Acculturation Stress Magnifies Child Depression Effect of Stressful Life Events for Latinx Youth 3 Years Later.

Introduction: Experiences of stressful life events (SLEs) during childhood are associated with greater risk for youth psychopathology. Although SLEs are reported in greater frequency by Latinx families, Latinx populations remain largely absent in the SLE literature. Furthermore, Latinx populations face added stressors related to socio-political climate, acculturation, and racism and discrimination. The purpose of this study was to explore the intersection between parent-reported SLEs and acculturation (i.e., socio-political climate-related) stressors for Latinx youth. Greater frequency of caregiver reported SLEs were hypothesized to predict higher depressive symptoms in their children three years later, and acculturation stress was hypothesized to amplify these effects. Method: The community-recruited, low-income sample for this study consisted of 198 Latinx caregivers (98.5% mothers, 77.3% foreign-born) and their children (M age = 7.4, 47.5% female). Study hypotheses were tested using MPlus. Results: Consistent with prior literature, more SLEs reported at age 7 by parents were associated with more child-reported depressive symptoms at age 10 but only among boys. However, for both boys and girls, there was a significant interaction between acculturation stress and family SLEs. Specifically, as the amount of acculturation stress reported at age 7 increased, the negative impact of family SLEs on child-reported depressive symptoms at age 10 was magnified, regardless of gender. Conclusion: Adding to the literature on SLEs within Latinx families, these results indicate that acculturation and socio-political climate stressors need be considered in discussions of the effects of life stress on Latinx youth and their families.

Active Direction: A new observational measure of African American parenting.

A new observational measure of a culturally salient, supportive African American parenting style, Active Direction, was developed. Ratings were compared to standard qualitative ratings and across two ethnic groups. Active Direction represents the provision of structure to interactions in the form of corrective direction with clear and concise feedback that is assessed for supportiveness rather than simple content or tone. The 7-point rating item was examined in observations of African American (n = 172) and Hispanic American (n = 196) mother-child interactions collected at age 2.5 years in families from low-income households. Ratings were compared and associations to previously reported ratings of the interactions were examined. Active Direction was often observed among the African American mothers (81%) but rarely observed among the Hispanic mothers (16%), with a large effect size difference, supporting the hypothesis that Active Direction may represent a culturally specific approach to parenting for African American parents. Maternal behavior correlations of Active Direction with cognitive stimulation, intrusiveness, scaffolding, and calm authority and with child affiliative obedience and dyadic routines and rituals were significantly higher and detachment significantly lower in the African American compared to the Hispanic sample. The new measure of Active Direction, centered around culturally salient values and differences in both historical and lived experiences, addresses characteristics of parenting in African American families that are supportive of their children's development and provides a fruitful direction for future research.

Do toys get in the way? The duration of shared emotional experiences is longer when mothers engage their infants without toys.

During mother-infant interaction, shared emotional experiences, defined as reciprocal and synchronous emotional sharing between mother and infant, are an indicator of early relational health. Yet, it is unclear how mothers' efforts to engage with their infants relate to dyadic-level shared emotional experiences. Utilizing a sample of 80 randomly selected videos of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we examined how mothers' bids for interaction with their 6-month-old infants related to the duration of shared emotional experiences. An event sampling, sequential coding system was used to identify a maternal bid for interaction (i.e., with toy, without toy) and the subsequent presence or absence of a shared emotional experience, including duration of the shared emotional experience. Results indicated that shared emotional experiences were longer following mothers' efforts to engage their infants in play without toys. Findings suggest that methods matter; researchers and practitioners interested in studying and promoting shared emotional experiences between mothers and infants may wish to focus on dyadic interactions without toys.

