The husbands of depressed women may buffer their children from the stresses of living with a depressed mother by encouraging dialogue, maintaining stability and equilibrium within the family, and providing children with a supportive environment. But they may also exacerbate the stresses to which their children are exposed by not functioning effectively in these roles. The objective of the present study is to examine the functioning of spouses by combining measures of psychopathology and deviance in the spouses of depressed women with detailed assessments of their functioning with and around their wives and children. These measures will then be examined for their contributions to predictions of children's adjustment. Analyses will be based on interview, case history, and direct observation data from families participating in a follow-up phase of the NIMH Childrearing Project, which includes children of parents with and without a history of affective disorder.
