An attachment perspective on support and depressive symptoms in adult child-parent relationships

The adult child-parent relationship is a mutual support resource that promotes well-being across generations. This study takes a dyadic attachment perspective to examine how providing two attachment-based support processes, secure base and safe haven, is associated with one's own and their partner's depressive symptoms in older parents and adult children. A total of 128 adult child-parent dyads (M_{parents' age} = 69.63; M_{children's age} = 42.02) were recruited. Structural equation modeling was used to assess actor and partner associations of attachment-based support with depressive symptoms. For both generations, secure base provision was associated with lower actor, but not partner, depressive symptoms. Children's safe haven provision was associated with higher depressive symptoms in parents. Moderation analyses indicated that the association between parents' secure base provision and their own depressive symptoms was stronger at lower levels of children's secure base provision. For safe haven support, children's provision was positively associated with their own depressive symptoms only when parents' safe haven provision was low. Secure base provision may help parents maintain role continuity and resilience, associated with lower depressive symptoms. For adult children, providing a secure base may support a balance between responding to parental needs and maintaining personal goals and is associated with lower depressive symptoms. However, high levels of parental safe haven provision may place pressure on children to reciprocate, contributing to higher depressive symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).