ABSTRACT
Social scientists long have recognized that familial determinants play a decisive role in a
child’s behavioral, affective, and cognitive functioning. For example, the probability of a
diagnosis of schizophrenia, a mood disorder, a pervasive developmental disorder, or
alcoholism increases with a family history of these disorders (Carson, Butcher, &
Mineka, 1996). Such demographic knowledge may suggest that the role of family
influence on child psychopathology can be well defined. However, as Reitman and Gross
(1995) noted in the first edition of this volume, social scientists have been able to identify
many of the familial determinants, but they have yet to describe the relations among them
and the limits to their influence on child functioning in a way that satisfies the demands
of a single unified theory. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter remains essentially the
same as that of Reitman and Gross, briefly to review historical antecedents and empirical
observations concerning familial determinants, to define obstacles to understanding
familial determinants, and to describe essential elements of familial influence on
childhood mental health.
