Copyright 1994 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

1994, Vol. 66, No. 1, 127-140 0022-3514/94/S3.00

Depression, Working Models of Others, and Relationship Functioning

Katherine B. Carnelley, Paula R. Pietromonaco, and Kenneth Jaffe

Two studies examined depressives' working models of others and the relative contribution of these
models and depression to relationship functioning. Respondents reported on their childhood rela-
tionships, adult attachment style, and relationship functioning. Study 1 compared mildly depressed
and nondepressed college women, and Study 2 compared married women recovering from clinical
depression with nondepressed married women. Mildly depressed college women evidenced greater
preoccupation and fearful avoidance in romantic relationships than did nondepressed women; re-
covering depressed women evidenced greater fearful avoidance. In both studies, relationship func-
tioning was predicted more strongly by adult attachment style than by depression status. Among
college women, positive experiences with mother also were linked to better relationship functioning;
however, attachment style and depression status mediated this effect.

Several theorists (Brown & Harris, 1978; Coates & Wortman,
1980; Coyne, 1976; Lewinsohn, 1974; Paykel & Weissman,
1973) have suggested that interpersonal processes function to
promote and maintain depression. Interpersonal views of de-
pression emphasize that depressed individuals have difficulty
interacting with others and obtaining social reinforcement
(Lewinsohn, 1974) or support (Coyne, 1976), which further ex-
acerbate the depressed person's symptoms. Other theorists (Ab-
ramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978; Beck, 1976) have focused
on the role of maladaptive thought processes in promoting de-
pression. Both cognitive and interpersonal processes appear to
contribute to depression, yet depression researchers (e.g., Ham-
men, Ellicott, Gitlin, & Jamison, 1989; Pietromonaco, Rook, &
Lewis, 1992; Siegel & Alloy, 1990) are only beginning to exam-
ine how these processes work together.
We propose that attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969, 1973,
1980, 1988) integrates cognitive and interpersonal approaches
to depression and thus provides a framework for understanding
depressives' thoughts and behavior in their relationships. From
an attachment perspective, children's experiences with a pri-
mary caregiver form the basis for their mental representations,
or "internal working models" (Bowlby, 1973), of the self and
others (Bowlby, 1973; Bretherton, 1985; Sroufe & Fleeson,
1986). Thus, children who have experienced consistency and
warmth from their caregiver are likely to develop a working
model of the self as lovable and competent and a working model
of others as reliable, consistent, and warm. In contrast, children
who have experienced rejection and coldness are likely to de-
velop a working model of the self as unlovable and incompetent
and a working model of others as unreliable, cold, and distant;
furthermore, they are likely to experience depression and anxi-
ety (Bowlby, 1973). Such working models are thought to influ-
ence expectations and interpretations of others' behavior from
childhood through adulthood (Bowlby, 1973; Bretherton, 1985;
Sroufe & Fleeson, 1986) and to create a cognitive push toward
reconstructing the patterns of early attachment relationships in
later adult relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Shaver, Hazan,
&Bradshaw, 1988).
Depressives' difficulties in their adult relationships may be
linked to their working models of others. For example, depres-
sives may expect others to reject them and unintentionally elicit
behavior that confirms their view that they are unworthy of an-
other's love. The present research therefore sought (a) to iden-
tify the content of depressives' working models of others and (b)
to examine the extent to which working models of others versus
depression contribute to dissatisfaction and conflict in adult ro-
mantic relationships. Wefirstbriefly review the recent literature
on working models of others and then discuss their link to de-
pression and relationship functioning.

