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Cited by 27Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentMental Health Treatment and AccessFamily Support in Illness

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Enduring problems in the offspring of depressed parents followed up to 38 years

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Weissman, Myrna M., Talati, Ardesheer, Gameroff, Marc J., Pan, Lifang, Skipper, Jamie, Posner, Jonathan E., Wickramaratne, Priya J.·2021·eClinicalMedicine
DOI 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101000PMC PMC8283333
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: while the increased risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) in offspring of depressed parents is one of the best-replicated findings in psychiatry, their long-term outcomes are less well known. The clinical outcomes of biological offspring of depressed (high-risk) and not depressed (low-risk) parents who have been directly interviewed over the years are presented. METHODS: longitudinal retrospective cohort study began in 1982, and 276 biological offspring of moderately-to-severely depressed or non-depressed parents from the same community were followed up to 38 years. Rates of psychiatric disorders for offspring were collected by clinically trained interviewers. Final diagnoses were made by M.D. or Ph.D. clinicians. Mortality and cause of death were obtained from relatives and registries. FINDINGS: high- compared to low-risk offspring continue to have about a three-fold increased risk of MDD, increased rates of anxiety disorder, substance dependence, and poorer functioning over the life course. Adolescence and early adulthood remain prime age of first onsets. Within high-risk group only, the death rate due to unnatural causes, suicides and overdose was 4·97/100 in the offspring and 5·36/100 in their parents. This subsample of White, lower-educated, often unemployed persons, who died by unnatural causes are similar demographically to those described as having a recent increase in 'deaths of despair'. INTERPRETATION: family history of MDD continues to be a powerful predictor of clinical course and mortality and should be probed in clinical visits, especially in youth when depression usually first appears.

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  • Offspring of parents with psychiatric disorders are themselves at an increased risk of behavioral and psychiatric problems.

    “It is well-established in psychiatry that the offspring of parents with psychiatric disorders are themselves at an increased risk of behavioral and psychiatric problems [60,61].”

    From Biological Embedding of Early-Life Adversity and a Scoping Review of the Evidence for Intergenerational Epigenetic Transmission of Stress and Trauma in Humans (2023) · cites this paper as [61]

    The Introduction describes increased depression and other problems in offspring of depressed parents, and the Results report higher rates of several psychiatric disorders in that group. The claim extends this finding to parents with psychiatric disorders generally; this study compares offspring by parental depression status, not by psychiatric disorders broadly. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Increasing evidence suggests that stress and trauma experienced by one generation can be passed down and influence the health of subsequent generations.

    “Increasing evidence suggests the potential that stress and trauma experienced by one generation can be passed down and influence the health of the subsequent generation/s.”

    From Biological Embedding of Early-Life Adversity and a Scoping Review of the Evidence for Intergenerational Epigenetic Transmission of Stress and Trauma in Humans (2023) · cites this paper as [61]

    The Findings report higher rates of depression, anxiety, substance dependence, and poor functioning in offspring of depressed parents, supporting a narrower link between one generation’s mental health and the next generation’s outcomes. The paper does not establish that stress or trauma experienced by parents is passed down, or that it causes those outcomes in offspring. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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References 42 · Cited by 27

Research works printed but not linked: 34

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Metadata

Authors
Weissman, M. M., Talati, A., Gameroff, M. J., Pan, L., Skipper, J., Posner, J. E., & Wickramaratne, P. J.
Affiliations
Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Weissman, Myrna M.
ORCID
Venue
eClinicalMedicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-08
Volume
38
Pages
101000
ISSN
2589-5370 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101000
PMC
PMC8283333
OpenAlex
W3179039993
Cited by
27
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1
FWCI
2.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • EClinicalMedicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH-036,197)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family Support in Illness
Keywords
offspring of depressed parents, major depressive disorder, family history of depression, anxiety disorders, substance dependence, mortality, suicide, drug overdose, deaths of despair, genetic risk

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