Mental Health Transmission between Grandparents, Parents, and Children

Image A: eldery woman, adult, and child playing table tennis together.

Week 1 - Which family factors can contribute to intergenerational transmission of mental health?

It is commonly known that offspring of individuals with mental illness are at a greater risk of developing mental illness themselves. For context, the patterns of intergenerational transmission of mental health problems are unclear, so let's dive into the present study. Hancock et al. (2013) examined mental health relationships across three generations of families (grandparents, parents, and children). They used a sample of Australian families, which included two cohorts of children, aged 4-5 years and 8-9 years. Children's mental health was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). They found a significant association between a history of mental illness in maternal grandparents and child SDQ scores. There was a cumulative impact of having both parents with elevated psychological distress for the 8-9-year-old cohort, but this effect was not shown in children who had a grandparent and parent with a mental health problem. A history of mental illness in grandparents, including broadly defined nervous and emotional mental health, was associated with elevated SDQ scores in children. This finding suggests that children are suspectible to grandparents' influence, supporting the notion of grandparents' direct influence on mental health in grandchildren.

Previous studies suggest that grandparents may have a direct influence on the mental wellbeing of their grandchild, which is supported by a grandparent-grandchild mental health association even in the absence of mental illness in parents (Cents et al., 2011; Olino et al., 2008; Warner et al., 1999; Weissman et al., 2005).

In summary, mental health histories of both parents and grandparents play an important role in the social and emotional wellbeing of young children.

References

Hancock, K. J., Mitrou, F., Shipley, M., Lawrence, D., & Zubrick, S. R. (2013). A three generation study of the mental health relationships between grandparents, parents and children. BMC psychiatry, 13(1), 299.

Trying something new here, next blog post coming next week.

Signing off,

burnt toast, sweet tea;