The objective of this study is to explore relations between the quality of attachment relationships and control and affective interaction in families with unipolar depressed, bipolar depressed, and well mothers. As part of a large longitudinal project, attachment assessments were made, using the Strange Situation procedure, with 112 mothers and their children (aged 15–52 months). Sixty-seven percent of the children of bipolar depressed mothers were classified insecure, in comparison with 42% of children of well and unipolar mothers. Mothers of insecure children were more downcast, tended to show less tenderness/affection, were more likely to express extreme levels of anger/irritability, and were more likely to express high levels of two or more negative affects (i.e., anger, anxiousness, downcast) than were mothers of secure children. Relations were strongest in the depressed-mother groups. Insecure children expressed less tenderness/affection than did secure children (particularly in the unipolar group), and insecure girls were more likely to express high levels of anger/irritability than were secure girls. The value of studying risk and protective factors from an interactive perspective is emphasized.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relations among maternal depression, security of attachment, and peer interactive behaviors in early childhood. Drawing from the literature, we posited that socially inhibited play behaviors in childhood would be associated with maternal depression as well as with an insecure mother-child attachment relationship. Forty-three 5-year-olds and their mothers participated in the study. There were 21 depressed and 22 affectively well mothers. Security of attachment was assessed via a variation of the Strange Situation procedure when the children were 2 years old. At 5 years of age the children were observed during free play with a familiar same-sex agemate. Results supported the hypotheses that social inhibition is associated with maternal depression and with an insecure mother-infant attachment relationship.

Mothers who scored zero on the Beck Depression Inventory (N = 25) were compared to “depressed” mothers (high scores on the Beck) (N = 39) and nondepressed mothers (N = 98) during face-to-face interactions with their 5-month-old infants. The interaction videotapes were rated on the Interaction Rating Scales and were coded second-by-second for attentive/affective behavior states. The zero Beck mothers and their infants received lower ratings and were in less positive behavior states (alone or together) than the high scoring Beck “depressed” mother/infant dyads and even more frequently than the nondepressed mother/infant dyads. The lower activity levels, lesser expressivity, and less frequent vocalizing were suggestive of “depressed” behavior in both the mothers and their infants. In addition, the infants of the zero Beck mothers had lower vagal tone and lower growth percentiles (weight, length, and head circumference) than the infants of nondepressed mothers, although they did not differ from the infants of depressed mothers on these measures. These data suggest that mothers who report no depressive symptoms may present as much, if not greater risk, for their infants than mothers who do report depressive symptoms on the Beck Depression Inventory.

Using a within-subject, time series approach, two competing models concerning the temporal relations between maternal distress (mood and stress), maternal discipline, and child conduct problems were assessed. Two measures of each of these constructs were collected at 10 assessment points, each separated by 3 to 4 days, in each of 10 single-parent families with a 4- to 5-year-old conduct problem child. After standardizing each of the measures over repeated assessment points in each family and aggregating the data across families, the models were tested using correlational and structural equation analyses. The fit of the data to the models supported the hypothesis that the association of maternal distress with child conduct problems is mediated by her disciplinary practices. On days when mothers reported more negative mood and stress, they were more likely to demonstrate poor disciplinary tactics. Temporal variation in discipline was, in turn, related to same-day variation in the frequency of child conduct problems. However, the model hypothesizing a direct relationship from maternal distress to child problems in addition to the indirect path through discipline was also supported, suggesting that maternal discipline is not the sole mediating variable.

Clinical studies indicate that depression and conduct disorder frequently co-occur in children. Research on the correlates of depression in children has frequently failed to control for this co-occurrence, and little is known about the family background and characteristics of children displaying both problem behaviors. An at-risk community sample of 203 early adolescent boys in the Oregon Youth Study was divided into the following groups: (a) those showing elevated conduct problems and depressed mood, (b) those showing elevated conduct problems only, (c) those showing elevated depressed mood only, and (d) those with neither problem. Multimethod, multiagent assessments were conducted at Grade 6. The four groups were compared using multivariate analyses of variance. Demographic variables, parental characteristics, family-management practices, and boys' adjustment show some deficits in all three risk groups, and the patterns of deficits vary between groups. As hypothesized, the boys with conduct problems and depressed mood show the poorest adjustment. Results are consistent with a failure model, which hypothesizes that boys with conduct problems are at risk for failing to develop competence in areas such as academic skill and peer relations. In addition, their noxious behavior leads to poor relationships with parents and peers. These problems result in failures and rejection, which make them vulnerable to depressed mood.

Children with varying visual abilities (totally blind, visually impaired, normally sighted) participated in a longitudinal study of the development of the ability to infer what is seen by another. The children were asked to hide themselves, a toy, and specific parts of their bodies from a sighted observer. After each hiding the observer asked, “Can I see you?” to determine whether the children associated self-exposure with what was hidden. The totally blind children were not as successful at hiding as the other children. The totally blind children associated hiding with being in contact with an obstacle but did not necessarily understand that the covering obstacle had to completely block the observer's view of what was hidden or that covering was not necessary if other obstacles already blocked the observer's view. The totally blind children and one visually impaired child associated self-exposure with exposure of the mouth, whereas the other children who associated self-exposure with a particular body part associated self-exposure with exposure of their eyes. Results suggest that lack of direct visual experience impedes blind children's understanding of what constitutes a barrier to vision, which affects their ability to infer what others see. Implications of the findings for understanding the development of the self in blind children are discussed.

This article investigates the impact of ego development on the course of psychiatric illness in a group of 37 psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents ages 12 to 16. The subjects, 21 males and 16 females, were evaluated at time of admission and again after 9 months of hospitalization. Using the Loevinger Sentence Completion Test (Loevinger, Wessler, & Redmore, 1970), two ego pathway groups were defined: progressors, those subjects who had advanced at least one-half stage in ego development, and nonprogressors, those who did not progress at least one-half state in ego development. Significant differences in clinical course were found between the two groups. Progressors demonstrated more significant decreases in psychiatric symptoms as measured by the Achenbach and Edelbrock (1987) Youth Self Report and had a significant change in their use of coping and defense processes compared with the nonprogressors. The findings are discussed in the context of a constructivist approach to developmental psychopathology.

Previous research has suggested that changes in the manifestations of the nonverbal learning disabilities syndrome (NLD) occur over the lifespan and that they do so in a manner that is consistent with the tenets of the NLD model (Rourke, 1989). Although the model would predict that age-related changes would also be evident within the childhood years, no study has yet examined this possibility. Based on the tenets of the model, specific predictions were formulated regarding developmental changes in the features of the NLD syndrome that would be expected to occur across the middle childhood and early adolescent years. The pattern of neurocognitive and socioemotional changes observed within the context of the cross-sectional data provided strong support for the predictions. Due to methodological limitations, no firm conclusions regarding the developmental manifestations of the NLD syndrome could be derived from the results of the longitudinal study. At most, these results suggested that some improvements in areas of neurocognitive deficiency may occur with the implementation of an appropriate remedial intervention program.