CARING BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN OF CLINICALLY DEPRESSED AND WELL MOTHERS

Young children's sensitivity and responsiveness to mothers' needs were investigated under conditions of high and low parenting risk (depress ed and nondepressed mothers, SADS-L). Child characteristics of gender, affect, and impulse control problems and the mother-child attachment relationship were examined as they related to children's caring action s. Children's caring behavior was observed in an experimental situatio n in which their mothers simulated sadness and in a naturalistic setti ng. Attachment alone and child's problems alone were not predictors, a nd maternal diagnosis alone was not a strong predictor. Girls were sig nificantly more caring than boys. Severe maternal depression was neces sary to bring out high levels of responding in boys. Highest frequenci es of caring were from children with severely depressed mothers, probl ems of affect regulation, and secure attachment. The importance of rec ognizing interacting influences and diverse underlying processes in th e development of children's caring behavior is discussed.