We also expected the initial anxious-depressed symptoms of individuals whose early caregiving and romantic relationship quality differed to be between the two extreme concordant groups (i.e., the groups that were either both low or both high on early caregiving and young adult romantic quality measures) (Hypotheses 3 and 4). These hypotheses are consistent with the notion that: (1) an early history of security (i.e., better caregiving) may serve as an internal resource that insulates these individuals from later difficulties, such as elevations in internalizing symptoms typically associated with poor relationship adjustment (Bowlby, 1973, 1980; Mikulincer & Florian, 1998; Mikulincer et al., 2003; Sroufe et al., 1990), and (2) positive adult close relationships can compensate for risk factors experienced earlier in development (Rönkä et al., 2002).
