This overall aim is: (1) to understand the long-term nature and familial patterns of psychiatric and behavioral problems of offspring depressed parents from childhood, adolescence and through young adulthood using a high risk and a longitudinal design, (2) to understand the barriers to their seeking and receiving treatments, and (3) to determine the psychiatric status of the next generation (the grandchildren). The offspring are at high or low risk for major depression by virtue of their parents' depression or are from a matched control group drawn from a community sample. At the 10-year follow-up all offspring are adults. The data collection for the 10-year follow-up is complete. The data on barriers to treatment and the diagnostic status of grandchildren was funded in a special supplement and, therefore, began later than the original grant and will be complete 3/95. The response rates have been excellent. This renewal is to conduct data analysis and write-up of this complex data set.
The specific aims are to determine: 1) The differential long-term clinical, social, and treatment outcome of offspring at high and low risk for major depression. 2) Parent-offspring transmission of diagnoses. 3) The continuity between childhood and adult disorders in the same individual over time. 4) The long-term clinical course (incidence, recurrence, recovery) and comorbidity of the major psychiatric disorders in offspring. 5) The differential risk factors, including family history, onset, course and impairment in offspring. 6) The barriers to seeking and receiving treatment. 7) The differential outcome and early signs of depression in the next generation. This study will provide the first 10-year follow-up data on adult offspring grown up from vulnerable families. This study is unique in that the offspring and both parents were independently and blindly assessed using modern diagnostic criteria over time. Data on the third generation and on barriers to treatment are available. Findings highlight the serious course of illness and differential risk factors for onset in the offspring of depressed as compared to the nondepressed parents and the paucity of treatment in the offspring. We are interested in determining how the intergenerational cycle of depression may be broken, the obstacles to treatment, and differential periods or situations of risk for depression. These data will provide information critical for developing rational treatment and prevention strategies for offspring from high risk families.
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