Abstract
Children of depressed parents are at heightened risk for developing depression, yet relatively little is known about the specific mechanisms responsible. Since preventive interventions for this risk group show small effects which diminish overtime, it is crucial to uncover the key risk factors for depression. This study compared various potential mechanisms in children of depressed (high-risk; n = 74) versus non-depressed (low-risk; n = 37) parents and explored mediators of parental depression and risk in offspring. A German sample of N = 111 boys and girls aged 8 to 17 years were compared regarding children’s (i) symptoms of depression and general psychopathology, (ii) emotion regulation strategies, (iii) attributional style, (iv) perceived parenting style and (v) life events. Children in the high-risk group showed significantly more symptoms of depression and general psychopathology, less adaptive emotion regulation strategies, fewer positive life events and fewer positive parenting strategies in comparison with the low-risk group. Group differences in positive and negative attributional style were small and not statistically significant in a MANOVA test. Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and negative life events were identified as partial mediators of the association between parental depression and children’s risk of depression. The study highlights the elevated risk of depression in children of depressed parents and provides empirical support for existing models of the mechanisms underlying transmission. Interestingly, the high-risk group was characterised by a lack of protective rather than increased vulnerability factors. These results are crucial for developing more effective preventive interventions for this high-risk population.
Highlights
Children of Parents with DepressionDepression is one of the most common psychiatric illness causing great personal and economic burden for individuals, families, and society [1, 2]
Children of depressed parents have an increased risk of developing depression [5], which might be due to deficits in emotion regulation, cognitive vulnerability, negative parenting style, and stressful life events [9]
Identifying the mechanisms of risk is of clinical importance since deficits in cognitive, emotion regulation and parenting skills can be targeted in preventive interventions and buffer the impact of negative life events that are highly prevalent in this high risk group [53, 54]
Summary
Depression is one of the most common psychiatric illness causing great personal and economic burden for individuals, families, and society [1, 2]. One of the biggest risk factors for developing depression is having a parent suffering from depression [3, 4]. Offspring of depressed parents are three to four times more likely to develop a depressive disorder than children of non-depressed parents [5] and familial depression even has an impact on the third generation-affecting 59.2% of grandchildren (mean age 12 years) [6]. Children of depressed parents are more likely to experience more severe and continuous courses of depression [7]. Collishaw et al [8] identified one-fifth of the offspring of parents with depression to be in good mental. Identifying the potential mechanisms underlying this risk is crucial in order to increase resilience in children at risk
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
