Although the quality of early caregiving experiences predicts adult romantic outcomes, people who have less favorable early caregiving histories (e.g., attachment insecurity) can and do form secure adult partnerships. Likewise, even those who had high quality early caregiving can and do form insecure adult partnerships. Early caregiving experiences, however, are not “lost” in light of new experiences. “Early” and “later” interpersonal experiences are systematically related to psychological and behavioral outcomes. One example of this principle comes from studies examining the effects of adults’ state-of-mind with respect to both their early caregiving experiences and their current romantic relationships on romantic functioning. Both representations of early caregiving as well as current romantic relationships affect romantic functioning in early adulthood (Haydon, Collins, Salvatore, Simpson, & Roisman, online ahead of print; Treboux, Crowell, & Waters, 2004), underscoring the idea that configurations of past and present close relationship representations predict unique patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
