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Parental Depression as a Moderator of Secondary Deficits of Depression in Adult Offspring

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Abstract

This study examined whether having a depressed parent intensifies the secondary deficits that often co-occur with offspring’s depression symptoms. The sample was adult offspring of parents who had been diagnosed with depression 23 years earlier (N = 143) and demographically matched nondepressed parents (N = 197). Respondents completed mailed questionnaires. After controlling for demographic factors, offspring who were more depressed experienced more impairment: physical dysfunction, pain, and disability; anxiety, smoking, and drinking-related problems; poorer social resources; negative events and severe stressors; and reliance on emotional discharge coping. Parental status (depressed or not depressed) was not directly related to offspring impairment once offspring depression symptoms were controlled. However, parental status moderated associations between offspring’s depression severity and their impairment: relationships between depression and impairments were generally stronger for offspring of depressed parents than for offspring of nondepressed parents. Depressed individuals who are offspring of depressed parents may be at particular risk for the secondary deficits of depression.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Eli Lilly and Company and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development (Health Services Research and Development Service). We thank Akash Desai for help with manuscript preparation. The views expressed here are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health Care Evaluation, Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System (152-MPD), 795 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA

    Christine Timko, Ruth C. Cronkite, Anne Sutkowi & Rudolf H. Moos

  2. Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Christine Timko, Ruth C. Cronkite, Anne Sutkowi & Rudolf H. Moos

  3. Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Ralph Swindle & Rebecca L. Robinson

Authors
  1. Christine Timko
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  2. Ruth C. Cronkite
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  3. Ralph Swindle
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  4. Rebecca L. Robinson
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  5. Anne Sutkowi
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  6. Rudolf H. Moos
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Correspondence to Christine Timko.

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Timko, C., Cronkite, R.C., Swindle, R. et al. Parental Depression as a Moderator of Secondary Deficits of Depression in Adult Offspring. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 40, 575–588 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-009-0145-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-009-0145-x

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