Lessons From Research on the Developmental Psychopathology of Girls and Women

Abstract

This issue of the Journal features three important articles of direct relevance to readers interested in developmental psychopathology, intergenerational transmission of mental disorder, and female manifestations of both externalizing and internalizing conditions. In this commentary, I highlight several key themes related to the review by Gunlicks and Weissman 1 Gunlicks ML Weissman MM Change in child psychopathology with improvement in parental depression: a systematic review. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008; 47: 380-390 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (218) Google Scholar and the empirical investigations of Biederman and colleagues 2 Biederman J Ball SW Monuteaux MC et al. New insights into the comorbidity between ADHD and major depression in adolescent and young adult females. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008; 47: 427-435 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (201) Google Scholar and Pajer and colleagues. 3 Pajer K Chung J Leininger L et al. Neuropsychological function in adolescent girls with conduct disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008; 47: 417-426 Google Scholar In so doing, I hope to impart my excitement for many current directions in the study of child and adolescent psychopathology. At the same time, these papers highlight just how much remains to be learned about relevant processes and mechanisms that are responsible for the development, maintenance, and treatment of child and adolescent mental disorders. What are the main findings in these articles? First, Gunlicks and Weissman 1 Gunlicks ML Weissman MM Change in child psychopathology with improvement in parental depression: a systematic review. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008; 47: 380-390 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (218) Google Scholar reviewed a small but fascinating literature on the effects of treating parental (nearly always maternal) depression on the mental health and psychosocial status of their offspring. Although the existing literature is admittedly small, and not always methodologically sophisticated-for example, sometimes child outcomes were evaluated in terms of whether the parents received treatment rather than their actual response to it-the majority of investigations revealed that improvements in parental depression, from either medication or various forms of psychosocial therapy, were positively correlated with child gains (e.g., reductions in symptomatology, improvements in key areas of functioning). The one area in which positive findings were not firmly established-at least not with the few interventions to date that met the strict inclusion criteria for this review-pertained to treatment of postpartum depression in mothers with respect to gains in their infant children. For older children and adolescents, however, improvements in parental depression were associated with gains for their offspring.