Response 1: Parent-child relationship Impact on Romantic Relationships

Response 1: Parent-child relationship Impact on Romantic Relationships

The quality of a romantic relationship can be affected by factors from a plethora of sources.  One of these factors is the parent-child relationship in the context of characteristics a child inherits that help catalyze tendencies in romantic relationships.  According to Meyer, Jones, Rorer, and Maxwell (2015), anxious avoidant, secure, anxious resistant, and disorganized attachment styles are considered to be “precursors to adult relating.” The article goes on to report that the anxious avoidant child tends to be dismissive, anxious resistant style is preoccupied, disorganized style is fearful, and finally the secure child remains secure in adult romantic relationships (Meyer et al., 2015). Children who are securely attached typically display the capacity for positive relationships because the securely attached child has a sense of self-worth, self-esteem, and an arsenal of skills that aid in self-regulation needed in healthy romantic relationships (Kochendorfer, & Kerns, 2017). On the other hand, Meyer et al. (2015), adds an anxiety component to the other attachment styles.  Anxiety is the idea of perception and how an individual feels they are perceived in a relationship, be it romantic, friendly, business etc.  With that being said, an example of how anxiety can affect romantic relationships would be an individual being emotionally unavailable because of factors such as fear, avoidance and anxiety (Meyers et al., 2015). When it comes to intervening factors both biological and behavioral factors come into play. An example used by Thompson (2016), highlights that a child born with a genetic polymorphism that has been linked to impulsive behavior can prompt a child to orient towards a more insecure attachment even if the parents did their part in the context of the parent-child relationship. According to Thompson (2016), the parent-child relationship must be sustained, and interventions in parent-child relationship maintenance that are likely to affect romantic relationships in the long run would be factors such as peer relationships, or even a traumatic event. (Response 1: Parent-child relationship Impact on Romantic Relationships)

References

Kochendorfer, L. B., & Kerns, K. A. (2017). Perceptions of parent-child attachment relationships and friendship qualities: Predictors of romantic relationship involvement and quality in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, (5), 1009. doi:10.1007/s10964-017-0645-0

Meyer, D. D., Jones, M., Rorer, A., & Maxwell, K. (2015). Examining the associations among attachment, affective state, and romantic relationship quality. The Family Journal, 23(1), 18–25. http://doi.org/10.1177/1066480714547698

Thompson, R. A. (2016). Early attachment and later development: Reframing the questions. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 330–348). New York, NY: Guilford Press.