Familial influence in unipolar depression: effects of parental cognitions and social adjustment on adult offspring.

As part of an ongoing study of risk factors for unipolar depression in adult first-degree relatives of depressed probands, we have evaluated the relationship between cognitions and social adjustment in parents and adult offspring. Asymptomatic relatives of families with at least one parent with major depression, of families with no affected parent, and of normal control families were assessed. Maternal social adjustment was associated with both negative thinking and social adjustment in adult offspring. These effects were independent of the influence of personal history of depression in offspring, an effect that also influenced offspring thinking and social adjustment. These findings suggest that impairments in social adjustment in mothers may persist well beyond an episode and influence the adjustment and thinking of at least some of their offspring. Within the context of parent-child interaction, increased vulnerability for depression in offspring of depressed parents may be mediated in part by the enduring impact of these factors.