Participants’ marital status (whether they were married) and child status (whether they had children) during adulthood (at ages 23, 26, and 32) were also controlled in view of past research linking these variables to internalizing problems (Evenson & Simon, 20005; Pearlin & Johnson, 1977). In addition, participants’ cohabitation status and the length of their current romantic relationship at age 23 were also controlled to examine the effects of relationship quality above and beyond other demographic relationship characteristics. Finally, whether participants were with the same romantic partner between ages 23 and 32 was included to control for the potential effects of relationship dissolution on anxious-depressed symptoms (Horwitz, White, & Howell-White, 1996).