Working Models of Others

Katherine B. Carnelley, Institute for Social Research, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor; Paula R. Pietromonaco, Department of Psychol-
ogy, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Kenneth Jaffe, Baystate
Medical Center, Springfield, Massachusetts.
Katherine B. Carnelley and Paula R. Pietromonaco's names are or-
dered alphabetically.
This research was supported in part by a grant from Baystate Medical
Center. We thank Anita Barbee, Ronnie JanorF-Bulman, George Lev-
inger, Sally Powers, Alice Rossi, Phil Shaver, Rick Tessler, and several
anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on a draft of the article.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kath-
erine B. Carnelley, Institute for Social Research, Box 1248, University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1248, or to Paula R. Pietro-
monaco, Department of Psychology, Tobin Hall, University of Massa-
chusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003.
127
Working models of others fall into two general categories: se-
cure and insecure. Ainsworth and her colleagues (Ainsworth,
Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) found that infants differed in
their response to separation and reunion with their mothers.
Secure infants were willing to approach the mother after a sep-
aration and to maintain proximity. Avoidant infants resisted
contact with the mother and actively refrained from interacting
with her. Anxious-ambivalent infants sought proximity to the
mother but, at the same time, expressed anger toward her and
were difficult to comfort. Each style is thought to reflect a
different mental representation, or working model of attach-
ment figures (Bowlby, 1973), that guides the infant's percep-
tions and behavior (Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy, 1985).
 128 K. CARNELLEY, P. PIETROMONACO, AND K. JAFFE
Hazan and Shaver (1987; Shaver et al., 1988) have suggested
that adults' beliefs about relationships with romantic partners
parallel the categories found for children. According to Hazan
and Shaver's (1987) typology, adults with a secure style are com-
fortable with intimacy and are able to give help to others, those
with an avoidant style are less trusting of others and uncomfort-
able with intimacy, and those with an anxious-ambivalent style
worry about abandonment and feel unable to get as close to
others as they would like. Adults who differ in their attachment
style also differ in their beliefs about relationships, their emo-
tional reactions to relationships, and their satisfaction with re-
lationships (Carnelley & Janoff-Bulman, 1992; Collins & Read,
1990; Feeney & Noller, 1990; Kirkpatrick & Davis, in press;
Pietromonaco & Carnelley, in press; Simpson, 1990). Just as
infants' attachment styles are thought to reflect their experi-
ences with caregivers, adults' attachment styles also are thought
to reflect different early experiences with caregivers and there-
fore different mental representations of others.
Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) recently refined Hazan
and Shaver's (1987) typology by examining two distinct dimen-
sions: esteem for self (positive vs. negative) and esteem for others
(positive vs. negative). Bartholomew and Horowitz demon-
strated that secure individuals have a positive model of both
the self and others, whereas preoccupied (anxious-ambivalent)
individuals have a negative model of self and a positive model of
others. Furthermore, avoidants fell into one of two categories:
dismissing or fearful. Dismissing individuals, who indicated
that they did not need intimate relationships, held a positive
model of self and a negative model of others. Fearful individu-
als, who indicated both a desire and fear of intimacy, held a
negative model of the self and of others.
Depression and Working Models of Others
Most studies of depression have emphasized depressives'
mental representations of self. These studies indicate that de-
pressed people, compared with nondepressed people, describe
themselves more negatively (e.g., Beck, 1967; Pietromonaco,
1985), expect more negative events and fewer positive events to
happen to them (e.g., Pietromonaco & Markus, 1985; Pietro-
monaco & Rook, 1987;Pyszczynski, Holt, & Greenberg, 1987),
and recall more negative and less positive personal information
(e.g., Derry & Kuiper, 1981; MacDonald & Kuiper, 1984; Teas-
dale, Taylor, & Fogarty, 1980).
Few studies have directly examined depressives' mental rep-
resentations of others. Some evidence suggests that depressives
may have a more positive view of others than of themselves,
whereas other evidence suggests that depressives hold a negative
view of both themselves and others. On the one hand, depres-
sives, in contrast with nondepressives, have been shown to be
more optimistic about another person's control over a positive
outcome (Golin, Terrell, & Johnson, 1977; Golin, Terrell,
Weitz, & Drost, 1979; Martin, Abramson, & Alloy, 1984) and
to be less negative in their thoughts about others than about
themselves (Bargh & Tota, 1988; Pietromonaco & Markus,
1985; Pyszczynski et al., 1987). On the other hand, depressives
are sometimes more pessimistic than are nondepressives in their
judgments of both themselves and others (Alloy & Ahrens,
1987; Pietromonaco & Rook, 1987; Pyszczynski et al., 1987).
Furthermore, depressives appear to hold a negatively biased
view of strangers with whom they have shared personal infor-
mation (Pietromonaco et al., 1992; Rook, Pietromonaco, &
Lewis, 1993).
From an attachment perspective, depressives' problematic
adult relationships derive from early negative experiences with
a primary caregiver in which they learned that they were un-
worthy of love and learned to expect future attachment figures
to respond in a similar rejecting or inconsistent fashion. Several
studies indicate that depressives hold a negative view of their
relationship with parents. Depression is associated with strict-
ness, inconsistent love, and a perceived lack of nurturance from
parents (Blatt, Wein, Chevron, & Quinlan, 1979; McCranie &
Bass, 1984; Schwarz & Zuroff, 1979), parental overprotec-
tiveness (Richman & Flaherty, 1987), and loss of a parent
(Brown & Harris, 1978).
Depression and Relationship Functioning
The intimate relationships of depressed individuals typically
are distressed (e.g., Coleman & Miller, 1975; Gotlib & Whiffen,
1989; Kahn, Coyne, & Margolin, 1985; Kowalik & Gotlib,
1987; Ruscher & Gotlib, 1988). In Gotlib and Hooley's (1988)
thorough review of this literature, they concluded that de-
pressed people and their spouses experience troubled commu-
nication, negative affect, conflict, and tend to convey mixed
messages (e.g., a positive statement may be delivered in a nega-
tive tone). This conclusion is based on many studies that used a
variety of methodologies including self-report interviews (e.g.,
Weissman & Paykel, 1974) and direct behavioral observations
(e.g., Hinchliffe, Hooper, & Roberts, 1978).
Depression may lead to poor relationship functioning by
affecting both depressives' perceptions and interactions in close
relationships. For example, depression is likely to bias interper-
sonal perceptions in a negative direction and thus lead de-
pressed individuals to experience a decline in marital satisfac-
tion. In addition, spouses of the depressed may experience
greater marital distress because they feel burdened by the de-
pressed partner's needs and negative statements (Coyne, Kes-
sler, & Tal, 1987), and they may convey their irritation to the
partner (cf. Coyne, 1976). As a consequence, depressed part-
ners may become dissatisfied with the relationship and even
more depressed (cf. Coyne, 1976). Thus, the causal link be-
tween depression and marital distress is likely to involve a com-
plex, reciprocal process (Barnett & Gotlib, 1988; Gotlib &
Hooley, 1988). Although relationship difficulties may result
from depression, they also may promote or exacerbate depres-
sive symptoms (Coates & Wortman, 1980; Coyne, 1976).
Whether depression precedes or follows relationship difficulties,
it is likely to affect subsequent functioning in the relationship.
Studies of depression and marriage have described the prob-
lems experienced by depressed individuals in their relationships
but have not explored the beliefs and expectations that de-
pressed people have about close relationships that may promote
marital distress. The present studies not only examine the work-
ing models of others that may promote behaviors that un-
dermine depressives' relationships but also explore the relative
contribution of working models of others and depression to re-
lationship functioning.
 DEPRESSION AND WORKING MODELS
Hypothesized Linkages
General Model
The literature just reviewed suggests that childhood experi-
ences with parents, working models of attachment in adult-
hood, and depression status are likely to be key variables in pre-
dicting individuals' perceptions and behavior in their close rela-
tionships. Figure 1 shows the hypothesized links among these
variables. We propose that less positive (or more negative) child-
hood experiences with a primary caregiver lead to an insecure
working model of adult attachment. Furthermore, these child-
hood experiences are apt to influence the likelihood of depres-
sion in adulthood (e.g., Blatt et al, 1979). Both adult attach-
ment style and depression may result from less positive child-
hood experiences, and they also may exert a reciprocal
influence on each other. The curved line in the model indicates
that these two constructs are correlated. Thus, a particular
adult attachment style may increase (or decrease) vulnerability
to depression, but depression also may affect individuals' per-
ceptions of their attachment style. The model also includes the
possibility that adult attachment style or depression may influ-
ence relationship functioning and that either of these variables
may mediate the link between childhood experiences and rela-
tionship functioning.
Figure 1 also indicates that a strong link (illustrated by the
solid line) exists between attachment style and relationship
functioning, whereas a weaker link (illustrated by the dotted
line) exists between depression status and relationship function-
ing. This assumption follows from attachment theory, which
suggests that depressives' insecure working models are respon-
sible for relationship difficulties, and from the fact that depres-
sives' relationship difficulties often persist even after recovery
(e.g., Bothwell & Weissman, 1977; Paykel & Weissman, 1973).
Specific Hypotheses
The first set of hypotheses examined the assumption that
childhood experiences are associated with both adult attach-
ment style and depression. We expected less positive childhood
experiences to be associated with an insecure adult attachment
style (Hypothesis la) and greater vulnerability to depression
(Hypothesis lb).
The second hypothesis concerned the link between adult at-
tachment style and depression. Because depressives typically
hold a negative view of self, we predicted that depressives should
be characterized by either a preoccupied style or a fearful style,
depending on whether their model of others is positive or nega-
Adult Attachment
Style
Childhood
Relationship
Experiences Functioning
with Parents
Depression
Figure 1. Hypothesized associations among predictors
of relationship functioning.
129
tive. The literature just reviewed suggests that some depressives
may be more likely to hold a negative model of others, and some
depressives may be more likely to hold a positive model of oth-
