Findings at the 20-year followup indicated that family discord factors were associated with offspring major depressive disorder (MDD) only in offspring of nondepressed parents. Other results revealed that the impact of family risk factors diminished over the 20-year followup period whereas the impact of parental affectionless control on offspring psychopathology persisted over the 20-year period. Regarding the last finding, there is evidence of intergenerational transmission of this parental bonding style. Blocking this transmission through early intervention should be explored as an intervention strategy. Participants were 182 offspring from 83 families, including 125 offspring from 61 high-risk families and 57 offspring from 22 low-risk families, who participated in a 20-year followup study of offspring depression. Family discord factors were first assessed when participants were 17 years old and offspring diagnoses were assessed 20 years later. Measures of family discord under examination included poor marital adjustment, parent child discord, low family cohesion, affectionless control, and parental divorce. Data analysis techniques included logistic regression analysis and univariate analyses using chi-square tests. In closing the authors note that the results obtained from this clinical sample may not apply to a community sample of depressed parents due to the greater severity of depression found in clinical samples. Tables, references