Depressed parents more likely to have depressed children

By Liz Lockhart

The teenagers and children who live at home with a depressed parent are at a greater risk of experiencing behavioural or emotional problems, according to new research.

The study involved more than 21,000 families who were researched over a four year period. It suggests that children whose parents are both depressed are at a particularly high risk. The study appears in the journal ‘Paediatrics’.

Home interview technique was used by the researchers. This involved home interviews of families where both parents lived in the same home as their children. The age group of the children in the study was between 5 – 17 years.

The interviews were based on self-report by the mother or the father who were asked a series of questions. The questions were about symptoms of depression in both parents and also how much trouble their children had with getting along with the parents and siblings as well as their behaviour at home and at school.

The research found that:

When the father had depression 11% of children showed signs of behavioural or emotional problems
When the mother had depression 19% of children showed signs of behavioural or emotional problems.
When both parents were depressed the number rose to 25%.
Those at an even higher level of apparent depression were teenagers aged 12 – 17 who had depressed fathers, males, whites and those who lived with smokers.

The data reveals the need for paediatricians to be more aware of the presence of depression in fathers as well as in mothers, the researchers suggest.

Because the research was carried out using a survey it was not possible to determine whether it was the depressed parents who made their children depressed or if it was that depressed children may make their parents more depressed.

The researchers said that there is no clear evidence that treating depression in parents will cut down on their children’s problems. They added that ‘recognising it when it is there and seeking out treatment for it is the best possible approach we can have.’

They also suggest that it may be helpful if schools and primary care doctors, especially paediatricians, should be on the lookout for depression in fathers, not just in mothers.

Source: Paediatrics