title: General medical problems among the offspring of depressed parents: a 10-year follow-up.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between both parental and offspring depression and the general medical problems of a sample of offspring at high and low risk for depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Offspring (n = 222) from families with either depressed or nondepressed parents were followed up for a period of 10 years. Data collected included psychiatric diagnoses derived from direct semistructured interviews and history of general medical problems and hospital visits. Rates of medical problems and hospitalizations were calculated, and offspring were stratified by depression status of both parent and offspring.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In analyses controlled for sociodemographic factors, offspring depression status was associated with a history of genitourinary disorders, headaches, respiratory disorders, other disorders, and hospitalizations in the offspring, and parental depression was associated with a history of unconsciousness and hospitalization in the offspring. After subjects were stratified by parental depression, significant associations between offspring depression and medical problems were found for only those offspring with a depressed parent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that a history of parental depression increases the risk for medical problems and hospitalization among depressed offspring. The co-occurrence of general medical and psychological problems among offspring of depressed parents may have implications for the treatment of both depression and comorbid medical disorders.
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, New York, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olfson
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ebanks
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chaput
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Weissman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents; D003237:Connecticut / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors