Regardless Of Genetic Relationship, Fathers and Children’s Depression Is Linked- A Study

An Overview

Whether fathers and children are genetically related or not, recent research from Penn State and Michigan State suggests that adolescent depression, rising behavioural issues, and paternal despair can all contribute to this rise. In 720 families that took part in the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development (NEAD) study, more than half of which had foster parents, researchers observed natural diversity in the genetic link between parents and adolescent offspring. Let us make a sense on why Fathers and Children’s Depression is Linked. Take a look. Read: Flu vaccination is associated with a 40% lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease

According to Jenae Neiderhiser, a professor of psychology, human development, and family studies at Penn State who was awarded funding from the Social Science Study Institute, “a lot of research focuses on depression among biologically related families.” “Foster families and mixed families now have access to additional information.”

What is research saying?

Each parent, child, and child answered questionnaires to assess behaviours, parent-child conflict, and depression symptoms. The researchers then used a number of models to investigate the relationship between father depressed symptoms and child behavioural symptoms.

Regardless of whether their dads and children were genetically related, Neiderhiser and Alex Burt, professors of clinical science at Michigan State, discovered paternal depression was linked to teenage depression and adolescent behaviour issues.

Burt, who has worked on projects with Neiderhiser since the early 2000s, stated that the findings “speak clearly to the environmental transmission of sadness and behaviours between dads and children.” biologically connected to only one of the two children who took part, which is a crucial confirmation of our findings for one child. Additionally, we discovered that a lot of these factors appear to be a result of parent-child conflict. Add to the evidence that parent-child conflict influences adolescent behaviour in the environment. Read Also: Inclusive Mental Health: Filling the Gap in Male Mental Healthcare

According to the scientist

Neiderhiser claims that while the results are anticipated, they also anticipate that the consequences on children’s behaviour and sadness would be more pronounced in parent-child genetically-related pairs.

He suggested conducting further research on step- and mixed-family households. Natural experiments are frequently underutilised as a means of teaching us more than just how to lessen the effects of hereditary and environmental influences on families.

Finally,

Each parent, child, and child answered questionnaires to assess behaviours, parent-child conflict, and depression symptoms. The researchers then used a number of models to investigate the relationship between child behavioural problems and symptoms of paternal depression.

In the journal Development and Psychopathology, the article is published.

The National Institute of Mental Health and the William T. Grant Foundation both contributed funding to this endeavour.