The investigation which is reported here was designed as a pilot project for a possible later research programme into the prevention of emotional disturbance in mothers and young children. The idea came through the clinical experience gained by one of us (E.A.F.) during eight years' work in a Day Unit for disturbed children under five and their families at St. Thomas' Hospital, London (Frommer, 1967). It had become clear over the years that many of the mothers of such children had themselves experienced a disrupted childhood, with separations from their parents or siblings, mental and physical ill-health of family members, and even cruelty and physical violence to themselves or a parent or sibling.