Do better executive functions buffer the effect of current parental depression on adolescent depressive symptoms?

Shiri Davidovich,Stephan Collishaw,Ajay K Thapar,Gordon Harold,Anita Thapar,Frances Rice

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.03.049

Abstract

BackgroundOffspring of parents with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and especially those exposed to a current episode of parental depression have been found to be at increased risk for developing depression themselves. Exposure to a current parental depressive episode also reduces the efficacy of interventions in high risk or depressed adolescents. This highlights the need to identify protective factors for adolescents exposed to a current parental depressive episode. Executive functions serve as an important cognitive resource, involved in the ability to regulate mood and thoughts and cope with stressful events. This study examined the buffering role of two components of executive functioning, inhibitory control and mental flexibility, in the association between a current parental episode of MDD and adolescent depressive symptoms. MethodsA high-risk sample of 288 adolescent offspring of parents with recurrent major depressive disorder completed an Affective Go/No Go and a Verbal Fluency task. Parents and adolescents underwent psychiatric interviews. ResultsIn the presence of a current parental depressive episode in the parent, adolescents with better inhibitory control and mental flexibility had fewer depressive symptoms after controlling for age, gender and IQ. LimitationsParticipants were the offspring of depressed parents and it is not clear whether the protective effects of executive functioning observed here would generalise to other populations. ConclusionsExecutive functions may protect against adolescent depression in the presence of a parental depressive episode. It may be beneficial to target executive functions in preventive programs for individuals at high-risk for depression.

Highlights

Parental depression has been identified as a major risk factor for depression in childhood and adolescence with children of depressed parents three to four times more likely to develop depression than offspring of non-depressed parents (Garber, 2006; Rice and Rawal, 2010; Weissman et al, 1997)
In order to address this gap in the literature, we aimed to examine the protective effect of executive functioning in a high risk sample of adolescent offspring of parents with a history of recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD)
High factor loadings of individual measures as well as distributive properties and theoretical understanding of the construction of executive functioning (Suchy, 2009) were the criteria used to select measures tapping unique aspects of executive functioning for analysis. This resulted in one measure of inhibitory control errors i.e. failure to inhibit an inappropriate behavioural response to a distractor and two measures tapping separate aspects of mental flexibility i.e. mental generativity and shifting costs

Summary

Introduction

Parental depression has been identified as a major risk factor for depression in childhood and adolescence with children of depressed parents three to four times more likely to develop depression than offspring of non-depressed parents (Garber, 2006; Rice and Rawal, 2010; Weissman et al, 1997). Exposure to a current parental episode may serve as a salient risk factor among those at familial risk of depression This evidence, taken together with the long-term adverse consequences of depression in childhood and adolescence Offspring of parents with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and especially those exposed to a current episode of parental depression have been found to be at increased risk for developing depression themselves. Exposure to a current parental depressive episode reduces the efficacy of interventions in high risk or depressed adolescents This highlights the need to identify protective factors for adolescents exposed to a current parental depressive episode. It may be beneficial to target executive functions in preventive programs for individuals at high-risk for depression

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Conclusion