A three year follow-up of previously reported educational intervention program--delivered to matched sample of 36 socially disadvantaged mother-infant pairs during first year of life--resulted in the development of a maternal social risk score instrument. In the retrospective analysis of 15 social variables describing multi-problem families, mother's age, education, plans for returning to school, living arrangement, geographic living area, and any reported socially deviant behavior were most predictive of social risk status. Interaction between social risk scores of mothers and performance of their infants was analyzed. There was a negative correlation between risk scores of mothers and performance of their infants at year one (r=-.388; p <.02); at year two (r=-.488; p < .008) and at year three (verbal, r=-.340; p <.049 and cognitive, r=-.288; p<.099). An instrument which is able to assess maternal risk at birth may be an important new parameter in preventive pediatric treatment.