Mother鈥檚 education impacts depression in her children
Children of women who did not finish high school were twice as likely to experience a major episode of depression in early adulthood as children whose mothers obtained a high school diploma, according to a new study by researchers at 缅北强奸.
鈥淥ur research indicates that a mother's lack of high school education has a robust impact on her child鈥檚 risk of major depressive episode in early adulthood,鈥� said Am茅lie Quesnel-Vall茅e, senior author of the study. Indeed, the increased risk of depression among children of mothers with less than a high school education could not be attributed to parental history of depression, early life adversity or the children鈥檚 own education and income in early adulthood.聽
This study is the first in Canada to distinguish the impact of mother鈥檚 and father鈥檚 education on depression in early adulthood. The study employed a sample of 1,267 participants from Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey. The respondents were first interviewed in 1994, when they were between 12 and 24 years old, and living with their parents. They were then followed for 12 years, and their risk of major depressive episode was assessed when they were between 22 and 36 years old.
鈥淒epression in early adulthood strikes at a critical time.聽 An individual may be pursuing studies or apprenticeships, or starting a career or a family.聽 A disruption caused by depression can potentially derail these events and have lifelong consequences鈥�, says Quesnel-Vall茅e.
Interestingly, the father鈥檚 level of education had no impact. 鈥淭his, along with the fact that the effect of mother鈥檚 education was not explained by the children鈥檚 own education or income, suggests that mothers鈥� parenting skills may be at play here,鈥� according to Quesnel-Vall茅e.
鈥淓ducation gives people practical skills, such as communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as an increased sense of mastery鈥� says Alison Park, a researcher at the Institut National de Sant茅 Publique du Qu茅bec who worked on this research in the course of her Master鈥檚 degree under Quesnel-Vall茅e鈥檚 supervision.聽 鈥淎 better-educated mother might be more confident in coping with difficulties arising from child-rearing.聽 This increased confidence and feeling of self-mastery might serve as a model for her children.鈥�
The 缅北强奸 study "Life course socioeconomic position and major depression in Canada鈥� is published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.
The research is supported by a Fonds de recherche en sant茅 du Qu茅bec Research Scholar Award, the Canadian Institute for Health Research and the Quebec Inter-University Centre for Centre for Social Statistics Matching Grants Program.