Durante la interacción madre-infante, las experiencias emocionalmente compartidas, definidas como el recíproco y síncrono compartir emocional entre madre e infante, son un indicador de la temprana saludable relación. Aún así, no está claro cómo los esfuerzos de las madres para compartir con sus infantes se relacionan con las experiencias emocionales compartidas al nivel de la díada. Utilizando un grupo muestra de 80 videos del Estudio NICHD del Temprano Cuidado Infantil y Desarrollo de la Juventud, seleccionados al azar, examinamos cómo las posturas de las madres para interactuar con sus infantes de 6 meses de edad se relacionaban con la duración de las experiencias emocionales compartidas. Se usó un sistema de codificación secuencial de muestreo de eventos para identificar una postura materna para la interacción (v.g., con juguete, sin juguete) y la subsecuente presencia o ausencia de una experiencia emocional compartida, incluyendo la duración de la experiencia emocional compartida. Los resultados indicaron que las experiencias emocionales compartidas eran más largas cuando los esfuerzos de las madres para interactuar con sus infantes en el juego no incluían juguetes. Los resultados sugieren que los métodos importan; los investigadores y profesionales de la práctica interesados en estudiar y promover las experiencias emocionales compartidas entre madres e infantes pudieran querer enfocarse en las interacciones diádicas sin juguetes.

Stability of Parenting Profiles in Early Childhood for African American Children in Households Experiencing Poverty.

Taking a person-centered approach, this study examined stability and change in profiles of parenting qualities observed at two times in early childhood in a sample of 146 mothers of African American children living in households experiencing poverty. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) of six qualities of parenting rated from mother-child interactions at ages 2.5 and 3.6 years revealed four distinct parenting profiles characterized as Child-Oriented, Moderately Child-Oriented, Harsh-Intrusive, and Withdrawn at each age. Profile membership was fairly stable, with 41% classified similarly at both times. Moderately Child-Oriented was the least stable, with 24% of this group similarly classified at Time 2; 49-52% of each of the other three groups were classified similarly the second time, indicating their greater stability. Changes from Harsh-Intrusive to Withdrawn profiles or vice versa were rare (n = 3). To further address profile stability, Time 2 profile posterior probabilities were predicted in multiple regression models from Time 1 parenting profiles, with the child-oriented profile as reference group, Time 2 child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, and cumulative risk. Results indicated Time 2 Withdrawn and Harsh-Intrusive profiles were significantly associated with Time 1 membership in their analogous profile but not with other Time 1 profiles, providing further evidence for stability and distinctiveness of these profiles. Only the Moderately Child-Oriented profile was associated with greater cumulative risk at Time 2; it was not related to any of the other Time 1 profiles. In addition, Withdrawn profile membership at Time 2 was associated with greater child internalizing and fewer externalizing problems. The Time 2 Child-Oriented profile was associated with less probability of membership in withdrawn or harsh-intrusive profiles at Time 1.

Unique Characteristics of Women and Infants Moderate the Association between Depression and Mother-Infant Interaction.

Research has shown mixed results regarding the association between women's postpartum depression and mother-infant interactions, suggesting that a woman's unique experience and context may moderate how depression shapes these interactions. We examined the extent to which a woman's comorbid anxiety, her exposure to adversity, and infant characteristics moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms of women and interactions with their infants at 6 (n = 647) and 12 months (n = 346) postpartum. The methods included standardized coding of mother-infant interactions and structural regression modeling. The results at 6 months of infant age indicated that infant male sex and infant negative affectivity were risk factors for mothers' depression being associated with less optimal interactions. At 12 months of infant age, two moderators appeared to buffer the influence of depression: a woman's history of trauma and infant preterm birth (≤37 weeks gestation). The results reinforce the salience of infant characteristics in the relationship between maternal depression and mother-infant interactions. The findings also suggest that experiences of trauma may offer opportunities for psychological growth that foster constructive management of depression's potential effect on mother-infant interactions. Further research is needed to clarify the underlying processes and mechanisms that explain the influence of these moderators. The ultimate goals are to reduce the risk of suboptimal interactions and reinforce healthy dyadic relations.

Percutaneous cervical cordotomy for chest wall pain from mesothelioma in the setting of neuromyelitis.

A 75-year-old man presented to our Interventional Cancer Pain service for consideration of a percutaneous cervical cordotomy (PCC) to control severe chest wall pain secondary to malignant mesothelioma. His medical history included a neuroinflammatory disorder, neuromyelitis optica, for which he had previously had a prolonged hospital admission, with ongoing neurological deficit. Little information is available regarding the safety of PCC in a patient with this condition, specifically the risk of neurological relapse, and we were initially wary about going ahead. After discussion with the patient's neurology team and other UK experts and with the patient's informed consent, we proceeded to PCC with additional steroid cover. No adverse neurological symptoms were encountered perioperatively or postoperatively and the patient had an excellent analgesic result. As this combination of circumstances has not to our knowledge been documented, we wished to present this case and discuss the factors affecting our decision and management.

