Subclinical Parental Depression: A Predictor of Offspring Depression and Substance Use?

Introduction: Research has shown that parental depression can increase the likelihood of internalizing and externalizing behavior in their offspring. It is unclear; however, if a threshold effect exists, in that subclinical levels of parental depression can also increase the risk of impairment in offspring. We hypothesized that subclinical parental depression would increase the risk of subclinical depression, anxiety as well as drug and alcohol use of offspring during adolescence and substance use disorder in adulthood.

Methods:The sample consisted of male (n=157) and female (n=70) subjects who were prospectively assessed at ages 10-12, 16, 19 and 22, as part of the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research (CEDAR) project. Parents in this sample had no lifetime substance use disorder (SUD) or psychiatric disorder at study entry. Subclinical depression for parents and subjects was determined through a diagnostic interview, and included 1-4 Major Depressive Disorder symptoms present for at least 2 days based on DSM-IV criteria. Subjects and parents meeting full DSM-IV criteria for Major Depressive Disorder were not included in the sample. Child’s anxiety was determined by 1-7 symptoms of Overanxious Disorder from the DSM-III-R. Alcohol and drug use was measured by self-reported use of alcohol or any illicit substances at age 16. SUD diagnosis at age 22 was based on DSM-IV criteria. The relationships among the variables were examined using path analysis.

Results: Preliminary results indicate that parents’ symptom count were highly correlated (p<.01). A direct path between paternal subclinical depression and child’s subclinical depression at age 10-12 as well as age 16 (p=.031) and a direct path between maternal subclinical depression and child’s subclinical depression at age 10-12 and age 16 (p=.020) was also found. There was no direct or mediated relationship between parental subclinical depression and drug or alcohol use at age 16 or SUD at age 22.

Conclusions: Research examining the role of subclinical parental depression in child and adult offspring development is lacking. Preliminary analysis indicates a relationship between parental subclinical depression and offspring subclinical depression during childhood and adolescence; however, no significant relationship was found between parental subclinical depression and offspring anxiety in childhood or offspring alcohol and drug use during adolescence or SUD in adulthood.