Maternal depression and anxiety predicts the pattern of offspring symptoms during their transition to adulthood.

• Autor(a) principal: Gonçalves, Helen
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Pearson, Rebecca M., Horta, Bernardo Lessa, González Chica, David Alejandro, Castilho, Euclides, Damiani, Magda Floriana, Lima, R. C., Gigante, Denise Petrucci, Barros, Fernando C., Stein, Alan, Victora, Cesar Gomes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFPel - Guaiaca
• Texto Completo: http://guaiaca.ufpel.edu.br/handle/prefix/5812; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715001956
• topic: Cohort study; Common mental disorder; Intergenerational; Mental health; Offspring

Background. Episodes of depression and anxiety (D&A) during the transition from late adolescence to adulthood, particularly when persistent, are predictive of long-term disorders and associated public health burden. Understanding risk factors at this time is important to guide intervention. The current objective was to investigate the associations between maternal symptoms of D&A with offspring symptoms during their transition to adulthood. Method. Data from a large population-based birth cohort study, in South Brazil, were used. Prospective associations between maternal D&A and offspring risk of these symptoms during the transition to adulthood (18/19, 24 and 30 years) were estimated. Results. Maternal D&A in adolescence was associated with offspring symptoms across the transition to adulthood, associations were consistently stronger for females than for males. Daughters whose mothers reported D&A were 4.6 times (95% confidence interval 2.71–7.84) as likely to report D&A at all three time-points, than daughters of symptom-free mothers. Conclusions. Maternal D&A is associated with persistent D&A during the daughter’s transition to adulthood. Intervention strategies should consider the mother’s mental health.