William Atkins
Saturday, 18 October 2008 20:43
Science -
Health
Page 2 of 3
All of the Asian children had been adopted by Caucasian parents from Minnesota and all of the non-adopted children came from parents living in Minnesota.
At least one parent from each child was involved in the study. Almost all of the adoptions occurred before the age of one year.
The Tully-led research interviewed parents and teenagers with respect to past and current symptoms of depression and other related psychological conditions.
Specifically, according to the abstract of their paper,
"Clinical interviews with parents and
adolescents were used to determine lifetime DSM-IV-TR diagnoses of
major depressive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct
disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and
substance use disorders in adolescents and major depression in mothers
and fathers."
And,
"Effects of parental depression (either parent with major
depression, maternal major depression, and paternal major depression)
on adolescent psychopathology were tested in nonadopted and adopted
adolescents separately, and interactive effects of parental depression
and adoption status were tested."
Their conclusion stated that a depressed mother substantially increased the likelihood of passing on depression in these children—whether they have been adopted or not.
Their conclusions follow on page three.
