This study investigated the question of whether maternal employment during childhood predisposed a child to depression. One hundred and eight college students completed self-report measures of depression and retrospecive accounts of maternal absence due to employment. Forty-five of the subjects had mothers who had worked before they were 12 years of age, and the remaining 63 had nonworking mothers. It was predicted that subjects' self-reported lack of maternal inclusion would be related to depression. Additionally, it was expected that there would be an interaction between mothers' working or not working and subjects' self-reported feelings of maternal exclusion. Results supported recent evidence that the quality of mother/child interaction, rather than the amount of maternal absence, was related to subsequent depressive symptomatology. Lack of maternal inclusion was significantly related to instrumental helplessness, poor self-esteem, sad mood, low energy, and guilt. The relationship between maternal employment and depression was nonsignificant. (Author/MP)