1) To test the hypothesis that the quality of the parent-child relationship predicts subsequent physical health independently of socio-economic factors such as social class, maternal education, household income, maternal age and biological factors such as parental smoking and breast feeding.

2) To estimate the role of potential mediators such as parental mental health, the quality of the parent-parent relationship, the child's temperament and child mental health in the possible causal pathways between parent-child relationship quality and subsequent health.

To test the hypothesis that the quality of the parent-child relationship predicts indicators of subsequent physical health such as waist circumference relative to BMI (internal adipose tissue) and blood pressure.