Parents who are experiencing a bout of depression, mania or another disorder of mood are more likely to believe and report that their children are behaving psychopathologically, according to a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
A team of researchers mainly from the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine studied and surveyed 65 parents diagnosed with current depression, 42 parents diagnosed with current mania/hypomania, 181 parents diagnosed with a mood disorder in remission, and their 479 offspring aged 6–18 years.
They determined that the rates of psychopathology in the children were generally fairly similar across the groups. However, they found that “parents with current depression reported significantly more externalizing psychopathology in offspring” and “parents with current mania/hypomania reported more externalizing and internalizing psychopathology in their offspring” when compared to the rates reported by parents in remission states. In some cases, youth self-reporting of psychopathology also increased when their parents were currently experiencing mania/hypomania.
“Parental active mood symptomatology, especially during a manic/hypomanic episode, significantly affects their reports of their offspring’s psychopathology,” concluded the researchers. “Clinicians and studies assessing children’s psychopathology should take into account parental current mood state.”
The Effects of Parental Mood on Reports of Their Children’s Psychopathology (Maoz, Hagai et al. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. August 8, 2014 doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2014.07.005
That’s over seven children per parent.
Report comment
I wonder if some of the ‘parents’ are step-moms and step-dads?
Soccer games have between 3-4 ‘parents’ for many of the kids on the field.
Duane
Report comment
Oops,
Actually, the scheme I painted would take the math in the other direction – more parents, fewer kids.
Duane
Report comment
How do you get seven children per parent? I get 1.66 children per parent.
That this is even news seems odd, it seems more like basic common sense. Why is our society wasting money on this stuff?
Report comment
By miscalculating— my favorite way to get wrong answers.
Report comment
How about the kids and parents are more stressed and they act stressed what of course gets labelled as “symptom”. Or that parents get indoctrinated into mental illness is genetic blah blah and they project it onto kids?
Report comment