A new study has found that children of mothers who are depressed tend to be at a higher risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts and trying them as adolescents.
The findings of the study were published in the journal ‘Development and Psychopathology’. The research suggested that this link could be explained by loneliness, which may open up new avenues for juvenile suicide prevention.
The study, by the universities of Exeter, Montreal, Laval, and McGill, used data from more than 1,600 families from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, a representative sample of new cities in Quebec that ranged from birth to 20 years of age. .
Mothers were asked about symptoms of depression, such as sadness and loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities at regular intervals while their children were between five months and seven years old.
The resulting information provided a measure of the symptoms of depression – not a clinical diagnosis of depression. Teenagers completed self-reports of suicidal thoughts and attempts at the age of 13-20 years.
Children of mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms were approximately fifteen percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts and / or attempted suicide as adolescents compared to children of mothers with lower levels of depressive symptoms.
“We cannot say to what extent this connection is due to childhood experiences, genetics, or other factors,” said lead author Dr Lamprini Psychogiou, of the University of Exeter.
“But it is essential to understand some of the strategies that explain why these children are at risk of suicide later in life in order to prevent suicide among children of mothers with depression, “Psychogiou said.
To this end, the authors examined whether feelings of loneliness and social withdrawal reported by adolescents aged 10–13 years could account for this association.
“We found that symptoms of maternal depression in the early years of a child’s life are associated with those children who report high levels of loneliness as adolescents, which, in turn, are associated with self-sufficiency, ”said Dr. Psychogiou.
“We know that social relationships in general, and peer relationships are especially important for teenagers. Feeling lonely in early adolescence can affect how a person sees life as worth living. , “said Psychogiou.
Psychogiou noted that the findings are important because they suggest that interventions aimed at loneliness in adolescence for children of mothers with depression may help reduce the risk of suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts later in life.
Further studies are needed to measure the extent to which reducing feelings of loneliness translates into a reduction in the risk of suicide for these teens.