ers. The present research examines which style is most charac-
teristic of depressives' models of close others (e.g., romantic
partners).
The third hypothesis predicted that attachment style would
be more strongly associated with relationship functioning than
would depression. Nevertheless, we also examined the alterna-
tive possibility that depression negatively biases individuals'
perceptions of their relationships and thus contributes equally
or more than attachment style to relationship functioning.
The fourth hypothesis concerned whether adult attachment
style or depression mediates the link between childhood experi-
ences and relationship functioning. If people significantly revise
their mental models of relationships on the basis of their expe-
riences with people other than parents (e.g., their romantic part-
ners), then as individuals age or become partners in long-term
relationships, early experiences with a primary caregiver may
become less central to working models of others, whereas expe-
riences with one's romantic partner may become more central.
If this is the case, then adult attachment style, which reflects
individuals' perceptions of their interactions with adult roman-
tic partners, should predict relationship functioning above and
beyond that predicted by childhood experiences. Similarly, de-
pression may mediate the link between childhood experiences
and relationship functioning because more recent negative ex-
periences may be incorporated into depressives' negative model
of self, and they may take precedence over earlier negative expe-
riences with a primary caregiver. Thus, we expected adult at-
tachment style, and possibly depression status, to mediate the
link between experiences with parents and relationship func-
tioning (Hypothesis 4).
We conducted two studies to examine these hypotheses.
Study 1 included a sample of mildly depressed and nonde-
pressed college women, some of whom were currently in a stable
dating relationship. Study 2 included a sample of married
women who were recovering from a clinical depression and a
comparison group of nondepressed women from the same com-
munity. We focused on women because depression is far more
likely among women than men (e.g., Lewinsohn, Hoberman, &
Rosenbaum, 1988) and because relationships appear to carry
special significance for women (Chodorow, 1978; Miller, 1986).
In both studies, women described their relationship with their
mother and father while they were growing up, their style of
relating to a romantic partner, and evaluated their romantic re-
lationship along several dimensions (e.g., satisfaction, quality of
exchanges, and style of conflict resolution).
Study 1
Method
Subjects
An initial sample of 204 undergraduate women participated in the
study for course credit. All women completed the Beck Depression In-
ventory (BDI; Beck, 1967) at a large prescreening session for psychology
undergraduates and again, approximately 4-10 weeks later, during the
study session. Women who scored 9 or above at both times formed the
 130 K. CARNELLEY, P. PIETROMONACO, AND K. JAFFE
mildly depressed group (n = 73); those who scored 3 or under at both
times formed the nondepressed group (n = 90). The final sample in-
cluded only these 163 women who had stable scores across the two ses-
sions. These women ranged in age from 17 to 48 (M = 20.4 years, SD =
3.20). The mean BDI score was 14.7 for the depressed women and 2.2
for the nondepressed women. Of the final sample, 101 women reported
that they were currently involved in a stable dating relationship. The
average length of these relationships was 19.99 months.
Materials and Procedure
Respondents completed all questionnaires during the study session.
Working models of parents. We assessed a variety of important char-
acteristics of the parent-child relationship that were suggested by at-
tachment theory. First, the Mother, Father, Peer Scale (MFP; see Ricks,
1985; Carnelley & Janoff-Bulman, 1992) assessed, separately for
mother and father, whether the parent encouraged independence or was
overprotective (e.g., "When I was a child, my mother encouraged me
to make my own decisions.") and whether the parent was accepting or
rejecting (e.g., "My father gave me the feeling that he liked me as I was;
he didn't feel he had to make me over into someone else."). MFP items
about relationships with peers were not relevant to our central hypoth-
eses and therefore are not discussed here.
Items from the Family Background Scale (FBS; Latty-Mann & Davis,
1989), the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parker, Tupling, &
Brown, 1979), and other items developed by the authors measured the
extent to which parents were warm (e.g., "My mother was very loving
and warm."); reliable (e.g., "No matter how busy my mother was, she
always made me feel wanted."); sensitive (e.g., "My father was very at-
tentive to my needs and responsive to my concerns."); controlling (e.g.,
"My father was demanding and strict."); and had a role-reversed rela-
tionship with their daughter (e.g., "My father relied on me to see him
through stressful times"). Respondents rated all of the above subscales
on a 7-point scale ranging from disagree strongly to agree strongly.
To simplify our measure of the quality of parental relationships, we
constructed a composite measure of positive experiences with mother
(a = .95; 32 items) and with father (a = .94; 32 items). Positive experi-
ences included items concerning acceptance, encouragement of inde-
pendence, warmth, sensitivity, and reliability. Furthermore, we in-
cluded measures that focused on negative experiences with parents:
controlling mother (a = .83; 5 items), controlling father (a = .77; 5
items), role-reversed mother-daughter relationship (a = .84; 5 items),
and role-reversed father-daughter relationship (a = .79; 5 items). As an
additional measure of negative experiences, we also included a categor-
ical item concerning whether each parent had a problem with alcohol
or other drugs that interfered with family harmony or holding a steady
job (FBS; Latty-Mann & Davis, 1989); respondents selected one of the
following options: neither parent, my mother, my father, or both par-
ents. Two dummy variables were created for the analyses: Mother has a
problem with alcohol or drugs (0 = no and 1 = yes), and father has a
problem with alcohol or drugs (0 = no and 1 = yes).
We included separate measures of positive and negative experiences
with parents because previous work (Rook, 1984) has shown that nega-
tive versus positive contact with relatives and friends contribute inde-
pendently to well-being. Furthermore, the subscales for role reversal and
parents' problems with alcohol or drugs generally were not correlated
with the subscales tapping positive experiences. In addition, we did not
combine the three subscales for negative experiences because they were
not correlated with each other.
Working models of romantic partners. Because researchers are still
assessing the best way to measure working models of romantic partners
(see Brennan & Shaver, in press), we relied on both a prototype measure
and a multi-item measure to construct our attachment measure. First,
respondents read the following (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) four
attachment descriptions and chose the one that best described their feel-
ings in romantic relationships:
Fearful. I am somewhat uncomfortable getting close to others. I want
emotionally close relationships, but I find it difficult to trust others com-
pletely, or to depend on them. I sometimes worry that I will be hurt if I
allow myself to become too close to others.
Preoccupied. I want to be completely emotionally intimate with oth-
ers, but I often find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would
like. I am uncomfortable being without close relationships, but I some-
times worry that others don't value me as much as I value them.
Secure. It is relatively easy for me to become emotionally close to
others. I am comfortable depending on others and having others depend
on me. I don't worry about being alone or having others not accept me.
Dismissing. I am comfortable without close emotional relationships.
It is very important to me to feel independent and self-sufficient, and I
prefer not to depend on others or have others depend on me.
Second, respondents completed a 51 -item multidimensional measure
of their adult romantic attachment style. Twenty-two items came from
Brennan and Shaver's (in press) measure, which includes several dimen-
sions that are relevant to attachment theory and that specify the attri-
butes of each style (e.g., proximity seeking, self-reliance, and ambiva-
lence). We also included 10 items concerning closeness, disclosure,
trust, and anxiety from Collins and Read's (1990) attachment scale and
additional items constructed by us in order to extend the domains
tapped by previous measures. All items were selected for their face va-
lidity and assessed one of nine theoretically relevant dimensions: prox-
imity seeking (e.g., "After even a brief separation I eagerly look forward
to seeing my partner"), closeness (e.g., "I find it relatively easy to get
close to a romantic partner."), disclosure (e.g., "I feel comfortable shar-
ing my private thoughts and feelings with romantic partners."), com-
pulsive self-reliance (e.g., "I would rather take care of myself than de-
pend on a romantic partner."), defensiveness (e.g., "I sometimes wonder
if I need romantic partners more than I let on."), ambivalence (e.g., " I
often have troublefiguringout whether I'm truly in love with my part-
ner or not"), trust/confidence in partners (e.g., "I find it easy to trust
romantic partners."), jealousy/fear of abandonment (e.g., "When my
partner pays attention to other people, I can't help feeling jealous."), and
anxious clinging (e.g., "More than anything I want my partner to return
my love."). Although the subscales were included to tap a variety of
theoretically relevant dimensions, they served an exploratory function.
Alpha reliabilities for the subscales ranged from .33 to .84. Further in-
formation on the subscales is available on request.
We constructed two composite measures of adult working models of
attachment on the basis of a direct discriminant function analysis in
which respondents' ratings of the nine attachment dimensions were
used to predict membership in three attachment groups (secure, preoc-
cupied, and fearful); we excluded the dismissing-avoidant group be-
cause few respondents selected it. Other researchers (Bartholomew &
Horowitz, 1991; Brennan, Shaver, & Tobey, 1991) have found that men
are much more likely than women to fall into the dismissing-avoidant
category. Thus, it is not surprising that we found only a few women who
selected the dismissing-avoidant prototype.
Prior probabilities of classification were 41% fearful, 16% preoccu-
pied, and 43% secure. Two discriminant functions were calculated on
the basis of 191 cases, with a combined x2( 18, N = 191)= 133.43, p <
.0001. After removing the first function, the second function remained
a significant predictor, x 2 (8, N = 191) = 49.96, p < .0001. The first
function accounted for 65% of the between-group variability, the second
for 35%. Thefirstfunction distinguished between fearful avoidants and
the other two groups, whereas the second function separated the preoc-
cupied respondents from the other two groups. The two discriminant
functions overall correctly classified 71.2% of respondents into the three
attachment styles. Function 1 (fearful avoidance) correlated positively
with compulsive self-reliance, defensiveness, and ambivalence and neg-
 DEPRESSION AND WORKING MODELS 131

