

Depression linked in mothers, teenage kids - Scramblejams
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/09/us-depression-mothers-idUSBRE99814I20131009

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Scramblejams
The title doesn't quite show how interesting this is. The cited study links
depression experienced by the mother while she's pregnant with the later
development of depression by that child as a teenager, ostensibly while
controlling for the role played by any continued depression experienced by the
mother while raising the child.

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nostrademons
Does it control for genetics? Depression is known to have a large genetic
component (if you have a family history on either side, you're much more
likely to develop it), and so that would be the logical first explanation that
I'd reach for. The article mentioned it briefly in one paragraph but then
glossed over it and played up the stress hormone angle, which to me seems much
less plausible than common genetics.

The way you could tease out this effect is to compare mothers who were
depressed at other points of their life - before they had kids, for example -
vs. ones that were depressed while pregnant, and see if there is an
appreciable difference in incidence of depression in their children.

