Maternal depression has been implicated in the development of adolescent substance use. Conceptualizing depression as a continuum, the aims of this study are to (a) understand the relationship between maternal depressed mood and risk factors associated with adolescent substance use; (b) understand the relationship between maternal depressed mood and level and growth in adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use assessed at multiple time points during adolescence; and (c) examine the unique and relative contribution of maternal depressed mood after taking into account contextual risk factors related to adolescent substance use. Participants are 792 children and their mothers. Latent growth modeling is used with adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use treated as ordinal variables. Child depressive phenomena and child antisocial behavior partially explain the relationship between maternal depressed mood and adolescent alcohol and cigarette use. Mothers' own substance use does not contribute to level or change in adolescent substance use after other risk factors are considered. (Contains 2 figures, 5 tables and 4 notes.)