Risk Factor “Mentally Ill Mother”: Transgenerational Transmission of Mental Disorders in Children until Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

Background: Children of mentally ill parents are at an increased risk of developing mental disorders themselves. Whether this risk is consistently higher or varies from childhood until emerging adulthood, and which specific mental disorders children of mentally ill parents are susceptible to, has not yet been sufficiently investigated. Method: A sample of N = 216 mother-child dyads with children in emerging adulthood (M = 22.2 years) who participated in a longitudinal prevention study (18-year follow-up) were assessed using a half-structured clinical interview on mental disorders including current and lifetime diagnoses. Survival analyses were employed to examine whether the risk factor "mentally ill mother" is associated with a consistently higher (vs. time-varying) risk of mental disorders in children regarding any mental disorder, depressive, and anxiety disorders. Results: The risk factor "mentally ill mother" was associated with a consistently increased risk for children to develop a mental disorder (OR = 1.49), but not with an increased risk for depressive (OR = 1.35) or anxiety disorders (OR = 1.05). Maternal depressive disorders were not associated with an increased risk for child mental disorders (OR = 1.00 to 1.26). Maternal anxiety disorders were associated with a consistently increased risk for children to develop any mental health disorder (OR = 1.93) and anxiety disorders specifically (OR = 1.88). Conclusions: The risk associated with a mentally ill mother seems to be constant throughout childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. Maternal anxiety disorders particularly increase the risk for child psychopathology. Further research on the temporal progression of this particular risk factor until emerging adulthood is needed, including a wider range of disorder domains.