Responding to racism at school: Ethnic-racial socialization and the academic engagement of Black and Latinx youth.

Guided by the Theory of Racial Socialization in Action (TRSA; Smith-Bynum in press), this study examined observed caregiver-provided ethnic-racial socialization in response to a school-based discriminatory dilemma. Forty-five Black and 36 Latinx caregivers (88% mothers) with low-income and their children (Mage  = 11.09, SD = 0.29; 46.3% female) participated in Dallas, Texas from 2018 to 2019. Dyads responded to a hypothetical scenario in which a school counselor makes a discriminatory comment to the child. Results of a factor mixture analysis suggested that caregivers engaged in the dialogue using one of four approaches: Low-engaged, Legacy, Racial Literacy, or High-engaged. Profiles were found to differ significantly by the race/ethnicity and language of caregivers and were associated with youth's concurrent behavioral engagement (R2  = .04).

Self-Regulation Development Among Young Spanish-English Dual Language Learners.

Despite strong evidence self-regulation skills are critical for school readiness, there remains a dearth of longitudinal studies that describe developmental trajectories of self-regulation, particularly among low-resource and underrepresented populations such as Spanish-English dual-language learners (DLLs). The present study examined individual differences in trajectories of self-regulation among 459 Spanish-English DLLs who were Hispanic from four different samples and three geographic locations in the U.S. Self-regulation was assessed in all samples using repeated administration of the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) task from early childhood through early elementary school. Results of latent growth curve analyses revealed that growth was best represented by quadratic trajectories. Latent class growth analyses captured significant individual differences in self-regulation trajectories. One group of children (41%) started with higher HTKS scores and displayed rapid early growth in performance. A similar percentage of children (41%) displayed intermediate growth in self-regulation, starting with lower HTKS scores but displaying rapid growth commencing arrange 4.5 years. Finally, about 18% of the sample did not display growth in HTKS performance until after entry to elementary school, around age 6 years. Girls were half as likely as boys to be in this later developing group. Likewise, children from families at the upper end of the socioeconomic distribution in this low-income sample were significantly less likely to be in the later developing group relative to children from families with lower SES. Study findings indicate the importance of monitoring growth rates in self-regulation as a means of identifying children at risk for entering school without the requisite self-regulation skills.

Maternal Interaction With Infants Among Women at Elevated Risk for Postpartum Depression.

Ample research links mothers' postpartum depression (PPD) to adverse interactions with their infants. However, most studies relied on general population samples, whereas a substantial number of women are at elevated depression risk. The purpose of this study was to describe mothers' interactions with their 6- and 12-month-old infants among women at elevated risk, although with a range of symptom severity. We also identified higher-order factors that best characterized the interactions and tested longitudinal consistency of these factors from 6 to 12 months of infant age. We leveraged data from eight projects across the United States (n = 647), using standardized depression measures and an adaptation of the NICHD Mother-Infant Interaction Scales. Overall, these depression-vulnerable mothers showed high levels of sensitivity and positive regard and low levels of intrusiveness, detachment, and negative regard with their infants. Factor analyses of maternal behaviors identified two overarching factors-"positive engagement" and "negative intrusiveness" that were comparable at 6 and 12 months of infant age. Mothers' ability to regulate depressed mood was a key behavior that defined "positive engagement" in factor loadings. An exceptionally strong loading of intrusiveness on the second factor suggested its central importance for women at elevated depression risk. Mothers with severe depressive symptoms had significantly more "negative intrusiveness" and less "positive engagement" with their 6-month-old infants than women with moderate or fewer depressive symptoms, suggesting a potential tipping point at which symptoms may interfere with the quality of care. Results provide the foundation for further research into predictors and moderators of women's interactions with their infant among women at elevated risk for PPD. They also indicate a need for evidence-based interventions that can support more severely depressed women in providing optimal care.

Emergence of ethnic-racial socialization for African American and Latinx families: Evidence for factorial validity and measurement invariance across early childhood.

