Do you think that you only need to start worrying about depression in your children when they reach the difficult teenage years? If so, then it’s time to think again. Several studies have shown that depression is worryingly common in children younger than six years old. In fact, the number of reported cases of depression in preschool children (three to five years old) per year is steadily increasing. Continue reading
Various studies have recorded a significant link between depression and parenting styles characterized by low care and high control (McGinn, Cukor, & Sanderson, 2005; Mezulis, Hyde, & Abramson, 2006). Using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) developed by Parker, Tupling and Brown (1979, cited in Enns, Cox & Clara, 2002) , McGinn et al. (2005) were able to separate adolescents into four categories according to the style of parenting by which they were raised. One of these categories, affectionless control, closely resembles the authoritarian parenting style in Baumrind’s classification system and is characterized by low care and high overprotection. McGinn et al. (2005) found that persons exposed to this parenting style were more depressed than persons who experienced a different style of parenting. Another group of researchers (Radziszewska, Richardson, Dent, & Flay, 1996, cited in McPherson, 2004) found that uninvolved (or neglectful) parenting was associated with the highest level of depressive symptoms among adolescents while the authoritative parenting style was significantly related to lower symptom levels. Continue reading
