Do insecure parental attachment representations and increased depressive symptoms predict problems in interpersonal relationship functioning?

Friendships and romantic relationships are important during young adulthood (Camirand & Poulin, 2022). Positive friendships and romantic relationships are associated with better mental health (e.g., increased social connection and happiness), while problems with these relationships are related to poorer well-being (Lapierre & Poulin, 2022). An improved understanding of the factors associated with the quality of friendships and romantic relationships can contribute to developing prevention and intervention strategies aimed at mental health.
My first study of PhD examined the independent associations of attachment representations to parents and depressive symptoms with the quality of friendships and romantic relationships in 202 young adults. The findings revealed that secure attachment representations to mother were significantly associated with increased emotional support, approval, and satisfaction in romantic relationships even after controlling for gender and depressive symptoms. Increased depressive symptoms were significantly associated with more conflict, criticism, and pressure in friendships, above and beyond gender and attachment representations to parents. Additionally, there were significant interactions between gender and depressive symptoms in predicting the quality of friendships. Males with increased depressive symptoms reported more conflict and perceived more dominance in friendships. There were no significant associations for females. These findings underscore the importance of secure attachment representations to mother in predicting healthy romantic relationships and depressive symptoms in predicting problematic friendships, especially for males.
The existing literature suggests depressive symptoms and interpersonal relationships might have transactional associations (Hankin et al., 1998; Hankin, Stone, & Wright, 2010); therefore, my second study of PhD will aim to examine the potential reciprocal associations between depressive symptoms and romantic relationship problems in young adult couples using Experience Sampling Methods (ESM).