MATERNAL INTERACTION STYLE IN AFFECTIVE DISORDERED, PHYSICALLY ILL, AND NORMAL WOMEN

Affective style (AS) and communication deviance (CD) have been suggest ed as markers of dysfunctional family environments that may be associa ted with psychiatric illness. Studies have focused mainly on parental responses during family interactions when an offspring is the identifi ed patient. The present study is unique in examining AS and CD in moth ers with unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, or chronic physical il lness, and in normal controls. The sample consisted of 64 mothers with children ages 8 to 16. Unipolar mothers were more likely to show nega tive AS than were any other maternal group. There were no group differ ences for CD. Chronic stress, few positive life events, and single par enting were associated with AS. CD was associated solely with lower so cioeconomic status. Results suggest that dysfunctional interactions ar e determined not only by maternal psychopathology, but also by an arra y of contextual factors that are related to the quality of the family environment.