Family Environment and Pediatric Major Depressive Disorder

Background: The risks for depression broadly include biological and environmental factors. Furthermore, having a family member suffering from major depression is also likely to have consequences for the family environment. Further research aimed at understanding the effects of having a child with major depression on family interaction patterns is warranted. Methods: We studied 31 families with an 8to 17-year-old child (mean age 8 SD = 12.9 8 2.7 years) who met the DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) and 34 families with no mentally ill children (mean age 8 SD = 12.6 8 2.9 years) or parents. Children and their parents were assessed with the K-SADS-PL (Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia – Present and Lifetime Version) interview. Parents completed the Moos Family Environment Scale (FES) to assess their perceptions of current family functioning. Data were analyzed using the nonparametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. Results: Families of MDD children showed significantly different patterns of family functioning on FES subscales representing relationReceived: November 4, 2008 Accepted after revision: February 16, 2010 Published online: July 28, 2010 Jair C. Soares, MD UT Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UT Houston Medical School 1941 East Road, Houston, TX 77054 (USA) Tel. +1 713 486 2507, Fax +1 713 486 2553, E-Mail jair.c.soares @ uth.tmc.edu © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel 0254–4962/10/0435–0312$26.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/psp A preliminary version of this work was previously presented at the Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting in May 2007, and the abstract was published in Biology Psychiatry (2007;61:94S–95S).