January 29, 2025
Overview:
This One Health Trust co-authored article is the first to explore intergenerational associations in mental health between children and parents in India. Researchers analyzed data from around 4,000 parent-child pairs, looking at symptoms of depression and anxiety. By combining mental health data with statistical analysis, their findings reveal that mental health issues, specifically depression and anxiety, often run in families, but children from wealthier households are more likely to experience improvements.
The Question:
To what extent do depression and anxiety pass from parents to children? Do these conditions persist across generations, and how does a family’s financial situation influence these patterns?
The Findings:
The researchers found that children’s mental health is strongly influenced by their parents’ mental health in India. The correlation between depression and anxiety scores between generations was significant (0.61 and 0.68), indicating that anxiety and depression often persist across family generations. Children of parents with mild symptoms exhibited similar patterns, while those with parents facing moderate to severe symptoms showed improvement—particularly in wealthier households. Even mild mental health issues had a noticeable financial impact on both parents and children, affecting their overall well-being and access to opportunities. Addressing mental health in one generation can help improve outcomes in the next. Programs that focus on mental health support could help families break the cycle of disadvantage, fostering better social mobility and economic stability.
Read the article in IZA institute of Labour Economics here.