Research has demonstrated impaired parent-child relationships in families with affective disorders. The present study examines the association of children\u27s interactional style during a direct conflict-solving task to both the mother\u27s interactional style and the child\u27s diagnostic status. The sample includes 63 children, ages 8 to 16, of mothers with affective disorders, chronic medical illness, and normal controls. Children\u27s dominant coping style profile (CS) (autonomous, neutral, or critical) was related to their mother\u27s affective style (AS) (benign or negative). Affective disorder in the child at 6-month followup was associated with a critical CS profile at intake, while the child\u27s nonaffective symptomatology was unrelated to CS. Findings indicate that children\u27s affective disturbance is linked to interpersonal deficits in affectively charged situations. Results suggest that the child\u27s CS is more strongly predicted by maternal AS than by either the child\u27s or the mother\u27s diagnostic status