atively with comfort with closeness and disclosure. Function 2 (preoc- Table 1
cupation) correlated positively with anxious clinging, proximity seek- Correlations Among the Predictor Variables: Study 1
ing, jealousy/fear of abandonment, and negatively with trust. The fear-
ful avoidance (a = .94; 29 items) and preoccupation (a = .89; 22 items) Measure Avoidance Preoccupation Depression
scores were formed by averaging the scores on the subscales associated
with the two functions. These two reliable subscales constituted our pri- Mother
Positive experiences -.29**** -.23** -.33****
mary measure of working models of romantic relationships (adult at-
Negative experiences
tachment style).1 Controlling .16* .21** .19*
We relied on the multi-item measure of attachment because recent Roles reversed .14 .09 .07
work (Brennan & Shaver, in press) has suggested that such measures Alcohol or drug
are more powerful predictors of relationship satisfaction, sexual and problem .08 -.01 -.00
drinking behavior, and eating disorders than are attachment prototype Father
ratings. We would expect the avoidant and preoccupied scores derived Positive experiences -.26*** -.23** -.23**
from the multi-item measure to be more powerful than the single-item Negative experiences
ratings because they capture a greater range of beliefs and because they Controlling .27**** .12 .17*
Roles reversed .08 .02 .04
are based on more items.
Alcohol or drug
Depression status. Because women had been preselected on the basis problem .05 .02 .06
of low or high BD1 scores (3 or less and 9 or greater) at two time points, Depression status .37**** .38****
BDI scores were not continuous (i.e., no women had scores in the range
of 4 to 8). Thus, women were classified as mildly depressed or nonde- Note. Significance levels are two-tailed. Sample size ranges from 160-
pressed, and depression status was analyzed as a dichotomous variable. 163; the variation reflects missing data.
Relationship functioning. We assessed three components of relation- *p<.05. **p<.0\. ***p<.00l. ****p<.0001.
ship functioning: overall satisfaction, quality of interactions with the
partner, and conflict resolution style. Subjects who were in a current
relationship rated a single satisfaction item ("How satisfied are you with
your current relationship?) on a 5-point scale ranging from not at all to negative experiences with mother and with father), adult attach-
extremely. ment style (scores on fearful avoidance and preoccupation), and
To determine the quality of interactions with the partner, respondents depression status (depressed or nondepressed). According to
rated on a 7-point scale the extent to which 14items(a = .88) described our model, childhood experiences are linked to later adult at-
their interactions (adapted from Schuster, Kessler, & Aseltine, 1990). tachment style. Consistent with Hypothesis la, we found that
Examples of positive exchanges are "Your partner really listens to what
women who reported less positive childhood experiences with
you have to say" and "Your partner comforts you when you feel bad."
Examples of negative exchanges are "Your partner makes too many de-
their mother and a more controlling mother were characterized
mands on you" and "Your partner criticizes you." Negative items were by greater avoidance and preoccupation (i.e., more insecurity).
reversed; a high score reflects more positive exchanges.2 Furthermore, women who reported less positive experiences
To determine how respondents typically handled conflict in their re- with their father were characterized by greater avoidance and
lationships, we administered the Conflict Style Inventory (CSI; Levinger preoccupation, and those who reported a more controlling fa-
& Pietromonaco, 1989). The CSI includes subscales for collaborating ther were characterized by greater avoidance. The correlations
("I share the problem with my partner so that we can work it through also support Hypothesis lb, which concerned the link between
together"), compromising ("I try to find a compromise solution"), and childhood experiences with parents and depression. Depressed
contending ("I try to get my way whenever I can"). These subscales were women were more likely than nondepressed women to report
combined into a single reliable scale (a = .85; 15 items) as an indicator less positive childhood experiences.
of constructive conflict resolution style. Higher scores indicate con-
structive strategies (i.e., more collaborating, more compromising, and The model also assumes that adult attachment style and de-
less contending).3 pression are correlated. Table 1 indicates that depressed women
were more likely than nondepressed women to endorse avoidant
Results and preoccupied attachment beliefs about their romantic rela-
The model depicted in Figure 1 suggests that childhood ex-
periences with parents contribute to a person's adult attach- 1
Our subscales generally were associated in the expected manner
ment style and depression status, which, in turn, affect relation- with summary scores based on our limited set of items from previous
ship functioning. We first examine the assumptions of the measures (Brennan & Shaver, in press; Collins & Read, 1990). Further
model by presenting correlations among the different predictor details regarding these comparisons are available on request.
variables; then, we examine the relative contribution of child- 2
Because positive and negative exchanges may have differential
hood experiences with mother or father (working models of par- effects (Rook, 1984), we also analyzed these measures separately. We
ents), adult attachment style (working models of romantic part- found parallel results for positive and negative exchanges and therefore
ners), and depression status to relationship functioning. Given combined them to simplify the presentation of the results.
3
the large number of analyses conducted, we focus on only effects The CSI also includes a subscale that taps avoidance of conflict ("I
significant at p < .01. For informational purposes, however, any put off talking about an issue about which we disagree") and accommo-
dation ("If we disagree, I adjust my views toward those of my partner").
effects significant at p< .05 are noted in the tables. Because these strategies are not clearly constructive or destructive and
because they did not correlate well with the other strategies, we excluded
Correlations Among the Predictor Variables them from our overall measure. Analyses of the avoiding-accommodat-
Table 1 shows the zero-order correlations among the predic- ing subscale that paralleled those reported in the Results section for the
tor variables, including experiences with parents (positive and constructive conflict style scale did not yield any significant effects.
 132 K. CARNELLEY, P. PIETROMONACO, AND K. JAFFE

