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Familial transmission of depression and antisocial behavior symptoms: disentangling the contribution of inherited and environmental factors and testing the mediating role of parenting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2010

G. T. Harold ,
F. Rice ,
D. F. Hay ,
J. Boivin ,
M. van den Bree  and
A. Thapar
G. T. Harold*
Affiliation:
Centre for Research on Children and Families and Department of Psychology, University of Otago, New Zealand
F. Rice
Affiliation:
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, UK
D. F. Hay
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK
J. Boivin
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK
M. van den Bree
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section, Department of Psychological Medicine and Neurology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK
A. Thapar
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section, Department of Psychological Medicine and Neurology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Professor G. T. Harold, Centre for Research on Children and Families, University of Otago, Cnr. Forth and Union Streets, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Genetic and environmental influences on child psychopathology have been studied extensively through twin and adoption designs. We offer a novel methodology to examine genetic and environmental influences on the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology using a sample of parents and children conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Method

The sample included families with children born through IVF methods, who varied as to whether the child was genetically related or unrelated to the rearing mother and father (mother genetically related, n=434; mother genetically unrelated, n=127; father genetically related, n=403; father genetically unrelated, n=156). Using standardized questionnaires, mothers and fathers respectively reported on their own psychopathology (depression, aggression), their parenting behavior toward their child (warmth, hostility) and their child's psychopathology (depression, aggression). A cross-rater approach was used, where opposite parents reported on child symptoms (i.e. fathers reported on symptoms for the mother–child dyad, and vice versa).

Results

For mother–child dyads, a direct association between mother depression and child depression was observed among genetically unrelated dyads, whereas a fully mediated path was observed among genetically related dyads through mother-to-child hostility and warmth. For father–child dyads, direct and mediated pathways were observed for genetically related father–child dyads. For aggression, the direct association between parent aggression and child aggression was fully mediated by parent-to-child hostility for both groups, indicating the role of parent-to-child hostility as a risk mechanism for transmission.

Conclusions

A differential pattern of genetic and environmental mediation underlying the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology was observed among genetically related and genetically unrelated father–child and mother–child dyads.

Keywords

Antisocial behaviourdepressionintergenerational transmission
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 6 , June 2011 , pp. 1175 - 1185
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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