OBJECTIVES: This measurement validity study assesses the Hughes and Chen (1997) Multidimensional Scale of Race Socialization in an early childhood sample to examine when ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) strategies emerge and the degree to which they are employed with young children. METHOD: We administered the Multidimensional Scale among a sample of 407 African American and Latinx families. Data were collected across four waves (child ages 2.5-7.5 years). Longitudinal, multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were modeled to test (a) factorial validity of the extant measure in a novel group, (b) equivalence of measuring ERS across age, gender, and ethnicity, and (c) latent means across the sample. RESULTS: The two-factor model was validated in this early childhood sample and measured invariantly across all waves and groups. Latent means of cultural socialization and preparation for bias steadily increased across early childhood with noteworthy differences in effect sizes (.58-.75, respectively) between the second and third assessments when the majority of children entered kindergarten. Latent means did not differ for caregivers on account of child gender. African American caregivers reported greater messaging of cultural socialization (ES range: .44-1.55) than Latinx caregivers, and also reported greater preparation for bias than their Latinx peers but only at school entry (ES = .66). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that ERS strategies commonly used with older children emerge very early on in family experiences and supports the notion that the transition to kindergarten marks a notable ecological shift for ethnic minority children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A Longitudinal Study of Language Use During Early Mother-Child Interactions in Spanish-Speaking Families Experiencing Low Income.

PURPOSE: This longitudinal study assessed continuity and stability of productive language (vocabulary and grammar) and discourse features (turn-taking; asking and responding to questions) during mother-child play. METHOD: Parent-child language use in 119 Spanish-speaking, Mexican immigrant mothers and their children at two ages (M = 2.5 and 3.6 years) was evaluated from transcriptions of interactions. RESULTS: Child productive language significantly increased over the year, whereas mothers showed commensurate increases in vocabulary diversity but very little change in grammatical complexity. Mother-child discourse was characterized by discontinuity: Mothers decreased their turn length and asked fewer questions while children increased on both measures. Rates of responding to questions remained high for both mothers and children even as children increased and mothers decreased over time. Mothers and children showed significant rank-order stability in productive language and measures of discourse. Mothers' rate of asking questions and children's responses to questions during the first interaction predicted children's receptive vocabulary a year later. CONCLUSIONS: As children become more sophisticated communicators, language input remains important, with discourse features growing in relevance. Children's early opportunities to respond to parents' questions in the context of play benefit their language skills. This work extends the evidence base from monolingual English-speaking families and is interpreted in the context of prior research on parenting practices in U.S. families of Mexican origin.

Early Child Care Experiences and Attachment Representations at Age 18 Years: Evidence from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

The role of early child care experiences on the development of the mother-child attachment relationship has been studied extensively. However, no prospective studies of early child care have addressed how these experiences might be reflected in the content of attachment representations during adolescence and beyond. The goal of this study was to estimate relatively precise associations between child care quality, child care quantity, and type of care in the first 54 months of life and the content of adolescents' attachment representations around age 18 years (N = 857; 51% female; 78% White, non-Hispanic; M income-to-needs ratio = 4.13), leveraging data from the longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). We identified a small positive association between the observed quality of early child care (but not quantity or type of care) and secure attachment states of mind as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (but not the Attachment Script Assessment) at age 18 years that was robust to demographic covariates and observations of maternal and paternal sensitivity during childhood. We observed no significant interactions among child care variables. Associations between early child care experiences and indicators of adolescent attachment were likewise not moderated by maternal sensitivity from infancy to mid-adolescence or by maternal reports of child temperament in early childhood.

The Quality of Mother-Toddler Communication Predicts Language and Early Literacy in Mexican-American Children from Low-Income Households.

This longitudinal study documents the key role of early joint engagement in the language and early literacy development of Mexican-American children from low-income households. This rapidly growing population often faces challenges as sequential Spanish-English language learners. Videos of 121 mothers and their 2.5-year-old children interacting in Spanish for 15 min were recorded in 2009-2011 in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Researchers reliably rated general dyadic features of joint engagement-symbol-infused joint engagement, shared routines and rituals, and fluency and connectedness-that have been found to facilitate language development in young English-speaking children. The construct respeto, a valued aspect of traditional Latino parenting, was also rated using two culturally specific items-the parent's calm authority and the child's affiliative obedience. In addition, three individual contributions-maternal sensitivity, quality of maternal language input, and quality of child language production-were assessed. General features of joint engagement at 2.5 years predicted expressive and receptive language at 3.6 years and receptive language and early literacy at 7.3 years, accounting for unique variance over and above individual contributions at 2.5 years, with some effects being stronger in girls than boys. The level of culturally specific joint engagement did not alter predictions made by general features of joint engagement. These findings highlight the importance of the quality of early communication for language and literacy success of Mexican-American children from low-income households and demonstrate that culturally specific aspects of early interactions can align well with general features of joint engagement.

