According to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sinead Brophy of Swansea University, UK, and colleagues, children who live with a depressed parent are more likely to develop depression and fail to meet educational milestones.
Maternal depression is a risk factor for childhood depression, but the impact of paternal depression has received less attention. The researchers looked at the relationship between mother and paternal depression, as well as the timing of their depression (before or after the kid’s birth), and the child’s outcomes, such as the incidence of child depression and low educational attainment.
Maternal depression is a known risk factor for child depression and is connected with a variety of negative child health and educational outcomes, including lower academic attainment. However, risk variables connected with paternal depression have received little attention to date. Understanding the effects of mother and paternal depression on offspring outcomes has implications for prevention and early intervention.
Children who live with a depressed parent (mom or dad) are more likely to acquire depression and perform worse in school than children who live with a depressed parent who is being treated. Working with families and treating parental depression is likely to help children’s mental health and educational attainment in the long run.
Brophy and colleagues
Brophy and colleagues used data from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank as part of the Born in Wales Study, which was financed by the Welsh Government. The study analyzed data on children born in Wales between 1987 and 2018, as well as their moms and fathers or a stable, adult male figure in the same household. General practitioner records in the SAIL databank were used to obtain both parental and child depression diagnoses.
Depression was diagnosed in 34.5 percent of moms and 18 percent of fathers/stable men overall. Depression was diagnosed in 4.34 percent of all children, 2.85 percent of males, and 5.89 percent of girls. Children were more likely to acquire depression if their mother had depression before their birth (HR 1.32, 95 percent CI 1.21-1.43), after their birth (HR 2.00, 95 percent CI 1.96-2.05), or both before and after their birth (HR 2.00, 95 percent CI 1.96-2.05). (HR 2.25, 95 percent CI 2.15-2.35). When their father/stable male had depression before their birth (HR 1.44, 95 percent CI 1.18-1.74), after their birth (HR 1.66, 95 percent CI 1.58-1.74), or both before and after their birth, their risk of depression increased (HR 1.47, 95 percent CI 1.25-1.73).
Furthermore, the odds of reaching milestones at the end of primary school were significantly reduced if either parent had depression; for example, the odds of passing Key Stage 3 (KS3) tests were 0.57 (95 percent CI 0.55-0.60) if a child’s mother had depression both before and after their birth, and 0.56 (0.49-0.63) if their father/stable man had depression both before and after their birth. Other risk factors for children’s depression revealed in the study were their gender, their mother’s usage of antidepressants, and the absence of a stable man in the household. The authors conclude that the impact of father depression demands greater attention than has hitherto been given, and they propose that holistic approaches to whole-family health and depression will help ensure positive results for children.
The authors continue: “Children who live with a depressed parent (mom or dad) are more likely to acquire depression and perform worse in school than children who live with a depressed parent who is being treated. Working with families and treating parental depression (in both mothers and fathers) is likely to help children’s mental health and educational attainment in the long run. This has never been more vital than following lockdown and COVID, as despair is communicable as well.”
Depression in a parent is a common and powerful risk factor for depression in a kid, as well as a variety of negative child health and educational outcomes, including lower academic attainment. The great majority of research to far has concentrated on the impact of mother depression on offspring outcomes. Depression in a mother raises the incidence of depression in her offspring by 3 to 4 fold on average, with 6 to 10 fold increases documented when maternal depression is severe or persistent. Depressive disorders are a leading cause of impairment globally, and they frequently begin in youth or early adulthood.
Children who live with a depressed parent are more likely to develop depression and fail to meet scholastic milestones than children who live with a parent who has a history of depression (but no active depression in the child’s lifetime) or those who do not have depression. Working closely with families when depression (especially chronic depression) is present in either parent and treating parental depression to remission is expected to have long-term advantages for children’s mental health and educational success, according to this report.
