In a new study, researchers found when parents suffer from depression, kids may be at risk for physical health problems in young adulthood.
The results revealed an association between parental depression and youth metabolic syndrome—a condition that forecasts substantially increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.
They also found that there were characteristics that served as protective factors.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Georgia and elsewhere.
Previous research has shown that exposure to negative childhood experiences—like poverty, maltreatment and mental illness in the family—can have a lasting influence on adult physical health, particularly chronic diseases associated with aging, including diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and some cancers.
This study focused on whether chronic exposure to parental depression across adolescence was predictive of youths’ later metabolic syndrome, a cluster of interrelated metabolic abnormalities that include high blood pressure and blood sugar.
The participants provided data in childhood (ages 11-18) and into young adulthood. At age 25, 391 participants agreed to take part in a blood draw to assess young adult metabolic syndrome.
The team’s analyses revealed that parental depression in adolescence was linked to a composite score reflecting components of metabolic syndrome in early adulthood.
They also found two factors that moderated this association: self-regulation—the ability to regulate and control attention, emotions, and behavior—and a lack of unhealthy behaviors involving factors like diet, exercise, sleep, and substance use.
But for youths with low self-regulation and two or more unhealthy behaviors—e.g., unhealthy diet and poor sleep—more exposure to parental depression was linked to components of metabolic syndrome at age 25.
The team says it’s not just parental depression—it’s a parental depression in the context of low self-regulation and unhealthy behaviors. All three variables are important.
While the findings suggest that parental depressive symptoms were linked to a higher composite score for metabolic syndrome, there’s still hope for individuals who are just starting to show these warning signs of poor health.
Factors that make up the metabolic syndrome composite are modifiable and can change in response to changes in diet, exercise, sleep and other aspects of self-care.
The lead author of the study is Katherine Ehrlich, an assistant professor of psychology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
The study is published in the journal Child Development.
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