PARENTAL REARING AND INTIMATE RELATIONS IN WOMENS DEPRESSION

Bowlby has suggested that attachment behavior is not restricted to ear ly childhood but can remain valid through the life span. This study wa s designed to test whether recall of parental rearing (Parental Bondin g Instrument) and perception of marital relationship (Dyadic Adjustmen t Scale) is significantly different between 2 groups of women: one wit h non-bipolar depressive disorder (DSM-III-R) compared with another (c ontrol) of healthy women from a primary practice setting. We also exam ined the hypothesis that exposure to dysfunctional parenting is associ ated with negative intimate relationships in adulthood. Our results pa rtially support these hypotheses. We discuss the significance of these findings in the prevention and treatment of depressive disorders.