Depressed Mothers Found To Influence Their Child’s Behavior

After examining 1,116 sets of twins and their mothers to see if there was a link between maternal depression during the children's first five years of life and children's antisocial behavior by age 7 , researchers say children of depressed mothers were found to have increased problems with conduct and more antisocial behavior .

Results of the study also showed maternal depression after the twins' birth and the likeliness of antisocial behavior in children by age 7 increased when mothers were depressed during the first five years of their children's life. Children with the highest risk of developing antisocial behavior had mothers who were both depressed and antisocial.

Thus in conclusion researchers say genetic as well as environmental factors should be considered when trying to assess a child's risk for developing antisocial behavior.