| Additional longitudinal research suggests that the emotional quality of the parent-child relationship is an important factor in child outcomes. While longitudinally examining the role of maternal depression on the development of child emotional and behavioral problems in a sample of representative first-grade boys and girls, Dyer Harnish et al. (1995) found that the effect of maternal emotional states on child outcomes were partially mediated by the quality of mother-child interactions. Zaslow, Hair, Dion, Ahluwalia, and Sargent (2000), longitudinally studying the effects of maternal depression on child cognitive and social development, came to similar conclusions. A sample of 351 mothers participated in a welfare-to-work program, and their 3- and 4-year-old children were observed in a two-year follow-up to determine the effects of the program on child and maternal outcomes. In regard to the child outcomes, the investigators found that the effects of maternal depression on child outcomes were mediated by supportive parent-child relationships. |
