Why some siblings thrive whereas others struggle: A within-family study on recollections of childhood parental bonding and current adult depressive and anxiety symptoms

Weighing psychosocial factors in relatives for the risk of psychopathology: a study of patients with depressive and anxiety disorders and their siblings

PURPOSE

Siblings of probands with depressive and anxiety disorders are at increased risk for psychopathology, but little is known about how risk factors operate within families to increase psychopathology for siblings. We examined the additional impact of psychosocial risk factors in probands-on top of or in combination with those in siblings-on depressive/anxious psychopathology in siblings.

METHODS

The sample included 636 participants (Mage = 49.7; 62.4% female) from 256 families, each including a proband with lifetime depressive and/or anxiety disorders and their sibling(s) (N = 380 proband-sibling pairs). Sixteen psychosocial risk factors were tested. In siblings, depressive and anxiety disorders were determined with standardized psychiatric interviews; symptom severity was measured using self-report questionnaires. Analyses were performed with mixed-effects models accounting for familial structure.

RESULTS

In siblings, various psychosocial risk factors (female gender, low income, childhood trauma, poor parental bonding, being single, smoking, hazardous alcohol use) were associated with higher symptomatology and likelihood of disorder. The presence of the same risk factor in probands was independently associated (low income, being single) with higher symptomatology in siblings or moderated (low education, childhood trauma, hazardous alcohol use)-by reducing its strength-the association between the risk factor and symptomatology in siblings. There was no additional impact of risk factors in probands on likelihood of disorder in siblings.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrate the importance of weighing psychosocial risk factors within a family context, as it may provide relevant information on the risk of affective psychopathology for individuals.

A Systematic Review of "Helicopter Parenting" and Its Relationship With Anxiety and Depression

Background

Emerging evidence suggests that overprotective and controlling parenting, often referred to as "helicopter parenting" may have negative implications on the child's mental health such as anxiety and depression. However, no systematic review on the topic exists.

Objective

Conducting a systematic review to identify all studies where the relationship between helicopter parenting and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression have been investigated.

Method

A systematic literature search conducted the 3rd of November 2021 yielded 38 eligible studies. Since helicopter parenting is a fairly new construct, this review considered parental control and overprotective parenting to be dimensions of helicopter parenting and thus, eligible for the study. Study quality was assessed in accordance with Campbells Validity Typology.

Results

The majority of the studies included in this review found a direct relationship between helicopter parenting and symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, validity problems undermine these findings with regarding to assessing the causal relationship between helicopter parenting and these symptoms. There were no longitudinal studies of sufficient quality to determine if helicopter parenting precedes the outcome of anxiety and depression.

Conclusion

Even though the majority of the studies included in this systematic review found a relationship between helicopter parenting and anxiety and depression, the evidence for this relationship is insufficient and must be investigated further. Findings suggest that it is important to include both maternal and paternal parenting style in future studies as they could affect the outcome of anxiety and depression differently.

Systematic Review Registration

PROSPERO 2020 CRD42020167465, https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=167465.