Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2002) 43 (4): 457-469. Maternal Anxiety and Depression, Poverty and Marital Relationship Factors During Early Childhood as Predictors of Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence Susan H. Spence, Jake M. Najman, William Bor, Michael J. O’Callaghan, and Gail M. Williams The University of Queensland, Australia Abstract Background: This paper examines the degree to which symptoms of anxiety and depression at age 14 years are associated with early childhood experience of maternal anxiety and depression, poverty, and mother’s marital relationship distress and break- up. Methods: In a longitudinal study, 4434 families were followed-up from infancy to adolescence. Results: Maternal anxiety and depression during early childhood were found to have small, but significant, influences upon the development of high anxiety-depression symptoms at age 14, after controlling for the effects of poverty and marital relationship factors. This effect was greater with repeated exposure to high maternal anxiety and depression. Poverty, distressed marital relationship and marital break-up during the child’s first five years also produced small, but significant, increases in risk of high anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescence. Stable, single-parent status was not found to be a risk factor. There was no evidence of marked gender differences in risk factors, other than poverty, which had a stronger impact for girls than boys. Conclusions: Overall, the results suggest that maternal anxiety and depression, poverty, parent relationship conflict and marital break-up during early childhood are associated with small, but significant, increased risk of anxiety-depression symptoms in adolescence. Keywords: Internalising problems, anxiety, depression, longitudinal study, adolescence, maternal anxiety, maternal depression. Abbreviations: CBCL: Child Behavior Checklist; YSR: Youth Self Report; DSSI: Delusions Symptoms-States Inventory. Relatively little longitudinal research has been conducted into the development of internalising problems, such as anxiety and depression, in children and adolescents. This contrasts with externalising problems, such as conduct, oppositional defiant and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders for which a good deal of research is available. Contrary to widely held beliefs, internalising problems during childhood and adolescence can be regarded as significant mental health issues that are not only more stable than traditionally thought, but also result in a variety of debilitating long-term consequences if left untreated. The few longitudinal studies that have examined internalising disorders have found surprisingly stable effects over time, albeit less so than externalising disorders (Ollendick & King, 1994; Stanger, McConaughy, & Achenbach, 1992; Verhulst & van der Ende, 1992). Child and