Beyond talk: Contributions of quantity and quality of communication to language success across socioeconomic strata.

Infants from low-socioeconomic status (SES) households hear a projected 30 million fewer words than their higher-SES peers. In a recent study, Hirsh-Pasek et al. (Psychological Science, 2015; 26: 1071) found that in a low-income sample, fluency and connectedness in exchanges between caregivers and toddlers predicted child language a year later over and above quantity of talk (Hirsh-Pasek et al., Psychological Science, 2015; 26: 1071). Here, we expand upon this study by examining fluency and connectedness in two higher-SES samples. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we sampled 20 toddlers who had low, average, and high language outcomes at 36 months from each of 2 groups based on income-to-needs ratio (INR; middle and high) and applied new coding to the mother-toddler interaction at 24 months. In the high-INR group, the quality of mother-toddler interaction at 24 months accounted for more variability in language outcomes a year later than did quantity of talk, quality of talk, or sensitive parenting. These results could not be accounted for by child language ability at 24 months. These effects were not found in the middle-INR sample. Our findings suggest that when the quality of interaction, fluency and connectedness, predicts language outcomes, it is a robust relation, but it may not be universal.

Racism and preparation for bias within African American families.

Objectives: Exposure to racism experienced by caregivers poses a threat to child developmental outcomes. The current study examines the effects of caregiver-experienced racism on the development of internalizing behaviors for African American children during a sensitive period in their development of racial awareness. Two aspects of caregiver-provided ethnic racial socialization (ERS), cultural socialization and preparation for bias, were assessed as moderators. Supported by prior research, cultural socialization was hypothesized to be protective. Given that research on preparation for bias in early childhood is sparse or inconclusive, no directional hypothesis was formulated for the moderation effect of preparation for bias. Method: A community-recruited, low-income sample of 130 African American caregivers and their children (T3 Mage = 6.20, T4 Mage = 7.17) reported on past-year experiences with racism, ERS practices, and child internalizing behaviors. Path analyses were utilized to assess the influence of caregivers' racist experiences and ERS practices on children's first grade internalizing behaviors after controlling for kindergarten levels. Results: Cultural socialization was not a significant protective factor as hypothesized. However, caregivers' past-year experiences with racism predicted more anxious and sad behaviors in children when caregivers reported using more preparation for bias. Conclusions: The effects of caregivers' racism experiences on their 6-year-old children's internalizing behaviors were contingent on their use of preparation for bias socialization. This study adds to the literature on racism and further elucidates the role preparation for discrimination plays in developmental outcomes for young African American children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Developmental Pathways to BPD-Related Features in Adolescence: Infancy to Age 15.

The self-damaging behaviors central to borderline personality disorder (BPD) become prominent in adolescence. Current developmental theories cite both early family processes and childhood dysregulation as contributors to BPD, but longitudinal data from infancy are rare. Using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development database (SECCYD; N = 1,364), we examined path models to evaluate parent and child contributors from infancy/preschool, middle childhood, and adolescence to adolescent BPD-related features. In addition, person-centered latent class analyses (LCA) investigated whether adolescent BPD-related features were more strongly predicted by particular patterns of maladaptive parenting. Path modeling identified unique influences of maternal insensitivity and maternal depression on BPD-related features, first, through social-emotional dysregulation in middle childhood, and second, through continuity from infancy in maternal insensitivity and depression. LCA results indicated that early withdrawn parenting was particularly predictive of BPD-related features in adolescence. Results suggest multiple points of intervention to alter pathways toward adolescent borderline psychopathology.

Culture, parenting, and language: Respeto in Latine mother-child interactions.

