Wednesday February 10, 2010
Depressed children who were abused before the age of five have physiological differences created by that abuse, says a new article appearing in the journal Child Development.
According to the article, children who experience mistreatment - whether it is physical, sexual or emotional - grow up under a great deal of stress. Cortisol is a hormone which the body produces to help regulate stress, but, when stress is chronic and overloads the system, cortisol can reach either very high or very low levels, damaging health.
The researchers studied more than 500 low-income children between the ages of 7 and 13, about half of whom had been abused or neglected in some way. They found that high levels of depression occurred more frequently in those children who had been abused early in life, compared to those who were not.
In addition, those who were abused prior to the age of five and depressed had an abnormal flattening of cortisol production during the day, where the other children, depressed or not, had a daily decline in cortisol from morning to afternoon. This finding implies, say the authors, that the extreme stress of early abuse compromises the stress-regulation ability of these children, leaving them prone to depression.
"The results of this study have significant implications for children in the child welfare population and underscore the importance of providing early preventative interventions to children who have been abused," the authors conclude.
Tuesday February 9, 2010
Teens with suicidal thoughts and elevated depression had a stronger and faster reduction in their symptoms when treated using family therapy as opposed to standard treatment in the community, according to a new report in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The researchers studied 66 children between the ages of 12 to 17 who sought treatment in primary care settings or emergency rooms with severe suicidal thinking and depression symptoms.
Parental participation in the study was required, with parents being viewed "not as the problem, but as the curative medicine," according to study author Guy S. Diamond, Ph.D., director of the Center for Family Intervention Science of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Most treatment models mainly work with the adolescents alone, helping them learn new coping and problem solving strategies," said Diamond, "but adolescents are highly influenced by their parents. Family conflict, chaos and strife can contribute to youth suicide, while at the same time family love, trust and communication can buffer against it."
In the study, those teens who had severe suicidal thinking and received Attachment-based Family Therapy (ABFT) were at least four times more likely to have no suicidal thinking at the end of treatment or three months of treatment compared to those patients who received treatment in the community. Those who received ABFT also showed a more rapid decrease in depression symptoms.
In the future, Diamond's team will focus on a broader population of patients, comparing ABFT with other treatments and looking at long-term outcomes.
Monday February 8, 2010
According to a newly published study, mothers who were depressed during pregnancy were four times more likely to have children who exhibited antisocial behavior during their teen years.
The study included 120 inner-city teens and their mothers. The mothers were interviewed while pregnant, following giving birth and when the children were 4, 11 and 16 years old.
In addition to the link between maternal depression and antisocial teens, the researchers found that women who were prone to aggressive and disruptive behavior during their teens were more likely to become depressed during their pregnancies, which shows, say the researchers, that a mother's history predicts her children's behavior.
"Although it's not yet clear exactly how depression in pregnancy might set infants on a pathway toward increased antisocial behavior, our findings suggest that women with a history of conduct problems who become depressed in pregnancy may be in special need of support," wrote study author Dale F. Hay, in a press release.
The study appears in the January/February issue of Child Development.
Wednesday February 3, 2010
According to a new study scheduled to appear in the February issue of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, women who take SSRI antidepressants may experience delayed lactation after giving birth and may need additional support if they chose to breastfeed.
"The breasts are serotonin-regulated glands," said study co-author Dr. Nelson Horseman of the University of Cincinnati, which means that "the breasts' ability to secrete milk at the right time is closely related to the body's production and regulation of the hormone serotonin." Commonly used antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil all belong to a class of drugs called SSRIs, which affect serotonin re-uptake, and might also affect serotonin regulation in the breast.
The study looked at the effects of SSRI antidepressants on lactation in the lab by using human and animal cell lines as well as genetically modified mice. In addition, an observational study was carried out which examined 431 mothers who had just given birth.
In the observational study, the median onset of lactation for mothers who had been taking SSRIs was 85.8 hours after childbirth, compared to 69.1 hours in women who had not taken SSRIs. Anything past 72 hours is commonly considered to be delayed lactation by researchers.
"SSRI drugs are very helpful medications for many moms, so understanding and ameliorating difficulties moms experience can help them achieve their goals for breastfeeding their babies," noted Horseman. "More human research is needed before we can make specific recommendations regarding SSRI use during breastfeeding."
