This longitudinal study examined the relationship between couple relationship satisfaction, parenting practices, parent depression, and child problem behaviors. The study participants (n = 148) were part of a larger experimental study that examined the effectiveness of a brief family-centered intervention, the Family Check-Up model. Regression analysis results indicated that our proposed model accounted for 38% of the variance in child problem behavior at Time 2, with child problem behavior and couple relationship satisfaction at child age 2 years each accounting for a significant portion of the variance in child problem behavior at age 3. Couple relationship satisfaction directly predicted child behavior problems over time. Clinical and research implications are discussed.The relationship between couple relationship satisfaction and distress, parenting, and child outcomes is well established. Researchers have consistently demonstrated that couple distress negatively affects the partners' health, welfare, and quality of life, and is a risk factor for poor child outcomes (Cordova, Warren, & Gee, 2001;El-Sheikh & Staton, 2004;Fals-Stewart, O'Farrell, Birchler, Cordova, & Kelley, 2005). Children from high-conflict families, when compared with children from low-conflict homes, have more adjustment problems (Booth & Amato, 2001;Harold, Shelton, Goeke-Morey, & Cummings, 2004). Moreover, children of distressed couples often have poorer school performance, more behavioral problems, and greater incidence of physical illness (Cherlin et al., 1991). At the extreme end of couple conflict, children exposed to parental domestic violence have significantly higher rates of behavioral and emotional problems, poorer academic performance, lower levels of well-being, poorer physical health, and higher rates of clinical depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, drug abuse, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (Graham-Bermann & Edleson, 2001;Jouriles, Norwood, McDonald, Vincent, & Mahoney, 1996).The birth of a first child and negotiation of child-rearing responsibilities mark a developmental transition that is particularly influential on the couple relationship and child outcomes. Some research has demonstrated that this time period can be filled with joy and pleasure with the baby (Gottman & Notarius, 2002). Yet, in even the healthiest relationship, it is normative to experience a decrease in relationship satisfaction with the birth of the first child (Schulz, Cowan, & Cowan, 2006;Shapiro, Gottman, & Carrere, 2000). In fact, researchers estimate that one third of all divorces occur within the first 5 years of marriage, and for many couples, the trajectory toward divorce begins with the decline in the female partner's relationship satisfaction after the arrival of the first baby (Cowan & Cowan, 1992;Shapiro et al., 2000). During the transition to parenthood, couples frequently demonstrate a dramatic increase in relationship conflict in addition to a decrease in positive interactions, which result in an overall decline in couple re...