Family-genetic findings in child and adolescent depressive disorders

Abstract

Over the past decade there has been increasing interest in family-genetic aspects of juvenile depressive disorders. This interest arises both because early onset of adult depression is associated with an increased familial loading of the disorder and because the children of depressed parents have been found to have increased rates of depression. This paper reviews recent controlled studies in the field. Substantive findings will be highlighted, along with conceptual and methodological issues that arise when applying family-genetic methods to the study of psychopathology in children. The main challenges for the future concern the need to differentiate specific from non-specific effects of parental depressive disorder, to differentiate varieties of parental and child psychopathology, to consider genetic as well as environmental transmission, and to investigate the mechanisms involved in individual differences in children's responses.