tionships; thisfindingsupports the second hypothesis. Thus, the

pattern of associations among the predictor variables fits our

9.68*
7.18*

4.65*
6.58*

20.68*

18.38*
5.06*
'o to
c
&,
initial expectations. Furthermore, the relatively low magnitude x; ON m
of the correlations suggests that these variables also are distinct s
from each other.
1 &

.10

.18

.13
.04
g 2 p

.06
c p p

cha
re atta
Prediction of Relationship Functioning

.39***
.29**
To assess the relative contributions of early childhood experi-

21*
.20*

24*
a

25*
o

.15
OO

12
.07
o

Ste
ences with mother and with father, adult romantic attachment
style, and depression to relationship functioning, we performed
3
a series of hierarchical multiple regressions; subjects in these 2
analyses included only women who were involved in a stable co a.
dating relationship. Because our model assumes that childhood 1

ssi
2-
experiences are the initial determinant of later relationship ex- Q.

periences, the parent variable (e.g., positive experiences with Q

Step 1:
Beta
mother or positive experiences with father) always was entered
into the regressions at Step 1. To test alternative possibilities I I I ".III *. I I I

regarding the contribution of adult attachment style versus de-

pression status (nondepressed or depressed) to relationship
functioning (see Hypothesis 3), we entered these variables in
two separate orders. In one set of regressions, the adult attach-
ment variables (fearful avoidance and preoccupation) were en-
n
.2 S 81
S v
tered at Step 2 and the depression status dummy variable at rt
Step 3. In a second set of regressions, the order of these two
2
variables was reversed. Separate regressions were performed for
each of the three relationship-functioning variables (i.e., rela- >.:= -s
tionship satisfaction, quality of interactions, and constructive
conflict resolution style). We first report the results of the re- o
gressions that included the experiences-with-mother variables
and then report those that included the experiences-with-father
variables. "3 |
k,
Positive experiences with mother. Table 2 shows the results of 3 o
ion stat

the regressions, including the standardized beta weights and the

variance accounted for at each step (R2). Positive childhood ex- "--1 j 00
periences with the mother significantly predicted relationship
UBl|

a a; o o
functioning on all of the measures. More positive childhood ex- 3 o
-
'ore

periences with the mother were linked to better relationship

functioning, including greater satisfaction, more positive
1
Bet
tep
red

exchanges, and a more constructive style of conflict reso- C/7 a.

B
lution (i.e., more compromising and collaborating and less ca j
contending).
ent styl

ti.
rN
Consistent with Hypothesis 3, adult attachment style ap- -5 Q.

peared to be the strongest predictor of relationship functioning. E w5 1 t^

rjmq
O O

x: r
When the attachment variables were entered before depression 2
status, adult attachment style was linked to relationship func- ~S 2
tioning on all of the measures, even after taking into account sv
Ste

I I I \i IMS
the quality of childhood experiences with the mother. Although
the adult attachment variables together contributed signifi-
cantly, the results for the individual predictors indicate that 18
most of these effects were accounted for by scores on the avoid- ON
aB ill
ance subscale. The standardized beta weights, shown in Table 3 x:
v
2, indicate that women who scored high on avoidance experi- u IS
enced less satisfaction in their relationships, less supportive ex- 3
4J C
lea!

changes with their partner, and a less constructive conflict reso- a; v

"a 1
lution style. The effect for the preoccupied subscale also oc- a.

curred on two measures, but it was weaker (/? < .05); women -5
"II ?
Hierar

high in preoccupation were less satisfied with their relationship X! 5 V

and reported less supportive exchanges with their partner. 2 o.
 DEPRESSION AND WORKING MODELS
In contrast with the findings for adult attachment style, de-
pression status, when entered last, was not a significant predic-
tor of the relationship-functioning variables, although it did add
marginally (/? < .05) to the prediction of constructive conflict
resolution. When depression status was entered before attach-
ment style, depression was significantly associated with less re-
lationship satisfaction. (Depression also was associated with less
supportive exchanges and a less constructive conflict resolution
style, but these effects did not meet the p < .01 criterion.) Even
when depression status was entered before the attachment vari-
ables, however, adult attachment style still significantly pre-
dicted the three relationship-functioning measures, including
the satisfaction measure, which was also predicted by depres-
sion. Furthermore, attachment style, when entered after depres-
sion status, also accounted for more of the variance than did
depression status and thereby remained the strongest predictor
of relationship functioning.
Hypothesis 4 suggests that adult attachment style mediates
the link between childhood experiences and relationship func-
tioning; the regression analyses provide evidence for this idea.
Note that the beta weights for positive experiences with mother
decreased in magnitude when attachment style was added to
the equation in Step 2 for constructive conflict resolution and
became nonsignificant for satisfaction and quality of exchanges.
This decrease in magnitude from Step 1 to Step 2 suggests that
attachment style mediates the link between childhood experi-
ences with mother and relationship functioning (see Baron &
Kenny, 1986). Thus, the influence of childhood experiences
with mother may be linked indirectly to current romantic rela-
tionship functioning through working models of adult attach-
ment.
Similar to thefindingsfor attachment style, depression status
also appears to mediate the link between experiences with par-
ents and relationship functioning. The regressions in which de-
pression status was entered before attachment style indicate
that the beta weights for positive experiences with mother de-
creased in magnitude for quality of exchanges and constructive
conflict resolution style (although they still remained signifi-
cant) and became nonsignificant for satisfaction. Thus, consis-
tent with Hypothesis 4, both attachment style (i.e., working
models of romantic relationships) and depression status appear
to mediate the link between experiences with parents and rela-
tionship functioning.4
Negative experiences with mother. Parallel analyses were per-
formed with negative experiences with mother as predictors of
relationship functioning. The three negative subscales (control-
ling mother, role reversal with mother, and mother who had a
problem with alcohol or drugs) rarely predicted current rela-
tionship functioning. One isolated effect was found: Women
who reported having a controlling mother were less likely to
evidence a constructive conflict resolution style in their roman-
tic relationship(0 = .35,/?<.001 atStep l,.FofchangeatStep
1 = 4.42, p < .01). Together, negative experiences with mother
accounted for about 13% of the variance, but adult attachment
style accounted for another 13% of the variance in conflict res-
olution style over and above the effect of negative experiences
with mother (F of change at Step 2 = 8.08, p < .001), and de-
pression status accounted for an additional 4% of the variance
(F of change at Step 3 = 5.72, p < .05).
133
Positive and negative experiences with father. Neither positive
nor negative childhood experiences with father significantly
predicted any aspect of relationship functioning.
Discussion
Overall, these findings are consistent with our model. Early
positive experiences with mother predicted relationship func-
tioning, but this effect was attenuated when either attachment
style or depression status was added as the second predictor.
Thus, it may be that experiences with mother are represented
within individuals' working models of relationships and in the
working models of self that are associated with depression and
that early experiences influence relationship functioning
through working models that also incorporate more recent life
experiences. Furthermore, attachment style was the most con-
sistent predictor of relationship functioning and generally pre-
dicted relationship functioning better than depression.
Although it is possible that the link between positive experi-
ences with mother and relationship functioning reflects a posi-
tive response bias (i.e., people who rated their mother positively
also rated their relationships positively), we think this explana-
tion is unlikely given that positive experiences with father were
not associated with relationship functioning. This finding is
consistent with the idea that experiences with one's primary
caregiver (usually the mother) and the working models that de-
velop from such experiences influence later relationship func-
tioning.
Thesefindingsalso indicate that mildly depressed women are
characterized by an insecure attachment style. The mildly de-
pressed group, in contrast with the nondepressed group, evi-
denced greater preoccupation and greater fearful avoidance,
which suggests that they held a negative model of self and both
positive and negative models of others. Thisfindingis consistent
with previous work (e.g., Bargh & Tota, 1988; Pietromonaco
& Markus, 1985) that suggests that mildly depressed students,
compared with nondepressed students, are not necessarily
more negative in their thoughts about others.
Study 1 focused on women who were in a stable dating rela-
tionship; it is not clear whether thesefindingswould generalize
to women who are in longer term marital relationships. Another
limitation is that the college women were mildly depressed (or
dysphoric) and are not necessarily more vulnerable to severe
clinical depression (cf. Gotlib, 1984). Thus, these college
women may differ in some ways from women who have been
diagnosed as having a major depressive disorder. To address
these concerns, Study 2 examined whether thesefindingsgener-
alized to women who had experienced a clinical depression and
who were married.
4
Our model dictated the order in which we entered the variables into
the regression equations. Nevertheless, to control for the possibility that
depression distorted reports of childhood experiences and working
models of attachment, we also performed a set of regressions entering
depression at Step 1. Although depression significantly predicted the
relationship-functioning variables in these regressions, the effects for
childhood experiences with mother and adult attachment followed the
same pattern as in the primary analyses and remained significant.
 134 K. CARNELLEY, P. PIETROMONACO, AND K. JAFFE

