Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Psychol Med. 2012 May;42(5):931-42. doi: 10.1017/S0033291711001978. Epub 2011 Sep 28.
Children of depressed mothers not only have higher risk of depression, but also may experience both elevated and continuing exposure to stressful experiences. The study tested hypotheses of the intergenerational transmission of stress and depression and examined the role of early childhood adversity and maternal depression in the interplay between youth depression and stress over 20 years.
In a longitudinal community study of 705 families selected for history or absence of maternal depression, mothers and youth were studied from pregnancy to age 5 years and at youth ages 15 and 20 years. Youth and maternal depression were assessed with diagnostic interviews, acute and chronic interview-based stress assessment in the youth and contemporaneous measures of childhood adversity obtained between pregnancy and youth age 5 years.
Regression analyses indicated evidence of intergenerational transmission and continuity of depression over time, continuity of acute and chronic stress and reciprocal predictive associations between depression and stress. Maternal depression and exposure to adversities by child's age 5 years contributed to the youth's continuing experiences of depression and stress. An overall path model was consistent with stress continuity and intergenerational transmission and highlighted the mediating role of age 15 youth chronic interpersonal stress.
Youth of depressed mothers are at risk not only for depression but also for continuing experiences of acute and chronic stress from childhood to age 20. The associations among depression and stress are bidirectional and portend continuing experiences of depression and further stress.
抑郁母亲的孩子不仅患抑郁症的风险更高，而且可能会经历压力体验的增加和持续暴露。本研究检验了压力和抑郁代际传递的假设，并考察了童年逆境和母亲抑郁在青年抑郁和 20 多年来压力相互作用中的作用。
在一项针对有或无母亲抑郁史的 705 个家庭的纵向社区研究中，从怀孕到 5 岁以及在青年 15 岁和 20 岁时对母亲和青年进行了研究。通过诊断访谈评估青年和母亲的抑郁情况，对青年进行急性和慢性基于访谈的压力评估，并在怀孕至青年 5 岁期间获得儿童期逆境的同期测量值。
回归分析表明，存在代际传递和抑郁随时间的连续性、急性和慢性压力的连续性以及抑郁和压力之间相互预测的关联的证据。母亲抑郁和孩子 5 岁时的逆境经历导致青年持续经历抑郁和压力。一个整体的路径模型与压力的连续性和代际传递一致，并突出了青年 15 岁慢性人际压力的中介作用。
抑郁母亲的孩子不仅容易患抑郁症，而且从儿童期到 20 岁还会持续经历急性和慢性压力。抑郁和压力之间的关联是双向的，并预示着持续的抑郁和进一步的压力体验。
