Children’s rearing environment has a meaningful impact on their risk for major depression later in life, a recent study has found and also noted the importance of nurturing environments when a child is at risk. The research was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. In the study, authors analysed the health records of full and half-siblings with at least one biological parent with depression who were raised by either their biological parents or in carefully screened adoptive homes. Generally, the children in adopted homes showed lower risk, but whatever the setting, episodes of major depression in the parents meant the children were more susceptible to depression themselves. “The Rearing Environment and Risk for Major Depression: A Swedish National High-Risk Home-Reared and Adopted-Away Co-Sibling Control Study”–led by Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., with Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and Kristina Sundquist, M.D., Ph.D., from Lund University in Malmo, Sweden–involved data from the Swedish National Sample. The researchers identified 666 high-risk full sibling pairs and 2,596 high-risk pairs of half-siblings each with at least one child reared at home and one adopted. High risk was defined as having at least one biological parent with major depression. In Sweden, the adoptive parents are carefully screened and undergo a rigorous selection process to ensure their ability to “provide a supportive and generally advantaged home for their adoptive child.”
