Relationship of mother and child variables to child outcomes in a high-risk sample: A causal modeling analysis.

Children of depressed mothers are at risk for psychopathology, but most studies have failed to examine mediators of the effects, mutual influence of children and mothers on each other, and effects of children's own characteristics. Children, aged 8 to 16, of 64 mothers with recurrent unipolar or bipolar affective disorders, chronic medicalillness, or no disorder were assessed on initial and 6-month follow-up measures. Structural equation modeling tested a model in which children's outcomes 6 months later were caused by maternal functioning (including depression symptoms, role adjustment, and observed positive interaction) and characteristics of the child. A reciprocal relationship was predicted between maternal functioning and child characteristics (including quality of interactions with the mother, self-concept, and age)