This study of 51 primarily white families with 3-year-old children was designed to demonstrate the relationship between the qualities of children's narratives and measures of family relationships. Children were asked to complete stories involving a range of affect and conflict themes, parent-child dyads were asked to complete several narratives, and several parent questionnaires were used to assess family relationships and adaptation. Results demonstrated that higher levels of marital satisfaction and lower levels of maternal psychological distress, conflict between parent and child, and child behavior problems were associated with higher levels of boys' narrative coherence and fewer aggressive themes in girls' narratives. Higher levels of parental assistance and child participation in parent-child dyads were associated with more coherent narratives in boys and fewer aggressive themes in girls. (MDM)