaway girls

“…In this respect, runaway girls had insecure or anxious attachment style while normal girls benefited from secure attachment style. The results of other investigation indicated that safe parents had safe children and parents with anxious attachment style among the insecure group had children suffering from attachment disorders more than others (39).…”

Baby with the Bathwater? Examining the Relationship between Video Game Use and Relationship Outcomes and the Moderating Effects of Attachment Behaviors among Married Casual Gamers

“…Couple‐specific attachment behaviors—accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement—are key processes related to relationship satisfaction and stability (Sandberg et al., ), and research is beginning to identify attachment behaviors as a potential moderator of effects on outcomes. For instance, one study found that husbands’ reports of wives’ attachment behaviors moderated the link between husband's attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms (Bradford, Burningham, Sandberg, & Johnson, ). It follows that when accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement are present in a couple relationship, a secure attachment is formed, and this secure attachment may protect against the negative effects of video game use on relationship outcomes.…”