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Parental Depression and Child Well-Being

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Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research

Synonyms

Child mental health; Family functioning and well-being; Parent psychopathology

Definition

Depression is a mental disorder characterized by persistent sadness, loss of interest in activities, and feelings of worthlessness or guilt, among other symptoms. Depression can be episodic or chronic and can range in severity from mild to severe. Child psychological well-being is one domain of quality of life that encompasses emotional and behavioral health.

Description

A substantial body of research has linked parental depression with emotional and behavioral issues among children and adolescents, both in community and clinical populations (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine [IOM] 2009). Further, parental depression has also been linked to long-term mental health outcomes in offspring such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse (Lieb et al. 2002). Mechanisms linking parent depression to child well-being include biological, environmental, and contextual. Given the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Sarah Mustillo

Authors
  1. Sarah Mustillo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Mustillo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Roma, Italy

    Filomena Maggino

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Mara Tognetti

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Mustillo, S. (2023). Parental Depression and Child Well-Being. In: Maggino, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_3923

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