The objective is to investigate the links between parental psychopathology, stressful life events, and the social-emotional adjustment of children. The analyses are based on data from families participating in the longitudinal study (ZO1 MH 02144), which includes children of parents with and without a history of affective disorder (based on psychiatric SADS -L interviews) . Data on stressful life events to which the children have been exposed are obtained in intensive, semi- structured interviews with mothers. Assessments of children's functioning are based on reports from parents and teachers. Families with a depressed parent (or parents) have significantly higher than average levels of marital distress, health problems, financial problems, housing problems, job difficulties, relationship problems and spouse maladjustment. Moreover, the depressed women evidenced significant levels of maladjustment and/or incompetence in coping with these problems. Differences between families with and without a depressed parent are sufficiently strong that knowledge of these aspects of family life allows us to correctly predict (via discriminant function analysis) the depressed or normal status of 84% of the families.
