Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2023 Aug;64(8):1149-1158. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13699. Epub 2022 Sep 12.
Maternal depression is a major determinant of offspring mental health. Yet, little is understood about how the duration and timing of maternal depression shapes youth risk for depressive symptoms, which if understood could inform when best to intervene. This study aimed to determine how the timing and duration of maternal depression was related to offspring depression in emerging adulthood, and if these associations varied by sex.
We analysed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (a prenatal cohort in the Avon area of England, 1991-2003), n = 3,301. We applied the structured lifecourse modelling approach to maternal depression (assessed at 13 points from prenatal period to adolescence) and emerging adult depressive symptoms (age 21). Lifecourse models assessed were accumulation (sum of timepoints when maternal depression was reported), sensitive periods (each period assessed as one during which maternal depression has a stronger effect) and instability (frequent fluctuations in maternal depression).
Female adolescents (n = 2,132) had higher SMFQ scores (mean = 6.15, SD = 5.90) than males (n = 1,169, mean = 4.87, SD = 4.82). Maternal depression was most common in the infancy period (21.2% males; 21.4% females). For males, accumulation was the most appropriate lifecourse model; for each additional period of maternal depression, depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood increased by 0.11 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.15, one-sided p value ≤ .001). For females, exposure to maternal depression was associated with increasing depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood, with the largest effect in mid-childhood (increase of 0.27 units, 95% CI 0.03-0.50, p = .015 for difference between mid-childhood and other time-periods) and a smaller, equal effect at all other time-periods (increase of 0.07 units per time-period, 95% CI: 0.03-0.12, p = .002).
This study highlights the importance of ongoing maternal depression for the development of depression in offspring through to emerging adulthood. Because long-term exposure to maternal depression was particularly important, early interventions are warranted.
母亲的抑郁是影响子女心理健康的一个主要决定因素。然而，人们对母亲抑郁的持续时间和时间如何影响青年患抑郁症状的风险知之甚少，如果能够了解这些，就可以知道何时进行干预最佳。本研究旨在确定母亲抑郁的时间和持续时间与成年早期子女抑郁之间的关系，以及这些关联是否因性别而异。
我们分析了来自阿冯纵向父母和儿童研究（英格兰阿冯地区的一项产前队列研究，1991-2003 年）的数据，n=3301。我们应用结构化生命历程模型方法来评估母亲抑郁（从产前到青春期共评估 13 个时间点）和成年早期抑郁症状（21 岁）。评估的生命历程模型包括积累（报告母亲抑郁的时间点的总和）、敏感期（每个时期评估为一个时期，在此期间母亲抑郁的影响更强）和不稳定性（母亲抑郁频繁波动）。
女性青少年（n=2132）的 SMFQ 评分（平均值=6.15，标准差=5.90）高于男性（n=1169，平均值=4.87，标准差=4.82）。男性和女性中，婴儿期（21.2%；21.4%）最常见的是母亲抑郁。对于男性，积累是最合适的生命历程模型；每增加一个母亲抑郁期，成年早期的抑郁症状就会增加 0.11（95%CI：0.07，0.15，单侧 p 值≤.001）。对于女性，暴露于母亲的抑郁与成年早期抑郁症状的增加有关，在儿童中期的影响最大（增加 0.27 个单位，95%CI 0.03-0.50，p=.015 比较儿童中期与其他时期），在所有其他时期的影响较小且相等（每个时期增加 0.07 个单位，95%CI：0.03-0.12，p=.002）。
本研究强调了母亲抑郁对子女成年早期发展为抑郁的持续影响。由于长期暴露于母亲的抑郁尤其重要，因此需要早期干预。