The cultural value of respeto (respect) is central to Latine parenting. Yet, how respeto manifests in the interactions of Latine parents and their young children remains unexamined. Low-income Mexican immigrant Spanish-speaking mothers and their 2.5-year-old toddlers (N = 128) were video-recorded during play (M age = 30.2 months, SD = 0.52), and two culturally informed items of respeto were coded: parent calm authority and child affiliative obedience. Respeto related to standard ratings of mother and child interactions (e.g., maternal sensitivity and child engagement) but also captured unique features of parent-child interactions. Respeto related to mothers' and toddlers' language production and discourse during the interaction, and explained unique variance in language variables above standard ratings of mother-child interaction. This is the first effort to document a culturally salient aspect of dyadic interaction in Mexican immigrant mothers and young children and to show that respeto relates to language use during mother- child interactions.

Fathering quality in early childhood and kindergarten achievement in low-income racial-ethnic minority children.

The relative lack of attention to fathers' effects on children's achievement is even more apparent when examining fathering among low-income racial-ethnic minorities. We examined relations of fathering qualities when children were 2-3 years old with subsequent reading and mathematics achievement in kindergarten in a sample of low-income African American (n = 119) and primarily Mexican-origin Latino children (n = 193) from multiple neighborhood areas of a large city in the southwestern United States. Measures of parenting qualities were based on qualitative ratings of videotaped observations of father-child and mother-child interactions collected in the home during semistructured play activities. Mathematics and reading achievement scores were based on administration of the Woodcock-Johnson Revised (Woodcock & Muñoz-Sandoval, 1993) or the Batería Woodcock-Muñoz (Woodcock & Munoz-Sandoval, 1996), as appropriate depending upon the child's language. A structural equations model in which kindergarten mathematics and reading achievement were regressed on early childhood fathering displayed good model fit, χ2(72) = 131.30, p < .001, comparative fit index = .954, root mean square error of approximation = .051, standardized root mean square residual = .079. Results indicated that sensitive support from African American and Latino resident fathers was associated with their children's mathematics achievement even after controlling for mothers' sensitive support, but fathering quality was not associated with reading achievement. The implications of these findings for the study of fathering in racial-ethnic minority populations as well as for the development of early preventive interventions to support academic achievement are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Community-Based, Caregiver-Implemented Early Language Intervention in High-Risk Families: Lessons Learned.

BACKGROUND: High-quality, early caregiver-child interaction facilitates language, cognitive, and health outcomes. Children in low socioeconomic status households experience less frequent and lower-quality language interactions on average than their middle to high socioeconomic status peers. Early caregiver-implemented intervention may help to improve outcomes for these children. OBJECTIVES: This article describes how we used community-based participatory research (CBPR) to develop and implement a community-based, caregiver-implemented early language intervention, including the challenges, solutions, and lessons learned in the process of CBPR. METHODS: We adopted an ethnographic approach to document and analyze our CBPR experiences in multiple phases of the project, including intervention design, training, implementation, and evaluation. LESSONS LEARNED: Developing the CBPR partnership, co-designing and implementing the study, and managing systems- level concerns like obtaining funding were central challenges for the researcher-community team. CONCLUSIONS: The CBPR model enhances early language intervention research by facilitating understanding of families in underserved communities and increasing the cultural relevancy of intervention materials.

Longitudinal associations between relationship quality and maternal depression among low-income African American and Hispanic mothers.

This examination of 237 African American and Hispanic mothers of young children explored the longitudinal linkages between romantic partner relationship quality and maternal depressive symptoms among low-income ethnic minority populations. Most studies to date have largely focused on majority non-Hispanic White populations, as well as married partner dyads, and few have utilized longitudinal designs. At 3 time points, participants completed a series of questionnaires including the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) for partner relationship quality and a revised version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD-R) Scale for maternal depressive symptoms during home-visit interviews. Both concurrent and prospective correlations were significant and negative, indicating a higher level of relationship quality was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. After adjusting for potential confounders, partner relationship quality was prospectively associated with maternal depressive symptoms but not vice versa. This pattern did not differ by maternal ethnicity. The findings of this study support and contribute to the limited research conducted to date to uncover patterns and influences of associations between romantic partner relationship quality and depressive symptoms in representative samples of ethnic minority populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).