OBSERVATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF PARENT AND CHILD FROM TODDLERHOOD TO LATE CHILDHOOD

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The objective is to identify mechanisms that underlie the links between parental depression and offspring pathology. It is assumed that there are multiple mechanisms that lead to similar outcomes. As a strategy for identifying varied mechanisms, subgroups that are homogeneous with respect to theoretically significant combinations of characteristics (in contrast to single variable comparisons) are given intensive study. This approach gives maximum attention to interacting influences on behavioral development. Of special interest are (a) children of depressed mothers with specific kinds of early mother-child relationships who develop serious mood disorders in late childhood or adolescence; (b) children at low genetic and low environmental risk (children of well parents) who develop serious problems; (c) children of depressed mothers who show early and continuing problems with strong depressive symptoms; (d) siblings who have very different psychiatric outcomes.