A new five year study titled "Depression and anxiety symptoms: onset, developmental course and risk factors during early childhood," has shown that 15 per cent of children between the ages of 5 months and five years old were found with high levels of depression and anxiety. Results of a new study were recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Physchiatry.
Most of the children found with depression were most likely to have mother's with a history of depression.
Cote, a professor at the University of Montreal's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, was among an international team of researchers who conducted the study. The 1,758 children who took part were born in Quebec -- and their mothers provided information on behavior and family members, during interviews.
"We found that lifetime maternal depression was the second most important predictor of atypically high depressive and anxiety problems during preschool years," said Cote.
"Our study is the first to show that infant temperament and lifetime maternal depression can lead to a high trajectory of depressive and anxiety problems before school entry."
Cote said it's critical that health professionals target these "high risk" infants who have mothers who struggle with lifetime depression -- and seek preventative treatments for their long-term well-being.
The study was supported by Quebec's Ministry of Health, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, and the Universite de Montréal.
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2 comments:
That makes me sad... you think it has to do with their diets? I always feel that all illnesses derive from that because of all the pesticides and craziness in mass production now adays.
As someone with a long-term but (usually) mild form of it, I have viewed depression as an unwanted condition, something that gets in the way of creativity and personal growth, and should be managed with medication, psychotherapy or other treatment if severe enough.
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