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Are maternal health behaviors related to preschool children's adjustment? A preliminary report.

Little is known about how parental health behaviors affect others within the family. This study examined the relationship of mothers' health behaviors to mothers' reports of their preschool children's mental health. Mothers (n = 89) of 2 and 3 year olds completed a mail survey assessing a variety of health related measures. Children's adjustment was assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist, a well established measure of child adjustment. The Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire and Perceived Stress Scale were also contained in the survey. Most mothers were white, married, and had attended college. After entering control variables (income, work status, and perceived stress) in regression analyses, mothers' overall health behaviors were significantly related to total child behavioral/emotional problems. These preliminary findings suggest that the health behaviors of mothers may be related to children's mental health, but the direction of the relationship should be tested further in longitudinal research.