Intergenerational transmission of depression: Attachment, affect regulation and separation-individuation.

Abstract

This study assesses the roles of attachment, affect regulation, and separation-individuation in the intergenerational transmission of depression. A theoretical review of the literature examines the impact of maternal insecurity on the child's development and examines the role of internal working models in the etiology of depression, through their effects on affect regulation and separation-individuation. This developmental model is inspired equally by organizational models of developmental psychopathology (Cicchetti & Aber, 1986), attachment theory, and psychoanalytic theory. Twenty-five dysthymic mothers and 25 non-depressed mothers were interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan & Main, 1984). Measures of depression, affect regulation, and separation-individuation were administered both to the mothers and their adolescent daughters (ages 15-20). Results showed that dysthymic mothers were predominantly insecure, and depressed daughters had predominantly insecure mothers. However, many insecure mothers were not depressed or did not have depressed daughters. Dysthymic mothers used fewer adaptive affect regulation strategies than non-depressed mothers. Depression in both mothers and daughters was correlated with high use of maladaptive strategies and with a lower tendency to use successful strategies more often than unsuccessful strategies. Differentiation (separation-individuation) was related to attachment but not to depression, but a conflictual relationship with mother was associated with higher depression for the daughters. Research on depression in mothers has often assumed that the symptoms themselves are the source of disruption to parenting. This study suggests that maternal insecurity is a stronger predictor of daughter depression, both independent of and in interaction with the mother's own depression. This study has the potential to clarify the nature of parent-child transmission of depression through the transmission of key vulnerabilities in relationships, the self, and affect regulation. This study also demonstrates the value of integrating attachment and psychoanalytic theories to yield an even fuller and more productive picture of the development of depression in adults and adolescents.