Mothers were asked when their children were aged 1 ½, 2 ½, 3 ½ and 7 years whether their child had experienced any of 15-18 different stressful life events in the previous 12 to 18 months and rated the impact of the event on the child on a four point scale. The items included in this questionnaire were derived from previous studies (Barnett et al, 1983; Brown and Harris, 1978). Total life event scores were calculated by summing the perceived impact score reported by mothers for each life event. The perceived impact score ranged from zero (no experience of event) to 4 (very upset by event). Each of the perceived life event impact scores was weighted according to the average impact recorded by mothers in order to reduce bias in the rating of impact resulting from maternal mood. Total scores were further adjusted for missing data by pro-rating. Life event scores increased slightly as children got older, nevertheless the mean scores were low (Table 1). Few of the children had experienced severe life events. At each of the four time
