Depression and Attachment in Couples

Previous research demonstrated that depression is associated with attachment insecurity. The present study examined the association between adult attachment and depression in couples, both concurrently and longitudinally. We tested the hypothesis that, when one partner is depressed, both partners will be insecurely attached, particularly when the wife's depression is chronic. Self-reported ratings of attachment were collected in a sample of couples in which wives met DSM-III-R criteria for depression in the past year (N = 52) and in a normative sample of couples (N = 60). The course of the women's episodes also was followed over a 6-month period. Depressed women reported more fearful attachment than did women in the normative sample. Overall, the husbands of the depressed women were not more likely to report insecure attachment. However, husbands of women diagnosed with chronic depression reported less attachment security than did husbands of women with discrete episodes of depression. In addition, husbands' insecurity predicted the maintenance of their wives' depressive symptoms over the follow-up period.