Family relationships seem to be of particular importance to an aging parent's psychological well-being. Feelings of burden experienced by an adult daughter, however, may interfere with the nature of her relationship with her aging mother and may have a potentially deleterious effect on the mother. To test this hypothesis, a study was undertaken which examined the impact of two brief interventions on 37 middle-aged women and 24 of their elderly mothers. After mothers and daughters completed initial questionnaires measuring filial behavior and relationship satisfaction, daughters were assigned to either: (1) a cognitive-behavioral presentation designed to reduce the daughter's unrealistic feelings of responsibility; (2) a supportive-educational presentation designed to increase the daughter's awareness of her mother's needs; or (3) a waiting list control group. Following the interventions, mothers and daughters completed a modified version of the initially-completed questionnaire and reported any changes in the mother-daughter relationship or in the mother's well-being. The cognitive-behavioral procedure was found to be more effective than either the supportive-educational procedure or the no-treatment control condition in reducing the daughter's burden, improving the mother-daughter relationship, and decreasing the mother's loneliness. This study provides support for a social exchange perspective for understanding the quality of the mother-daughter relationship in later life. (NB)