NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? Kids with depressed dads are more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems than those whose fathers don't have the blues, according to a new study of more than 20,000 families.
"We've known for a long time that depression in mothers is associated with increased risk in kids -- I don't think there's any doubt about that. It's been less clear in fathers," said Jeremy Pettit, a psychologist from Florida International University in Miami who wasn't involved in the new research.
"We're in a position now to say, 'Yes, this confirms what we've suspected all along,'" he told Reuters Health.
Kids were most likely to have behavioral problems when both parents felt down, researchers reported Monday in the journal Pediatrics. The findings, they say, point to the need for pediatricians and schools to be aware of depression in dads -- and not just depressed moms -- and the potential consequences in kids.
"In the big picture of caring about our children and trying to do whatever is best to help them achieve the highest potential...clearly fathers are not regularly thought of," said Dr. Michael Weitzman, one of the study's authors from the New York University School of Medicine.
He pointed out that concern about depressed dads is especially important at a time when many parents are out of work and struggling to support their families and many others are returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with emotional wounds.
Weitzman and his colleagues used data from a national study that included home interviews with 21,993 families, all of which had a kid between the ages of five and 17 and both a mother and father living at home.
At each interview, either the mom or dad answered questions about depression symptoms in both parents, as well as how much trouble kids had getting along with the parents or other kids and behaving at home and at school.
Neither moms nor dads had symptoms in almost nine of every ten families, and only six percent of kids had high scores of emotional and behavioral problems when that was the case.
Eleven percent of kids with a depressed dad had problems at home or at school, however. And in those whose mom felt down, the number grew to 19 percent.
With two depressed parents, as many as one in four kids struggled emotionally and behaviorally.
The study doesn't prove that parents' mood rubs off on their kids, the researchers said. For example, it could be that moms and dads are more likely to become depressed when their kids have these problems.
Still, it seems likely that having a depressed parent has consequences for kids, they added.
"Parents who are depressed tend to engage less with their children, tend to display less positive behaviors, and display more harsh, negative and critical behaviors," Pettit said.
There isn't clear evidence that treating depression in parents will cut down on their kid's problems, he added, but "recognizing it when it's there and seeking out treatment for it is the best possible approach we can have."
One of the main takeaways for Weitzman is how infrequently researchers have looked into the impact of depression in dads -- and then, only in small reports. By contrast, they have been piling up data on how having a depressed mom is linked to behavioral and emotional problems.
"None of our findings were in any way contradictory to what we expected to find," he told Reuters Health. "However, I think the most remarkable thing about this paper is that nobody has thought to study this before."
What's more, Weitzman said, "Nobody has thought to try to organize health services to identify and to help fathers who are depressed."
For now, he said, pre-school programs, schools and primary care doctors should all be on the look-out for depression in dads -- while realizing that the majority of kids with depressed parents still do okay.
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