Study 2 1976). The DAS is a standard measure of relationship adjustment in

married couples.
Method
Subjects Results
Twenty-five married women who were recovering from depression af- Correlations Among the Predictor Variables
ter receiving outpatient psychiatric care at Baystate Medical Center in
Springfield, Massachusetts, and 23 married nondepressed women par- Table 3 shows the correlations among the predictor variables.
ticipated in Study 2. The mean age of the women was 40 years (SD = 9 In contrast with the Study 1findingsfor college students, we did
years). not find an association between less positive childhood experi-
Recovering depressed women were eligible if they met the following ences with parents and an insecure adult attachment style (Hy-
criteria: (a) married or living with the same partner for at least 7 pothesis la) among the older sample of married women who
months, (b) previously diagnosed with a major depressive disorder while participated in Study 2. The only significant association was
in treatment, (c) either currently did not meet the Diagnostic and Sta- in the direction opposite our prediction: Women who had an
tistical Manual ofMental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; DSM-III-R; Ameri- alcoholic mother were less likely to be preoccupied. As in Study
can Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria for major depressive disorder 1, childhood experiences with parents were associated with de-
or dysthymia or were judged by the therapist to be partially remitted;
pression status (Hypothesis 1 b). Women who had more positive
(d) between the ages of 18 and 65; (e) had no history of organic brain
disorder, mania, hypomania, or psychosis; (f) had no alcohol or drug childhood experiences with their mother (p < .0001) and with
abuse within the past 12 months; and (g) were not suffering from a ter- their father (p = .011) were less likely to have experienced a
minal illness. Except for two women whose therapists judged them to clinical depression.
be partially remitted, all recovering depressed women did not currently Depression status also was associated with adult attachment
meet the DSM-III-R criteria for major depressive disorder. style in the predicted manner. Table 3 indicates that recovering
Control respondents (i.e., nondepressed women) were recruited from depressed women were more likely to report fearful avoidance
the nonexecutive staff of Baystate Medical Center. All control respon- than were the nondepressed women; however, unlike their col-
dents met the following criteria: (a) married or living with the same lege counterparts in Study 1, they were not significantly more
partner for at least 7 months, (b) between the ages of 18 and 65, (c) no preoccupied. In contrast with the Study 1findingthat mildly
evidence of current or past psychiatric disorder, (d) no evidence of se- depressed women showed greater fearful avoidance and preoc-
vere physical illness, and (e) a BDI score of less than 12. All nonde-
cupation, this finding suggests that experiencing a clinical de-
pressed women had BDI scores of 9 or less (the standard cutpoint for
nondepression) except for two women who had borderline scores of 10 pression may be linked specifically to fearful avoidance (i.e., a
and 11. (Results from analyses excluding the two women with slightly negative view of the self and of others).
higher BDI scores were virtually identical to those reported in the re-
sults section.) On average, recovering depressed women scored higher Prediction ofRelationship Functioning
on the BDI than did nondepressed women (Ms = 7.92 and 4.87), F(l,
45) = 4.66, p < .05, but the means for both groups fell within the non- As in Study 1, we performed a series of hierarchical multiple
depressed range (i.e., scores of 9 or less). regressions to assess the relative contributions of quality of pa-
Participants had been married an average of 13.7 years, had an aver- rental relationships, adult attachment style, and depression sta-
age of 2.4 children, had some college experience, had an average annual tus to relationship functioning. The experiences-with-parents
family income of approximately $40,000, and were predominantly
White. Recovering depressed and nondepressed respondents did not
differ significantly in length of marriage, annual income, education, or
number of children. Table 3
Correlations Among the Predictor Variables: Study 2
Procedure
Measure Avoidance Preoccupation Depression
Respondents were recruited using a two-stage procedure. Therapists
asked eligible clients to participate in a study of marriage and family Mother
life. If clients were interested, the therapist requested their permission Positive experiences -.29* -.05 -.56***
to be contacted by a researcher to schedule an interview. Clients who Negative experiences
agreed to be contacted were told that an interviewer would call within Controlling .18 .09 .28
Roles reversed .11 -.20 .05
the next few days to arrange a time to be interviewed. The therapist Alcohol or drug
emphasized that participation was entirely voluntary and unconnected problem -.10 -.39** -.21
to their treatment. The nondepressed respondents were recruited from Father
the staff at the hospital by advertising in the hospital newsletter. Inter- Positive experiences -.17 -.23 -.38*
ested employees also were contacted by phone to schedule an interview. Negative experiences
Interviews took place at Baystate Medical Center and lasted approxi- Controlling .28 .21 .29*
mately 2 hrs. At the beginning of the interview, respondents answered Roles reversed .20 -.01 -.22
questions about their background and then completed the question- Alcohol or drug
problem .24 .11 .21
naire. At the end of the session, the interviewer thanked respondents for
Depression status .41** .19
participating and paid them $30. The procedure and materials were the
same as in Study 1 except that all relationship questions were answered Note. Significance tests are two-tailed. Sample size ranges from 44-
in reference to the respondent's spouse, and the relationship satisfaction 47; the variation reflects missing data.
measure was replaced by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS; Spanier, *p<.05. **/?<.01. ***p<.0001.
 DEPRESSION AND WORKING MODELS
variable always was entered at Step 1, followed by the adult at-
tachment scores at Step 2 and depression status (nondepressed
or recovering from depression) at Step 3. As in Study 1, we also
performed a second set of regressions in which depression status
was entered before adult attachment.
Table 4 shows the regression results, including the standard-
ized regression coefficients and the percentage of variance ac-
counted for (R2) at each step. In contrast with thefindingsfrom
Study 1, positive experiences with mother were not associated
with relationship functioning. Additional analyses including
negative experiences with the mother and positive and negative
experiences with the father also indicated that these childhood
experiences were not significantly associated with any of the
current relationship-functioning variables.
The findings for the adult attachment style variables, how-
ever, were consistent with those of Study 1; these variables were
the strongest predictors of relationship functioning. Women
who were more avoidant or more preoccupied showed lower
marital adjustment and reported less supportive exchanges with
their spouse. In addition, women who were more avoidant were
less likely to evidence a constructive conflict resolution style.
Table 4 indicates that these associations emerged whether the
attachment style variables were entered into the equation before
or after depression status. Whereas depression status contrib-
uted weakly to the prediction of relationship functioning in
Study 1, it did not predict relationship functioning in Study 2,
whether entered before or after attachment style.5
As in Study 1, depression status was measured as a dichoto-
mous variable, whereas attachment style was measured as a
continuous variable. The restriction of range for depression sta-
tus may have masked its contribution to relationship function-
ing. Because women in Study 2 also had completed the BDI, we
were able to reanalyze the data using BDI scores as a continuous
measure of depression status. Although these scores also were
somewhat limited in range (0-22) and 78.7% of the sample
scored 9 or below, the results of these analyses paralleled those
using the dichotomous scores; depression did not contribute
significantly to the prediction of any of the relationship-func-
tioning variables.
Discussion
Consistent with Study 1, attachment style was the strongest
predictor of relationship functioning. The results from both
studies suggest that individuals' mental models of others impor-
tantly influence romantic relationship functioning for both dat-
ing relationships (as found in Study 1) and longer term marital
relationships (Study 2). In contrast with Study 1, positive expe-
riences with mother did not predict marital functioning. It may
be that early attachment experiences with parents become less
salient or influential in determining the quality of marital rela-
tionships, which carry their own lengthy history of experience.
In contrast with thefindingsfrom Study 1, depression status
was linked specifically to fearful avoidance (i.e., negative view
of self and of others) and not to preoccupation (i.e., negative
view of self and positive view of others) in Study 2. One possible
reason for this difference is that the recovering depressed
women had experienced a more severe depression than the de-
pressed college women. At the time of the study, however, the
135
depressed college women scored higher on average on the BDI
than did the recovering depressed women, but we cannot deter-
mine whether any of the college women would have met the
DSM-HI-R criteria for depression. We did have access to the
recovering depressed women's earlier BDI scores that were
taken when they were diagnosed with a clinical depression. The
average BDI score for the recovering depressed women when
they met the DSM-III-R criteria for depression was 25.3, fully
10 points higher than the average of 14.7 for the college student
depressed sample, which suggests that the sample of recovering
women previously had experienced more severe depression
than the currently depressed college students. Thus, greater
fearful avoidance may be associated with vulnerability to a clin-
ical depression. The possibility remains, however, that the
different patterns in working models arose from other differ-
ences between the two samples, such as differences in marital
status, age, or income.
One limitation of Study 2 is that we were unable to include
women at the height of their depressive episode; the women in
our study had partially recovered from their depression and no
longer met the criteria for clinical depression. Despite this fact,
the recovering depressed women still differed from the nonde-
pressed sample in their working models of others. Whether
these differences are stronger during the peak of a depression or
whether they persist after full recovery remains to be deter-
mined. Other work (cf. Barnett & Gotlib, 1988) suggests, how-
ever, that the nature of working models of others may not
change after recovery from depression. For example, interper-
sonal dependency and introversion, which are viewed as vulner-
ability factors to depression, are found to endure even after full
recovery from depression. Compared with nondepressed sub-
jects, remitted depressives reported low social self-confidence
and high emotional dependency (Hirschfeld, Klerman, Clay-
ton, & Keller, 1983; Hirschfeld, Klerman, Clayton, Keller, &
Andersen, 1984; Pilowsky & Katsikitis, 1983; Reich, Noyes,
Hirschfeld, Coryell, & O'Gorman, 1987). If interpersonal de-
pendency is similar to working models of attachment, then in-
secure attachment styles, like interpersonal dependency, may
persist after recovery from a depressive episode. Thus, the pos-
sibility that attachment style is a stable predisposing factor to
depression that does notfluctuategreatly with depressed mood
deserves further investigation.
A second limitation is that we did not include a group of non-
depressed individuals who showed other psychiatric symptoms.
It is possible that a fearful avoidant style is linked to disorders
other than depression. We would hypothesize, however, that
different insecure working models are likely to lead to different
emotional consequences (see Bartholomew, 1990). For exam-
ple, whereas individuals with a fearful avoidant style may be
more likely to become depressed, those with a dismissing-
avoidant style (i.e., a positive view of self and a negative view of
others) may be more likely to develop antisocial behavior pat-
terns. Indeed, individuals with a dismissing style evidence a high
5
Again, we performed another set of regressions entering depression
status at Step 1 (see Footnote 4). Depression status did not significantly
predict any of the relationship-functioning variables; attachment style
showed the same effects as in the primary analyses and remained the
best predictor of relationship functioning.
136 K. CARNELLEY, P. PIETROMONACO, AND K. JAFFE

