Gaps in Knowledge About Effects of Parental Depression on Children Reflect Need for Change in U.S. Healthcare System

A recent report from the Institute of Medicine found that while parental depression is widespread in the U.S., there is a notable lack of strategy in the healthcare system for treating the depressed adults along with preventing problems in their children. The report found little systematic examination of depression in parents, noting that most existing research focuses on the role of the mother, with little data available regarding fathers.

The Institute estimates that there are 7.5 million parents in the U.S. suffering from depression. These depressed parents, furthermore, are responsible for taking care of approximately 16 million children under the age of 18.

Depression is usually addressed as a disorder affecting individuals, but little attention is paid to how depression affects the family and family interactions, particularly if the depressed individual is a parent. “Parental depression can result in a withdrawn, detached parenting style that interferes with attachment and harms the child's physical, psychological, and social development. It can also disrupt the structure and routine that provide a framework for young lives and is associated with poorer physical health in children. Depression is often accompanied by other physical or psychological comorbidities, most prominently anxiety or substance abuse, often worsening outcomes for affected families,” says Mary Jane England, former president of the American Psychological Association.

England proposes that “the remedy lies in comprehensive, multigenerational, family-centered care that will not only identify and treat parents with depression, but also help them improve their parenting skills, and provide support for their children.”

This will take time to implement, given current healthcare policy. Many restrictions in Medicaid exist that deter depressed parents from seeking and receiving appropriate treatment for their condition, such as low reimbursement rates and a restricted range of eligible providers. Widespread change is necessary, from wider recognition of the problem, to increased research into risk and protective factors, to collaborative training programs for healthcare professionals to create better family-oriented service.

For the full article, please visit http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/44/13/1-a

This Independence day celebrate your kids' independence...

...it may help protect them from depression in adulthood. Studies have found that overprotective parenting is associated with depression in adulthood (Parker, 1979, Oakly-Browne, Joyce, Wells, Bushnell, & Hornblow, 1995; Rey, 1995 cited in Yoshizumi et al., 2007 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V9F-4N27631-2&_user=18704&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=946509490&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000002018&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=18704&md5=cc79797f5eccfefb499bb3ef52248e93).
It seems a perfect endorsement of the values espoused by the founders of this nation, who when asserting our independence 233 years ago this July 4th, were quick to link it with the pursuit of happiness. (Photo below taken from http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/assets/0/78/315/355/455/457/469/473/5c50b94f-999b-4e72-b3d1-15b165c10c57.jpg)