Depressive symptoms in adolescent girls at-risk for type 2 diabetes and their parents

ABSTRACT

Few studies have characterized the relation between parent’s depression symptoms and adolescent’s depression symptoms in adolescents at-risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D). We evaluated the associations of parental depression symptoms with the depression symptoms and metabolic functioning of adolescent offspring at-risk for T2D. One-hundred sixteen parents and adolescent girls with a family history of diabetes completed surveys of depression symptoms. Adolescents’ degree of metabolic risk for T2D was estimated from body mass index (BMI; kg/m²) standard score, percent adiposity from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan, and whole body insulin sensitivity index determined from glucose/insulin concentrations during a two-hour oral glucose tolerance test. Parents’ and adolescents’ depression symptoms were significantly associated, even after accounting for race/ethnicity, age, puberty, body composition, and parental diabetes/BMI. Adjusting for similar covariates, parent depression symptoms also were positively related to adolescents’ BMI standard score and had a trend-level association with adiposity. There was an inverse relation between parental depression symptoms and adolescent insulin sensitivity, which was entirely accounted for by adolescent body composition. The associations of parental depression symptoms with more elevated depression symptoms and higher BMI in adolescents at-risk for T2D has potential implications for interventions addressing these co-morbid health conditions.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• parents
• depression
• type 2 diabetes
• obesity

Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by K99HD069516 and R00HD069516 (LBS), NIH Intramural Research Program Grant 1ZIAHD000641 (JAY) from NICHD with supplemental funding from the NIH Bench to Bedside Program (LBS, MTK, JAY), Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (JAY), and the NIH Office of Disease Prevention (JAY). The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not to be construed as reflecting the views of DHHS, DoD, USUHS or the United States of America.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [1ZIAHD000641,K99HD069516,R00HD069516].