Mother's Level of Education Associated with Child's Risk of Depression

Depression is a serious mental disorder that can greatly impair a person's life. It is triggered by a variety of causes including psychological, environmental and genetic factors. A new study conducted by researchers at McGill University lists another factor that contributes to depression. The study found that children whose mothers did not complete high school were more prone to experience depression in early adulthood when compared to those whose mothers obtained a high school diploma.

According to Amélie Quesnel-Vallee, senior author of the study, a mother's lack of high school education has a strong impact on the child's risk of major depressive episode in early adulthood. These episodes of depression cannot be attributed to parental history of depression.

The current study, published in 'Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology', is the first study in Canada that clearly describes and differentiates between the effects of mother's and father's education on depression in early adulthood. The study was conducted on a sample of 1,267 participants from Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey. 

Participants were initially interviewed when they were between 12-24 years old in 1994, during which time they were living with their parents. The subjects were followed for 12 years and when they were 22-36 years old, researchers assessed the major depressive episodes they faced.

In early adulthood, depression occurs at a critical time when a person is starting his career or family, or possibly pursuing his studies. All these events go haywire with the onset of depression, and has an adverse impact on the life, explains Quesnel-Vallee.

To the surprise of the researchers, the father's education didn't have any impact. They noticed that the impact of mother's education was not explained by the education or income of the child, which indicates that the mother's parenting skill plays an important role in his/her healthy mental development.

"Education gives people practical skills, such as communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as an increased sense of mastery," says Alison Park, a researcher at the Institut National de Sante Publique du Québec who worked on the study under Quesnel-Vallee's supervision. "A better-educated mother might be more confident in coping with difficulties arising from child-rearing. This increased confidence and feeling of self-mastery might serve as a model for her children."