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A child\u2019s depression can cause their mother to experience depression, a new study<\/a> from the University of Calgary suggests.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs caregivers, we tend to take on what might be a struggle or a difficulty for the child. And we can carry that sometimes through subtle ways or overt ways,\u201d said Sheri Madigan, senior author of the study, published in Jama Pediatrics in August.<\/p>\n Research has long found that a parent\u2019s depression can lead to a child\u2019s depression, says Madigan, who is a registered psychologist and psychology professor at the University of Calgary.\u00a0<\/p>\n But this study found the opposite. In it, children\u2019s depressive symptoms were associated with their mothers having elevated depressive symptoms a year later.\u00a0<\/p>\n The study did not find that children had higher depressive symptoms after their mothers reported elevated depressive symptoms.<\/p>\n \u201cWe weren\u2019t seeing that mom\u2019s depression was predicting later increases in the child\u2019s depression at any time point,\u201d said Madigan.<\/p>\n \u2018Health of the family\u2019<\/p>\n The study tracked depressive symptoms of 1,801 Calgary-based mothers and their children between 2020 and 2023. The children were between the ages of 10 and 13 during the study.\u00a0<\/p>\n Children and their mothers were asked to answer questions about their depressive symptoms four times throughout the study. These questions measured a person\u2019s self-reported feelings of depression; they were not clinical diagnoses of depression.\u00a0<\/p>\n The researchers\u2019 goal was to look at the \u201cdirectionality\u201d of depression, said Madigan.<\/p>\n Canadian Affairs’ reporting is funded by people like you, not a billionaire owner. Subscribers support our work and a healthy Canadian news landscape. Will you join them today?<\/p>\n \u201cIs it that maternal depression spills over onto the child, or is it that the child\u2019s depression might evoke some sense of hopelessness in the caregiver, and that in turn, creates elevations in their own depressed mood?\u201d, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n This study indicates that a child\u2019s depressive moods can create more depressive moods for their mother. This was true for both sons and daughters.\u00a0<\/p>\n These findings could impact how doctors respond when children are experiencing depression, Madigan says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thank you for being a paid subscriber. Our work would not be possible without your support.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n Subscribe to Editor’s Picks. Receive our free Saturday newsletter featuring our best stories from the week.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of treating kids as the sole patient in the equation, it\u2019s really about working with the family and working on the health of the family,\u201d she said, noting a child\u2019s depression can affect both parents and siblings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Impact of the pandemic<\/p>\n The study has some limitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n The researchers studied children entering adolescence because depression often begins then. Adolescence can be a stressful time in parent-child relationships, because children are gaining more independence while parents are learning to give their children more autonomy.\u00a0<\/p>\n