Prior work has suggested that methodological and conceptual confounding may play a role in the associations obtained between stressful life events, social resources, and adaptive outcome. Of particular concern in our work were (a) the source and method of assessment; (b) conceptual overlap between life stress and resource items and symptoms of disorder; and (c) induced response bias through the instructional sets of the stress measures. A second goal was to extend our understanding of the life stress-adjustment linkage in groups for whom little data of this type exist. By using multi-trait-multimethod procedures we found that both distal major life events and proximal daily stressors had important degrees of unique and shared variance with adaptive functioning, whereas the effects for social support were inconclusive. Further, the importance of considering possible sources of potential confounding in producing quite different levels of association between life stress and adaptation was underscored by the results.

The utility and construct validity of the Children's Depression Inventory and the youth version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were examined. No significant grade, sex, or race effects were obtained for either measure. Examination of convergent and discriminate validity for these measures revealed high correspondence with self-report measures of related constructs. Children's self-reports corresponded poorly with ratings by teachers or parents. Finally, the utility of recommended cutoff scores for identifying extreme groups of depressed children and adolescents was evaluated.

To explore the use of mental health professional expertise in the legal system, legal professionals' sources of social science information, and the legal profession's perspectives on the appropriate roles of mental health professionals in the process, we solicited information from attorneys and judges on (a) the extent to which they actively seek the involvement of mental health professionals in child custody cases, (b) the factors that influence such involvement, and (c) the degree to which these attitudes and practices are influenced by social science data or theory. Among the most sinking features of these results was the report by the overwhelming majority of legal professionals that they did not consider either social science dala or mental health professionals' involvement or recommendations in child custody cases as critical to their practice of family law. Specifically, mental health participation was rarely solicited, and when it was. this decision rested primarily on the paradigmatic regularities of the legal system or practical needs of the case rather on a view that such involvement was central to the client's or child's mental health. The implications of these findings for collaboration between the mental health and legal disciplines in the area of family policy are discussed.As part of the growing commitment to preventing emotional dysfunction through social change (Albee, 1985). mental health professionals have sought to become participants in an ever-increasing range of efforts to shape legal policies and processes (e.g., Reppucci, Wcilhorn, Mulvey, & Monahan. ROBERT D. FELNER, PhD, is professor of psychology at the University oflllinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are in primary prevention, life transitions, stress and coping in children and families, and child custody. He is an editor of Preventive Psychology. Theory. Research and Praam' (published 1983). RICHARD T. ROWLISON. MA, is a PhD student in the Clinical/ Community Psychology Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests arc in the areas of stress and coping and prevention programs for at-risk adolescents. STEPHANII S. FARBER, PhD, is in private clinical practice in New Haven, Connecticut. Her research interests focus on stress and coping in children and families. JUDITH PRIMAVERA, MA, is a PhD student at Yale University and a staff psychologist at Bridgeport Child Guidance Center, Bridgeport. Connecticut. THOMAS A BISHOP, Esq.. is a practicing attorney and former president of the Family Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association. THE AUTHORS THANK the Family Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association for their support for this project, and Lisa Terre for her assistance in data analysis and editing.

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