Participants’ mothers reported their own depressive symptoms when the participants were 48 months, 7, 8, 16, and 17.5 years old. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) was administered at the 48 month, 16, and 17.5 year assessments. The 20-item CES-D asks respondents to rate themselves on a 4-point scale (0-3) according to specific feelings and behaviors during the past week that are characteristic of depression. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961) was administered at the 7 and 8 year assessments. The 21-item BDI asks respondents to rate themselves on a 4-point scale (0-3) on feelings during the past week characteristic of depression. Cronbach alphas for these scales ranged from .83 to .88 (M = .86) A maternal depressive symptoms composite was calculated by z-scoring and averaging these measures.