'o c degree of overt hostility (Kobak & Sceery, 1988). Nevertheless,

ityl ^ JS
o
the specificity of a fearful avoidant style to depression remains
to be determined.
c
I
B x: General Discussion
ed bef ore at

u
The present research sought to integrate cognitive and inter-
personal approaches to depression by examining depressives'
&I internal working models of attachment and their connection to
n functioning in close romantic relationships. Consistent with at-
D
3 tachment theory, we found that depression was associated with
an insecure working model of attachment. College women who
ions

!l I I were mildly depressed (or dysphoric) evidenced greater preoc-

O,
cupation with attachment and fearful avoidance of attachment
than did nondepressed college women, whereas women who
a were recovering from a clinical depression evidenced greater
fearful avoidance, but not greater preoccupation, than did non-
depressed women. We also found that both mildly depressed
women (Study 1) and recovering depressed women (Study 2)
o were less likely to have experienced positive relationships with
their parents.
Thesefindingsinvite further longitudinal investigation to de-
l termine whether particular working models of others increase
vulnerability to depression or whether a depressed mood alters
1 individuals' views of others. One limitation of thesefindingsis
3 '-5 .^ that they are based on retrospective reports and therefore may
fc '55 &'5
be biased by the respondent's current mood and current rela-
1 tionship experiences. Being in a depressed mood may lead indi-
viduals to recall more negative experiences from their child-
hood and about their relationships than they would if they were
o c
not experiencing such a mood state. Although some evidence
o
(Gotlib, Mount, Cordy, & Whiffen, 1988) suggests that depres-
sc o . o sives' reports of their childhood histories are stable over time
and do notfluctuatewith mood, the precise nature of the causal
o
link between working models of others and depression remains
a O to be determined.
S
^O Hi
Our findings hint that an insecure working model is linked
foi

to vulnerability to depression. In particular, a fearful avoidant

Step 3:
Beta
ioni

model (i.e., negative view of self and of others), which distin-

guished between recovering depressed women and nonde-
IJU

pressed women, is likely to be a vulnerability factor for depres-

sion. Individuals with a fearful avoidant model are more likely
ent

&2 O Tt OO i to have experienced abusive and troubled relationships with

H Co pop I
.5 their parents (cf. Brennan, Shaver, & Tobey, 1991). Similarly,
Ut;

. our data indicate that women who had experienced a clinical

c< "a * depression (and who were more likely to show fearful avoid-
I I o V
ance) also reported less positive experiences with their parents.
ing

