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The children of mothers who are successfully treated for depression have a markedly reduced risk of developing psychiatric disorders themselves, the research has found.
But a mother's continued depression increases her child's risk of such problems, the researchers said.
It is believed to be the first published research on the link between remission of a mother's depression and her child's mental health.
"If you have a depression mother, you ought to do everything you can to get her better, because there's a double effect," said study author Myrna Weissman, a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City.
"While depression may be a genetic disorder, it has a strong environmental component. And, for a child, a parent's illness is a very strong environmental effect. You want to reduce that effect so that you can have a beneficial effect on the child," Weissman said.
The study, conducted between December 2001 and April 2004, involved 151 mother-child pairs from eight primary care and 11 psychiatric outpatient clinics. The children were aged 7 to 17, and more than one-third came into the study with a psychiatric disorder, including depression, anxiety and disruptive behavior.
By the end of three months, about a third of the mothers saw their depression go into remission. Among their children, there was an 11 percent drop in rates of psychiatric diagnoses. But among children of mothers who were still depressed, there was an 8 percent rise in diagnoses.
The relationship between mothers' depression and children's diagnoses at the end of three months was similar whether or not the children had a diagnosis at the beginning of the study.
The study also highlights the impact of depression on the entire family. "We know that depression affects not just the person who is suffering but the whole family," according to the researchers. "It was so encouraging that if the women got better, the kids got better. Who doesn't want a well child?" Enditem
(Agencies)
