It would seem to go without saying that a solid house requires a solid foundation. In the absence of such, the structure is shaky. Similarly, if a child’s formative years are not laid with adequate care and attention, then the resulting life may be shaky, as well. Research consistently bears this contention out. Consider the latest, as reported by Shankar Vedantam of the Washington Post:

Plagued With Relationship Troubles? Blame Your Parents.

So, Valentine’s Day is two days away, but you know he isn’t going to bring you any flowers. And instead of a cuddle and a kiss, you know she is going to dig up that old canard about your mother.

Does your relationship feel like an endless rerun of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — Edward Albee’s grim masterpiece of domestic disharmony? Do you always spend Valentine’s Day alone? Do all those smooching couples sound like idiotic moths banging their heads against a windowpane?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, science can finally provide a simple explanation — and a measure of grim satisfaction: Blame your parents!

Forget about Hallmark cards and chocolate. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, scientists are announcing the results of an astonishing two-decade-long study that explored the connection between insecure infants and relationship problems in young adults. Turns out the kind of baby you were at 12 months can say a lot about the kind of lover you will be at 21.

“If you are more insecure when you are 1, you are more likely to experience more negative emotions in your relationship with your current partner when you are 21,” said psychologist Jeffry Simpson at the University of Minnesota.

People from Sigmund Freud on down have made arguments about the role of early relationships in later life. But Simpson and his colleagues have shown for the first time, in a paper in the current issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, an empirical connection between early behavioral patterns and romantic relationships years down the road. [full text]

Not to worry, though. The pharmaceutical industry is marketing a pill (actually several) to treat the problem. Side effects may include dizziness, nausea, projectile vomiting, pica, seizures, halitosis, erectile dysfunction, psychosis, persistent nostalgia for The Love Boat, exsanguination, and coma.