The role of partner characteristics in attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms

Depression is associated with marital distress and attachment insecurity in romantic relationships. In this article, I propose an attachment-theory model of depression, which links the characteristics of romantic partners to attachment insecurity and depression. I hypothesized that individuals who are avoidant of closeness and/or who devalue their spouses will be perceived as unresponsive to their spouses’ vulnerability, which will increase the spouse’s attachment insecurity. Attachment insecurity was then proposed to contribute to depressive symptoms over time. A sample of married or cohabiting couples was recruited to complete questionnaires at an Internet Web site at 2 time points, approximately 3 months apart. Path analysis showed that for both husbands (N 1⁄4 82) and wives (N 1⁄4 99), avoidance of closeness in 1 partner was associated with perceived unresponsiveness to vulnerability and attachment insecurity in the other partner. In addition, for husbands, attachment insecurity at T1 predicted depressive symptoms at T2, above and beyond baseline levels of depression. These results provide encouraging support for an attachment-theory approach to the study and treatment of depression, particularly among married or cohabiting men. According to attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980), children learn that they are lovable and that significant others are reliable and responsive to their emotional needs by having attachment figures that are warm, interested in, and responsive to them. In contrast, children who experience rejection or inconsistency in their relationships with caregivers develop working models of themselves as unlovable and undeserving of care, and working models of others as hostile and rejecting or unreliable and untrustworthy. Hazan and Shaver (1987) were the first researchers to propose that similar processes operate in adult romantic relationships. Their conceptualization, along with Bartholomew’s (1990) important elaboration, has produced a wealth of research in the past 15 years. Two orthogonal dimensions underlie attachment in romantic relationships: anxiety about attachment figures and avoidance of closeness (e.g., Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994a; Simpson, 1990). The first dimension, which is roughly equivalent to Bowlby’s working model of self, reflects fears that one is unlovable and that rejection or abandonment by romantic partners is possible. The second dimension parallels Bowlby’s working model of others and reflects the extent to which individuals prefer to maintain emotional distance and autonomy in close relationships. Crossing the two dimensions creates the four attachment prototypes that dominated early research (Brennan et al., 1998). Individuals who are securely attached have positive working models of both self and others. They believe that they are lovable and that significant others will be available and emotionally responsive to them when needed. Preoccupied individuals have a negative working model of self and a positive model of others. They seek reassurance from attachment figures because they feel unlovable, and they are vigilant to signs that they might be abandoned. Individuals who are fearful–avoidant have negative working models of both self and others. They want to Correspondence should be addressed to Valerie E. Whiffen, University of Ottawa, School of Psychology, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada, e-mail: [email protected]. Personal Relationships, 12 (2005), 407–423. Printed in the United States of America. Copyright 2005 IARR. 1350-4126=05