Parents diagnosed with depression are not the only ones suffering. Their children may also do poorly in school because of their condition.
A new study from Sweden established the link between parents' depression and their kids' academic performance, Reuters reported. Children's grades suffer when their parents are diagnosed with this mental condition.
The senior researcher, Brian Lee, of the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia, said that the findings are important because it shed light on another negative effect of depression. "We obviously know that depression is a bad thing like any other mental health outcome," Lee said. "It's less recognized that mental health outcomes affect other people than the people themselves. So for parents or guardians, a vulnerable population would be their children."
The findings were generated from 1.1 million children born in Sweden from 1984 to 1994. The findings also revealed that girls are affected more than males. Past reports have revealed that children of depressed parents have a hard time coping and can encounter a lot of difficulties, but did not specifically focused on the children's grades.
An earlier report by Health.com stated that children of depressed parents have to deal with parents who are almost always pessimistic and uninterested. As such, most of these children have to learn how live independently at their tender age. Parents who are depressed are said to be less responsive and more negative about all things, affecting the children's development as well.
Health.com cited experts and reported that the longer the children stay with their depressed parents, the more negative the effects on them become. However, the report did not mean children should depart from depressed parents. It also clarified that depressed parents do not doom their children. However, the article claimed that children of depressed parents deserve attention. As their parents receive medical help, they should be receiving emotional help, probably from a steady caretaker, the report claims.
