Mothers' depression and their children's attendance at medical facilities.

Data is presented from a longitudinal study examining the association between depression in mothers and the frequency with which medical services were used for their children. Children of depressed mothers were taken more often to their GPs and had more frequent hospital admissions than others. At various stages of the study they were more often prescribed certain forms of medication. Multiple hospital admissions were commoner in children whose mothers had evidence of more chronic depression.