Child and Parental Depression

Paper Summary:

This paper examines to what extent parents who suffer from depression pass this illness onto their children. To put it another way, the paper discusses whether parents that are suffering from depression are ultimately responsible - in a way other environmental factors are not - for the development of depression in their children. The paper concludes that while depression in children cannot be wholly linked to depression in their mothers and fathers it would seem that the confluence of genetic predisposition, parental neglect, and parental actions of the most negative sort (angry outburst, recriminatory behavior) conspire to make these children especially vulnerable to one of the cruelest of all mental illnesses.

Outline:
Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology
Results/Data
Discussion

From the Paper:

"A much more recent study confirms the general conclusions of Orvaschel insofar as it illuminates the troubling psychic burdens shouldered by the sons and daughters of clinically depressed parents. To wit, Alpert et al (2003) found that depressed parents suffering from "anger attacks" also tended to produce offspring given over to lower social and school competency scale scores and to higher levels of delinquency, aggressive behavior and attention problems. Additionally, Alpert and his team of researchers found that the children of depressed parents engaging in intermittent angry outbursts were more likely to have an elevated T score - a "global measure" of psychopathology. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alpert, Jonathan E., Petersen, Timothy, Roffi, Pamela A., Papakostas, George I., Freed, Rachel, Smith, et al. (2003). Behavioral and emotional disturbances in the offspring of depressed parents with anger attacks. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 72(2): 102-106.
• Beardslee, William R., Gladstone, Tracy R.G., Wright, Ellen J., and Cooper, Andrew B. (2003). A family-based approach to the prevention of depressive symptoms in children at risk: Evidence of parental and child change. Pediatrics, 112(2): 119-131.
• Billings, A.G. (1986). Children of parents with unipolar depression: A controlled 1-year follow-up. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 14(1): 149-166.
• Billings, A.G. (1983). Comparisons of children in depressed and non-depressed parents: A socio-environmental perspective. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11(4): 463-485.
• Cole, D.A. (1986). Family interaction patterns and childhood depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 14(2): 297-314.

More papers on Child and Parental Depression:

• Term Paper # 132961 : "Child and Parental Depression"
• Research Paper # 52655 : "Child Abuse and Depression in Latino Children"
• Term Paper # 103546 : "Coping With a Disabled Child"

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