This study examines the paths of emotional transmission in one-parent, moth
er-headed families. One hundred adolescents and their single mothers provid
ed self-reports of their immediate experience at random times when signaled
by alarm watches over I week. Time sequence analyses indicated that mother
s' immediate anxiety and anger were related to subsequent anxiety and anger
in adolescents, but adolescents' negative emotions were not related to sub
sequent negative emotions in their mothers. The transmission of anxiety to
adolescents was most evident in families in which mothers had more stress a
nd employed psychological control in their parenting. It was least evident
in families in which mothers spent more time alone. These findings suggest
daily processes whereby distress is propagated in some families and contain
ed in others.