Sibling Relationships: Predictor of Adult Depression?

First published in Psychiatry Weekly, Volume 2, Issue 29, on July 30, 2007

A study in the American Journal of Psychiatry examined the quality of sibling relationships as a predictor of major depression in adulthood. 229 men were evaluated for 30 years, from age 20 through age 50. Data were collected at baseline from the subjects’ parents, interviews, and self-report questionnaires during regular follow-up. Researchers found that poorer sibling relationships before age 20 and family history of depression independently predicted both major depression and incidence of use of mood-altering drugs by age 50 (tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and stimulants). Quality of relationships with parents did not predict depression in adulthood when family history of depression and sibling relationships were factored in, nor did it predict alcohol abuse or dependence.
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/164/6/949

-LS