Family-of-Origin of Violence, Insecure Attachment, and Depression Symptoms in Emerging Adults: A Brief Report

Abstract Purpose Family-of-origin violence (FOV) has been linked to numerous deleterious consequences in adulthood, including depression. Many individuals who experience FOV display anxious (i.e., fear of abandonment) and avoidant (i.e., fear of interpersonal intimacy) attachment styles. Higher levels of insecure attachment confer vulnerability for depression following conflict, whereas more secure romantic attachment attenuates the effects of violence exposure. It follows that experiencing low levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance during an emerging adulthood relationship may offset consequences associated with childhood FOV. Thus, we hypothesized that college students’ childhood FOV exposure would positively relate to their current depression symptoms, but only among those with high levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance within their current relationship. Methods Participants included 204 college students (75% women; M age = 19.93 years; 86.6% white) who were in dating relationships for at least one week. Results Anxious attachment emerged as a significant moderator and avoidant attachment was a marginally significant moderator of the association between childhood FOV and self-reported adult depression symptoms such that these associations were positive among participants with medium to high, but not low, levels of attachment anxiety and avoidant attachment. Conclusions Findings highlight that childhood FOV exposure does not relate to depression symptoms among emerging adults who have lower levels of attachment anxiety within their current relationship. These results suggest that attachment anxiety and avoidance within current romantic relationships might be important intervention targets for emerging adults exposed to FOV.