Table 1.
Studies That Isolate Environmental Effects of Parental Depression from Genetic Effects
| Studies | E (parental depression) | Child outcomes | Age of child | Findings on maternal depression | Findings on paternal depression |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adoption Studies | |||||
|
| |||||
| Tully et al. (2008) | AP MDD | MDD, ODD, CD, ADHD, SUD | 14 yrs | Main effect on MDD, ODD, and CD | Main effect on ADHD |
| Marmostein et al. (2012) | AP MDD | MDD, ND, AUD, CUD | 19 yrs | Main effect on MDD | ns |
| Eley et al. (1998) | Neuroticism | Anxious/depressive symptoms | 7–12 yrs | Main effect on maternal report of child symptoms | N/A |
| Leve et al. (2010) | AP Affective Dysregulation (depressive and anxiety symptoms) | Attention | 9 mo | Main effect G (BM externalizing problems) x E | ns |
| Natsuaki et al. (2010) | AP Depressive symptoms | Fussiness | 18 mo | Main effect | ns |
| Pemberton et al. (2010) | AP Depressive symptoms | EXT | 27 mo | Main effect | Main effect |
| Laurent et al. (2013b) | AP Depressive symptoms | INT and EXT | 18–54 mo | Main effect for INT E x cortisol for EXT |
E x Cortisol for EXT E x Cortisol for INT |
| Laurent et al. (2013a) | AP Depressive symptoms | Cortisol | 54 mo | E (AM depression) x E (AF depression) | |
| Kerr et al. (2013) | AM Depressive symptoms | INT and EXT | 18–54 mo | Main effect for INT and EXT at age 18 mo | N/A |
| Rhodes et al. (2011) | AP Depressive symptoms | Anger | 18 mo | ns | ns |
| Harold et al. (2011) | Depressive symptoms for parents genetically unrelated to the child | Depressive symptoms | 6 yrs | Main effect (not accounted for by parenting) | ns |
| Lewis et al. (2011) | Depressive symptoms for parents genetically unrelated to the child | Depressive symptoms | 6 yrs | Main effect (not accounted for by family-shared adversity | ns |
| Rice et al. (2010) | Postnatal exposure to maternal depressive/anxiety symptoms for parents genetically unrelated to the child | Anxiety symptoms | 4–10 | Main effect (also mediating the link between prenatal stress and child anxiety) | ns |
|
| |||||
| Children of Twins Studies | |||||
|
| |||||
| Silberg et al. (2010) | Depressive symptoms | Depressive symptoms | 14 yrs | Support for environmental transmission of depression (no distinction between maternal and paternal depression) | |
| Singh et al. (2011) | MDD | MDD | 25 yrs | Support for environmental transmission of depression (no distinction between maternal and paternal depression) | |
| Class et al. (2012) | Depressive symptoms | Self-competence | 16 yrs | Shared genetic explained the mother-offspring associations | The father-offspring associations independent of genetic or extended family-level factors |
Note. AP = adoptive parent(s); AM = adoptive mother; AF = adoptive father; BP = biological parent(s); E = environment; G = genetic influences; MDD = major depressive disorder; ODD = oppositional defiance disorder; CD = conduct disorder; ADHD = attention deficit disorder; SUD = substance use disorder; ND = nicotine dependence; AUD = alcohol use disorder; CUD = cannabis use disorder; INT = internalizing symptoms; EXT = externalizing symptoms.