Remissions in Maternal Depression and Child Psychopathology

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Abstract
Parental depression is among the most consistent and well-replicated risk factors for childhood anxiety and disruptive behavior disorders and for major depressive disorder, with more than a 2- to 3-fold increased risk in offspring of depressed parents compared with controls. These offspring problems often begin before puberty, continue into adolescence and adulthood, and can be transmitted to the next generation.1 The long-term morbidity includes impaired social and occupational functioning and increased risk of medical problems as the offspring mature.2 Treatment of these childhood disorders is controversial and is based on a limited number of controlled clinical trials.3 In contrast, for adults there is considerable evidence for the efficacy of a variety of pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies for depression. Although early onset major depression is highly familial and has a strong genetic component,4-6 environmental factors, such as disrupted parent-child attachment and poor parent-child bonding, may mediate the impact of parental depression on children's symptoms.7,8