depression in children

Does Stressed Dad = Depressed Children?

Stressed male

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Does Dad’s stress affect his unborn children? According to the results of a new study in Elsevier’s Biological Psychiatry, it seems the answer may be “yes, but it’s complicated”.

The risk of developing depression, which is significantly increased by exposure to chronic stress, is influenced by both environment and genetics. The interplay of these two factors is quite complex, but in fact, there is even a third factor that most of us know nothing about – epigenetics. Epigenetics is the science of changes in genetic expression that are not caused by actual changes in DNA sequencing. It is these mechanisms that have been the recent focus of intergenerational investigations into the transmission of stress vulnerability. [continue reading…]

depressed-child

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Research shows that about one in 10 children and adolescents suffer from an anxiety disorder. Further, about five to eight percent suffer from depression. Both these relatively common psychological disturbances have serious long term consequences for children and adolescents if left untreated.

While many parents seek help for their children, research has shown that not all of these children will receive competently administered treatment that is based on the latest research findings and clinical advances in the field. Unfortunately for parents, there is no way to know whether their therapist’s practice meets worldwide standards.

To address this problem, researchers Elizabeth Sburlati, Carolyn Schniering, Heidi Lyneham and Ronald Rapee from the University’s Centre for Emotional Health have now turned their attention to developing a standardised model of therapist competencies for treating children and adolescents with anxiety and depressive disorders.The researcher’s findings have recently been published online in the international journal Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. [continue reading…]