We examined the course of maternal depressive symptoms and children's attachment security at 36 months in a large sample of mother-child pairs from 10 sites across the country participating in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care~N ϭ 1077!. Maternal depressive symptoms predicted higher rates of insecure attachment. Women who reported intermittent symptoms across the first 36 months had preschoolers who were more likely to be classified as insecure C or D; women with chronic symptoms were more likely to have preschoolers who were classified as insecure D. Symptoms reported only during the first 15 months were not associated with elevated rates of later insecurity. After controlling for potentially confounding demographic variables, maternal sensitivity~observed at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months! did not meaningfully account for links between attachment security and patterns of depressive symptoms. However, the course and timing of maternal depressive symptoms interacted with maternal sensitivity to predict insecurity. Women with late, intermittent, or chronic symptoms who were also low in sensitivity were more likely to have preschoolers who were insecure, in contrast to symptomatic women who were high in sensitivity. These data have implications for understanding the combined impact of maternal depressive symptoms and maternal sensitivity on children's socioemotional development.

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A sample of 162 six-month-old infants was selected from a larger sample of 346 infants on the basis of mothers' report of their infants' temperament and a laboratory assessment of temperament. Infants were classified as easily frustrated or less frustrated and observed in several types of interactions with their mothers in the laboratory. Mothers completed several measures that indicated their level of parenting stress, psychological functioning, and marital adjustment. Maternal behavior with infants was coded along the dimensions of sensitivity, intrusiveness, and physical stimulation. Results indicated that maternal intrusiveness was related to infant temperament and that maternal physical stimulation was predicted by an interaction of infant temperament and mothers' perceived parenting stress. Implications of these findings for mother-infant interaction and subsequent child adjustment are discussed.RESUMEN: Un grupo muestra de 162 infantes de seis meses de nacidos fue seleccionado de una muestra aun mayor de 346 infantes, sobre la base de lo que las madres reportaron acerca del temperamento de sus infantes y una evaluación de laboratorio del temperamento. A los infantes se les dividió entre los que se frustraban fácilmente y los menos frustrados, y se les observó en varios tipos de interacciones con sus madres en el laboratorio. Las madres completaron varias encuestas que indicaron su nivel de tensión en cuanto al proceso de crianza, el funcionamiento sicológico, así como la adaptación marital. La conducta materna con los infantes fue codificada a lo largo de las dimensiones de susceptibilidad, entremetimiento, y estimulación física. Los resultados indicaron que el entremetimiento materno estaba relacionado con el temperamento del infante; además, que una interacción entre el temperamento del infante y la tensión acerca de la crianza, tal como era percibida por la madre, predecían el nivel de estimulación física de la madre. Se discuten las implicaciones de estos resultados en cuanto a la interacción entre madre e infante y las subsecuentes adaptaciones del niño.RÉ SUMÉ : Un échantillon de 162 bébés de six mois fut sélectionné à partir d'un échantillon plus grand de 346 bébés, sur la base des rapports fait par les mères du tempérament de leur bébé et d'une évaluation laboratoire du tempérament. Les bébés ont été classifiés comme étant facilement frustrés ou moins frustrés et observés dans plusieurs types d'interactions avec leurs mères dans le laboratoire. Les mères complé-tèrent plusieurs mesures qui indiquèrent leur niveau de stress de parentage, le fonctionnement psychol-

The current study examined the extent to which seventy-five 5- to 13-year-old children and their mothers agreed about whether children had been exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) and the association between parent-child agreement and children's psychological adjustment. One type of disagreement (i.e., parents failed to report IPV exposure that children reported) was associated with children's perceptions of less positive family relationships. Parents of these children, however, reported fewer child adjustment problems than did parents who agreed with their children about children's IPV exposure. The findings suggest the importance of obtaining children's reports of their own exposure to IPV in addition to parental reports. Moreover, parent-child concordance with respect to children's IPV exposure may be an important variable to examine in understanding variations in children's adjustment.

The purpose of this article is to review evidence concerning the joint impact of family characteristics and child care experiences in understanding children's development. Although child care experiences are related to children's development across a variety of domains, family characteristics, particularly socioeconomic status and parenting quality, are typically stronger predictors of children's outcomes. An important implication of these findings is that high-quality child care experiences are likely to have stronger effects on children who are at risk of poorer outcomes because of less optimal family environments; evidence from experimental and nonexperimental studies generally supports this conclusion. From a policy perspective, an important goal for future research is to identify subgroups of families within the heterogeneous low-income population that are in particular need of relatively more intensive services and to develop effective interventions that are tailored to their needs.