<p dir="ltr">Childhood depressive symptoms are transmitted through genetic and environmental pathways influenced by various factors, including prenatal distress, diurnal cortisol functioning (e.g., diurnal cortisol slope and variability), and negative affectivity. Further, the development of negative affectivity, diurnal cortisol functioning, and depressive symptoms are buffered by higher parental warmth. Using cohort I of the Early Growth and Development Study (N = 361), a US-based sample of children adopted into non-related families at birth, I tested 4 hypotheses. (1) Heritable risk for psychopathology and prenatal maternal distress would separately predict depressive symptoms at child age 8. (2) Diurnal cortisol variability at age 6 will moderate the relationship between diurnal cortisol slope at age 6 on depressive symptoms at age 8. (3) Negative affectivity at age 6 would mediate the relationship between heritable risk for psychopathology, heritable risk for negative affectivity and prenatal maternal distress on depressive symptoms at age 8. (4) Parental warmth at child age 27 months through age 4.5 years would buffer the risk heritable and prenatal factors have on the development of diurnal cortisol variability and negative affectivity at age 6. And, parental warmth at child age 7 will buffer the development of depressive symptoms at age 8. Because depressive symptoms at child age 8 were zero-inflated, I used a negative binomial hurdle model to predict any depressive symptoms as well as severity of depressive symptoms if any were endorsed. The results of the study did not support the specific hypotheses of the current study. However, higher parental warmth (<i>B</i> = -.012, <i>SE</i> = .005, <i>p</i> = .030) predicted fewer depressive symptoms among children who endorsed any depressive symptoms.</p>