Children of a cohort of depressed patients 25 years later: psychopathology and relationships

Background: While many studies have examined cross-sectional or short-term effects of parental depression on children, few have studied such children many years later when they reach adulthood. It was hypothesised that children of patients hospitalised for depression 25 years ago would have more psychological morbidity and relationship difficulties than children of a surgical comparison group. Method: Children (n=94) of depressed patients and a surgical control group (n=31) admitted to a teaching hospital 25 years ago were compared on measures of psychiatric morbidity, personality, marital and family relationships. Results: Compared with control children, children of depressed patients demonstrated trends for higher rates of non-phobic anxiety and substance disorders, but neither psychological morbidity overall nor affective disorder specifically. Compared with control children, children of depressed patients rated their relationships with fathers who were spouses of female patients more negatively. Having consciously tried to make their own intimate relationships different from that of their parents, children of depressed patients and their partners reported significantly more caring in their relationships compared with control children and their partners. Conclusion: In this study of the effects of parental depression on children 25 years on, adult children of depressed patients demonstrated significant resilience as evidenced by similar rates of overall psychiatric morbidity and quality of intimate relationships to controls. They may be at risk for specific disorders such as anxiety and substance disorder and have problematic relationships with the “well” spouses of depressed patients particularly if the “well” spouse is their father.