The goal of this investigation is to identify differences in maternal behavior that are associated with child's sex. Many studies have demonstrated differences between boys and girls in preferences for activities, self-concept development, attributional styles and patterns of cognitive development. Because, in adults, affective illness is 2 to 3 times more frequent in women than in men, we are examining how healthy and affectively ill mothers help their sons and daughters in handling social, emotional and cognitive challenges when the children are 2 to 3 1/2 years of age. These maternal behaviors will be examined in relation to assessments of child and mother when the child is between 5 and 6 years of age. This study is a part of the Laboratory's Rearing Study which provides extensive interactional data on mothers and their children in a naturalistic setting. By including in the design mothers differing in the quality and severity of affective disorder, it is possible to address directly the question of how maternal psychopathology is translated into childrearing behaviors that in turn provide the basis for the transmission of adaptive and maladaptive behavior patterns from one generation to the next.
