Romantic Attachment and Mental Health: Bidirectional Effects from Adolescence to Adulthood

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Social Relationships

Abstract

Romantic relationship quality in adulthood is an important predictor of long-term mental health including lower rates of depression, anxiety, and externalizing problems. In particular, attachment style (i.e., secure, anxious, or avoidant) forms the basis for establishing close relationships with others, including with a romantic partner. Stemming from the parent-child relationship in infancy, individuals similarly form attachment bonds to romantic partners, and these attachment bonds have the potential to impact expectations, schemas, and behaviors within close relationships. However, less is know about the function of attachment within earlier romantic experiences for long-term mental health despite evidence suggest concurrent impacts for marital satisfaction and well-being in adulthood. Further, those facing mental distress may be more likely to have insecure attachment styles with a romantic partner, which may exacerbate both relationship and mental health challenges. Utilizing an active 20-year multi-method, community-based longitudinal study, the current study examines the role of attachment style in predicting concurrent and future mental health symptoms (internalizing and externalizing) as well as the reverse relationship (mental distress impact on romantic attachment).
Participants provide self-report mental health data annually from ages 17 to 28 including the Adult Self Report, Child Depression Inventory/Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Participants and their romantic partners provide relationship data at age 17 (N=97), 21 (N=131), 24 (N=107), and 27 (N=109) to assess attachment related behaviors and cognitions using the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire. All analyses use a Full Information Maximum Likelihood approach for handling missing data while controlling for gender, socioeconomic status, and baseline relationship quality or mental health symptoms.
Results from hierarchical regression analyses suggest secure attachment is associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms at all ages. Chi square difference tests comparing nested models indicate this effect may become stronger with age for the association with externalizing symptoms. Further, gender moderation analyses suggest gender differences emerge only at age 21 where there is a stronger relation between attachment and externalizing symptoms for males compared to females. There was little support for attachment predicting relative change in symptoms over time. However, mental health emerged as a significant predictor of relative change in attachment. Specifically, age 17 secure attachment predicted relative decreases in internalizing symptoms by age 22 and 25.
Results suggest romantic attachment in adolescence is important for concurrent mental health, but may not predict relative changes in symptoms over time. However, adolescent mental health may be an important factor related to teens’ ability to form positive romantic relationships both within adolescence and into adulthood. Implications of these findings for future research and practice will be discussed.

Authors

• Jessica Kansky, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Meghan A Costello, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Corey Pettit, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joseph P Allen, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author