Thus, these early experiences with parents may form the basis
for a negative model of others (and of self ),which, in turn, may
increase vulnerability to depression. An important goal for fu-
ture work will be to determine the extent to which internal
res SW

2 '*
li working models of attachment are a cause or a consequence of
3 s depression.
5 p
These findings are consistent with other work (Beck, 1983;
lea;

<<
3 4> *-* Q. O 5v" u u - "Q, O ^ > aj *- 'g Birtchnell, 1984; Blatt, Quinlan, Chevron, MacDonald, & Zur-
f||3|21o|l3|51||S ofF, 1982) suggesting that interpersonal cognitions based on past
experience contribute to depression. Blatt (Blatt et al., 1982),
Hierar

5,0H < O . Q ga.<o-Q <i

x> . D a Si V for example, assumed that individuals whose childhood experi-
ences lead them to develop a dependent style or a self-critical
 DEPRESSION AND WORKING MODELS
style are at increased risk for depression. A dependent style re-
flects an excessive dependency on others for love, support, and
self-affirmation, whereas a self-critical style reflects an excessive
concern with achievement. These styles appear conceptually
similar to a preoccupied model of attachment and an avoidant
model of attachment. Beck (1983) also has proposed socio-
tropic versus autonomous personality styles that appear to par-
allel Blatt's styles and insecure models of attachment. All of
these personality styles are thought to predispose individuals to
depression. An important step for future work will be to identify
differences and overlap among these styles (see Barnett & Got-
lib, 1988) and the conditions under which they predict the onset
of depression (e.g., Hammen et al., 1989).
The results of this research also indicate that an adult's ro-
mantic attachment style is more closely linked to current rela-
tionship functioning than is depression status. Although our
cross-sectional data cannot uncover causal links, it is possible
that disruptions in depressives' relationships derive more from
their mental models of others than from the depressed mood
itself. One alternative explanation, however, is that depression
contributed less strongly to relationship functioning than did
attachment style because it was measured as a categorical vari-
able and therefore had a more restricted range than did adult
attachment style, which was measured as a continuous variable.
Although future work will need to rule out this possibility, it
seems likely that the depression status measure was fairly pow-
erful given that the two groups of women were preselected pre-
cisely because they had extremely different BDI scores or be-
cause they had or had not experienced a clinical depression.
Furthermore, analyses of the Study 2 data using a continuous
measure of depression yielded the same pattern of results as
those using the dichotomous measure.
A second alternative explanation is that the relationship-
functioning items overlapped more with the attachment items
than with the depression items. This explanation seems unlikely
to account for our findings because the majority of items on
these measures differ considerably. For example, items on the
DAS concern a variety of topics, including how often the couple
disagrees about specific issues (e.g., finances, major decisions,
and household tasks), how often the couple considers divorce,
happiness in the relationship, and feelings about the future of
the relationship. In contrast, the attachment items focus on
conceptually different domains, such as emotional closeness
(e.g., "I like to be as emotionally close as possible with my part-
ner."), physical proximity (e.g., "After even a brief separation, I
eagerly look forward to seeing my partner."), and fear of aban-
donment (e.g., "I often worry my partner might leave me for
someone else.").
Given the strong contribution of attachment style to relation-
ship functioning, it will be important for interpersonal theories
of depression (e.g., Coyne, 1976; Lewinsohn, 1974) to specify
how cognitive processes and, in particular, internal working
models of attachment contribute to depressives' social diffi-
culties. For example, Coyne (1976) has proposed that it is
difficult to provide support to a depressed person and that the
responses of others to a depressed person can serve to maintain
or exacerbate depressive symptoms. An attachment perspective
suggests that depressives' negative working models of relation-
ships lead them to expect rejection and a lack of support from
137
others. As a consequence, they may choose partners who will
confirm their negative expectations, or they may behave in a
way that encourages their partners to confirm their negative ex-
pectations (cf. Sroufe & Fleeson, 1986; Swann, 1987). Thus, a
woman with a preoccupied working model may remain in a
relationship with an avoidant man who confirms her view of
others while at the same time he increases her distress (Collins
& Read, 1990; Kirkpatrick & Davis, in press).
Depressives' expectations of others also appear to influence
their understanding of others' responses and lead them to nega-
tively bias their perceptions of another's supportive attempts
(Pietromonaco et al., 1992; Rook et al., 1993). An important
challenge for future work will be to identify the processes that
link depressives' cognitions about relationships to their own and
their partners' social behavior. More generally, such work will
further researchers' understanding of the link between social
cognitive components of personality (e.g., working models of
attachment) and close relationships.
We also found that adult attachment style predicted relation-
ship functioning better than did positive childhood experiences
with one's mother. Although college women's experiences with
their mothers did predict relationship functioning, these expe-
riences were mediated by women's adult attachment style.
These adult working models may be more powerful predictors
because they are likely to incorporate not only early childhood
experiences but also later experiences with attachment figures
(including romantic partners) and, in particular, experiences
with the current partner. This idea is supported by the findings
from Study 2, which indicated that adult attachment style, but
not childhood experiences, predicted current relationship func-
tioning among married women. In contrast with the college
women who participated in Study 1, the women in Study 2 were
older and had a longer history with their romantic partner (i.e.,
spouse). Thesefindingsare consistent with Hazan and Shaver's
(1987) finding that childhood experiences were less associated
with adult attachment style for older respondents than for youn-
ger respondents. Thus, with increasing time and experience,
childhood relationships may become less influential, whereas
later adult relationships become more influential in determin-
ing working models of adult attachment and relationship func-
tioning. This idea agrees with Bowlby's (1973) assumption that
working models are not simply reflections of early life experi-
ences but rather are revised on the basis of new experiences
throughout the life span. The fact that depression status also
appeared to mediate the impact of experiences with parents for
the Study 1 sample further suggests that current life experiences
that may be incorporated into depressives' negative models of
self also are important determinants of relationship function-
ing.
One question raised by the present research is whether work-
ing models of adult attachment, which are strongly linked to
functioning in close relationships, also are implicated in social
perception in general. Individuals' working models of attach-
ment may contribute to their perceptions and behavior not only
in their close relationships but also in their more casual rela-
tionships with strangers, acquaintances, and co-workers. Most
studies of social perception (cf. Fiske & Taylor, 1991) have not
taken into account how individuals' past experiences with oth-
ers, such as attachment figures, might influence their percep-
 138 K. CARNELLEY, P. PIETROMONACO, AND K. JAFFE
tions and evaluations of others. Recent work by Andersen and
Cole (1990) suggests, however, that representations of signifi-
cant others can affect individuals' perceptions of a new person.
Closer attention to the link between existing working models of
others and ongoing social perception is likely to provide a
clearer understanding of the interplay between personality and
social processes.
Since Hazan and Shaver's (Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Shaver et
al., 1988) original work, a growing number of researchers have
documented a link between working models of attachment and
relationship functioning. Ourfindingsfurther refine knowledge
about this link. The present studies suggest that working models
of adult attachment and childhood experiences are more closely
linked for younger individuals than for older individuals and
that working models are strongly linked to relationship func-
tioning in both age groups and in both depressed and nonde-
pressed individuals. A challenge for future work will be to de-
termine the extent to which working models of attachment
affect and are affected by interactions between romantic part-
ners.
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