NEW YORK (Reuters Health)-children with depression more likely to have a father's emotional and behavioral problems than their fathers did not have the blues, according to a recent study of more than 20,000.
"We've known for a long time that depression in mothers is linked to an increased risk of children-I don't think there is any doubt about it. It is less clear in the father, "said Jeremy Pettit, a psychologist from Florida International University in Miami, who is not involved in new research.
"We are in a position now to say, ' Yes, this confirms what we suspected all along '," she told Reuters Health.
Children who are most likely to have behavioral problems when both parents feel down, researchers reported Monday in the journal Pediatrics. The findings, they said, showed the need for pediatricians and school to recognize depression in dads–MOM and not only pressured–and potential consequences in children.
"In the big picture to care about our children and try to do anything to help them achieve the highest potential … obviously His disorganized thinking," said Dr. Michael Weitzman, one of the authors of the study from New York University School of Medicine.