Weissman

Design Type

Longitudinal Study

Topic

Kinship studies, genetic similarities

Aim

To study the potential genetic nature of Major Depressive Disorder

Sample

161 Grandchildren and their parents + grandparents (families at high and low risk of depression)

Procedure

1. Took place over 20 years 2. The og depressed sample was selected from a mood disorder treatment clinic 3. The og non-depressed sample was selected from local community 4. The og sample and their children (parents in the 2nd study) were interviewed 4 times 5. The same thing was done with their children 6. Data was collected by clinicians (blind to past diagnosis) 7. Children were evaluated by both a child psychiatrist and a psychologist.

Findings

- High rate of psychiatric disorder in the grandchildren with two generations of major depression

- By 12 y/o, 59.2% of gc showed signs of psychiatric disorder (most common was anxiety)

-Increased risk in kids if GP+P were observed with depression compared to kids whose parents were not depressed

-Severity of parent depression correlated with higher mood disorders in kids

-If the parent was depressed but not the GP, no significant effect was shown on the kid.

Strengths

anonimity

longitudinal

researcher triangulation

large sample

high inter rate reliability

Limitations

-self-fulfilling prophecy

-amount of time spent with grandparents; confounding variable

-retrospective

-cannot replicate

-correlational

-no actual genotype studied