Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Nussbaumstraße 5a, 80336, Munich, Germany.
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich, Leopoldstraße 13, 80303, Munich, Germany.
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2020 Apr;51(2):294-309. doi: 10.1007/s10578-019-00930-4.
Children of depressed parents are at heightened risk for developing depression, yet relatively little is known about the specific mechanisms responsible. Since preventive interventions for this risk group show small effects which diminish overtime, it is crucial to uncover the key risk factors for depression. This study compared various potential mechanisms in children of depressed (high-risk; n = 74) versus non-depressed (low-risk; n = 37) parents and explored mediators of parental depression and risk in offspring. A German sample of N = 111 boys and girls aged 8 to 17 years were compared regarding children's (i) symptoms of depression and general psychopathology, (ii) emotion regulation strategies, (iii) attributional style, (iv) perceived parenting style and (v) life events. Children in the high-risk group showed significantly more symptoms of depression and general psychopathology, less adaptive emotion regulation strategies, fewer positive life events and fewer positive parenting strategies in comparison with the low-risk group. Group differences in positive and negative attributional style were small and not statistically significant in a MANOVA test. Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and negative life events were identified as partial mediators of the association between parental depression and children's risk of depression. The study highlights the elevated risk of depression in children of depressed parents and provides empirical support for existing models of the mechanisms underlying transmission. Interestingly, the high-risk group was characterised by a lack of protective rather than increased vulnerability factors. These results are crucial for developing more effective preventive interventions for this high-risk population.
父母患有抑郁症的儿童患抑郁症的风险增加，但对于导致这种风险的具体机制知之甚少。由于针对这一风险群体的预防干预效果较小，且随着时间的推移而减弱，因此揭示导致抑郁症的关键风险因素至关重要。本研究比较了患有抑郁症的父母（高风险组，n=74）和非抑郁症父母（低风险组，n=37）的儿童的各种潜在机制，并探讨了父母抑郁和风险在子女中的中介因素。对 111 名年龄在 8 至 17 岁的德国男孩和女孩进行了比较，比较了儿童的：（i）抑郁和一般精神病理学症状，（ii）情绪调节策略，（iii）归因风格，（iv）感知的父母教养方式和（v）生活事件。与低风险组相比，高风险组的儿童表现出更明显的抑郁和一般精神病理学症状、更少的适应性情绪调节策略、更少的积极生活事件和更少的积极父母教养方式。在 MANOVA 检验中，正性和负性归因风格的组间差异较小且无统计学意义。适应性差的情绪调节策略和消极的生活事件被确定为父母抑郁与儿童抑郁风险之间关联的部分中介因素。该研究强调了父母患有抑郁症的儿童患抑郁症的风险增加，并为现有机制模型提供了实证支持。有趣的是，高风险组的特点是缺乏保护因素而不是增加了脆弱性因素。这些结果对于为这一高风险人群开发更有效的预防干预措施至关重要。
