Maternal Depression, Adult Attachment, and Children's Emotional Distress

Abstract

Our goal was to evaluate the impact of depressed mothers' marital intimacy and attachment security in romantic relationships on children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Forty-six clinically depressed mothers rated attachment security, marital intimacy, and symptoms shown by their children aged 8 to 12. Maternal avoidance of closeness predicted increases in children's internalizing symptoms over a 6-month period. Avoidance of closeness in depressed mothers may be implicated in the development of internalizing symptoms in their children, possibly because individuals who are avoidant of closeness are poor caregivers.