There is a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry, February, 2005 which reports that mothers with depression contribute to their children's behavior problems. This is not new information just confirming data on an old hypothesis. We also know that parents who have substance abuse problems will raise children who have a 40% greater chance of substance abuse problems themselves than children not raised under these conditions. Is it nature, or is it nurture, or is it both?
While there is no clear evidence that it is nature, scientists continue to look for biological markers that would confirm the genetic hypothesis. However, whether genes contribute to this finding or not, it is pretty clear that nurture contributes to it.
This study suggests that mothers of children being seen for behavioral problems also be screened for depression. I hope that this is not a return to the old "blame the mother" syndrome which was so prevalent in the 60s and 70s. It seems to me that if we are going to screen parents of children with behavioral problems for depression why not screen them for substance abuse problems, antisocial personality disorder, etc. And we should screen fathers too. Why stop with the mothers?
"Young children whose mothers suffer from depression are at greater risk of serious behavioral problems, and both "nurture" and "nature" seem to play a role, according to a new study.
Among more than 1,100 pairs of twins followed by UK researchers, those whose mothers developed depression after the birth were more likely than other children to show antisocial behavior -- including lying, stealing and physical aggression -- by the time they were 7 years old.
The risk was greatest among children whose mothers had both depression and a history of antisocial behavior themselves, according to findings published in the Archives of General Psychiatry."
Link: MedlinePlus: Mom's Depression Tied to Child's Behavior Problems.
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