Prior research has shown that depression in adolescents is associated with a variety of environmental stressors, including family discord, poor quality of relationships with parents, personally stressful life events, and negative peer and social relationships. In addition, numerous studies have examined multiple risk factors in families of depressed women. This study tested the hypothesis that family stress variables moderate the effects of maternal depression on offspring diagnoses and examined whether such factors may differentially predict disorders in offspring of depressed and never-depressed women. Participants in the study consisted of 816 women and their 15-year old adolescents from a birth cohort study of children born between 1981 and 1984. Results indicate that family conflict and stress variables play an important role in depressive disorders in children of depressed women. When family discord was low, there was little difference in depression rates among offspring of depressed and non-depressed mothers. Overall, there was significantly greater conflict and stress among families with a depressed mother. The youth depression rates reflect two patterns: (1) maternal depression alone in the absence of family conflict is not associated with youth depression and (2) maternal depression appeared to exacerbate the effects of adverse conditions. Clinical implications and study limitations are presented and discussed. Tables, references