Does Living with Depressed Mothers Heighten Biological Risk in Offspring?

Shorter telomeres have been associated with earlier onset of aging-related diseases and, within the psychiatry field, with childhood adversity (NEJM JW Psychiatry May 13 2013 and Jun 13 2011), adult depression (NEJM JW Psychiatry Nov 15 2013), and adult stress (NEJM JW Psychiatry Jan 12 2005). The current study — the first examining telomere length in children at high depression risk — included 97 girls aged 10 to 14 years; 50 girls lived with mothers who had recurrent depressions (high-risk group), and 47 resided in unaffected households. One author has interests in a telomere diagnostics company.

All children were free of comprehensively assessed lifetime Axis 1 disorders. The high-risk group had significantly shorter mean telomere length …