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It seems the children of depressed Americans are at ‘high risk’ of a
variety of mental illnesses. [1] In London, this has been known for many
years, [2] [3] but the key pathway to illness in the offspring of
depressed mothers has been the child’s experience of physical or sexual
abuse in the parental home, especially by a (non-depressed) stepfather.
Unipolar depression by itself is not ‘passed from generation to
generation’. [1] Sadly, the source paper in the American Journal of
Psychiatry [4] does not cite any of these UK studies (although the
Editorial in the same issue cites a relevant book chapter by George Brown
on relationship factors).
Perhaps the dominant, simplifying culture of Bush’s America dislikes
what that President calls ‘nuances’. In England, where Education plays a
central role in Every Child Matters and so in ‘safeguarding’ children, the
Education and Skills Select Committee have been listening to research
evidence on the subtle but vital consequences of all family relationships,
for child development. [5]
[1] bmjupdates+ The children of depressed parents have a persistently
high risk of mental illness. BMJ 2006; 333: 0.
[2] Andrews B, Brown GW, Creasey L. Intergenerational links between
psychiatric disorder in mothers and daughters: the role of parenting
experiences. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 1990; 31: 1115-29.
[3] Bifulco A, Moran PM, Ball C, Jacobs C, Baines R, Bunn A, Cavaglin
J. Childhood adversity, parental vulnerability and disorder: examining
inter-generational transmission of risk. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry 2002; 43: 1075-86.
[4] Weissman MW, Wickramaratne R, Nomura Y, Warner V, Pilowsky D,
Verdeli H. American Journal of Psychiatry 2006; 163: 1001-1008.
Depression or malign parenting – what is the key antecedent of mental illness in young people?
It seems the children of depressed Americans are at ‘high risk’ of a
variety of mental illnesses. [1] In London, this has been known for many
years, [2] [3] but the key pathway to illness in the offspring of
depressed mothers has been the child’s experience of physical or sexual
abuse in the parental home, especially by a (non-depressed) stepfather.
Unipolar depression by itself is not ‘passed from generation to
generation’. [1] Sadly, the source paper in the American Journal of
Psychiatry [4] does not cite any of these UK studies (although the
Editorial in the same issue cites a relevant book chapter by George Brown
on relationship factors).
Perhaps the dominant, simplifying culture of Bush’s America dislikes
what that President calls ‘nuances’. In England, where Education plays a
central role in Every Child Matters and so in ‘safeguarding’ children, the
Education and Skills Select Committee have been listening to research
evidence on the subtle but vital consequences of all family relationships,
for child development. [5]
[1] bmjupdates+ The children of depressed parents have a persistently
high risk of mental illness. BMJ 2006; 333: 0.
[2] Andrews B, Brown GW, Creasey L. Intergenerational links between
psychiatric disorder in mothers and daughters: the role of parenting
experiences. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 1990; 31: 1115-29.
[3] Bifulco A, Moran PM, Ball C, Jacobs C, Baines R, Bunn A, Cavaglin
J. Childhood adversity, parental vulnerability and disorder: examining
inter-generational transmission of risk. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry 2002; 43: 1075-86.
[4] Weissman MW, Wickramaratne R, Nomura Y, Warner V, Pilowsky D,
Verdeli H. American Journal of Psychiatry 2006; 163: 1001-1008.
[5] Cassidy S. Troubled marriages hold back pupils. The Independent
13 July 2006 http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article1174106.ece
(accessed 22/07/06)
Competing interests:
Member of a Parenting special interest group
Competing interests: No competing interests