This longitudinal study is one of few prospective attempts to test whether romantic relationship experiences change the association between early caregiving and later adult anxious-depressed symptoms. We build on prior studies showing that internalizing symptoms and low quality romantic relationships in adulthood are partly a consequence of poor early caregiving experiences (Burbach & Bourduin, 1986; Conger, Cui, Bryant, & Elder, 2000; Moffitt et al., 2007; Overbeek et al., 2007; Roisman et al., 2005; Simpson et al., 2007). We find that low quality adult romantic relationship experiences may amplify the association between poor early caregiving and adult anxious-depressed symptoms. From a clinical perspective, these individuals may require therapeutic interventions that focus on both their developmentally-based and their relationship-based vulnerabilities to experiencing internalizing symptoms. On the other hand, our finding that individuals whose lower quality early caregiving experiences put them at greater risk for developing later anxious-depressed symptoms benefitted the most from a high quality romantic relationship experience in adulthood is optimistic. The relative invariance in adult anxious-depressed symptoms as a function of romantic quality for those who experienced high quality early caregiving suggests that these individuals may incur less harm when they encounter less favorable romantic relationships.
